Still work to do 20 years after Magic

I don’t remember where I specifically was 20 years ago today – it was a seminal sporting moment but not one of those “I was standing in this exact spot when I heard the news” instances – but I do recall a sense of loss, of confusion, of sadness.

It was two decade ago, in what has to be one of the most significant sports events of my lifetime (there's some video over at Faceoff, er, Facebook Central that you should go take a look at and like), that Magic Johnson stood in the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles, telling the world that his NBA career was over because he’d been diagnosed as HIV positive.

It was shocking. We knew far too little about the disease, had little understanding, comparatively, of how it was spread, what it’s impact was, how a heterosexual man could have it.

He was Magic Johnson, for goodness sakes.

There are and will be all kinds of stories about that day floating out there today (Marc Stein’s here is the best I’ve read) but I wonder how many of them will touch on the present, and the impact of the Magic announcement, rather than the nostalgic look at a life-changing moment.

There is no question that Magic, through public awareness and the untold millions of dollars his foundation has raised, has done tremendous work in education and treatment of a disease that still kills too many worldwide.

There are no idiotic players or people who would fear being on the same court as someone who has the HIV virus like there were back when Johnson mounted a comeback. People have seen him flourish despite being diagnosed with a disease everyone figured was fatal 20 years ago.

I remember wondering – and I was not in the minority with this thought, I don’t imagine – whether we’d see him waste away before our very eyes over the years. That didn’t happen in his case, of course, and for that we should be thankful.

But, really?

Really, Magic has done admirable work and is by far the most high-profile athlete to take up the cause of AIDS prevention and the search for some kind of cure. We are better off for him having done that but there is so much more we can do. Yes, he has thrived in the intervening 20 years, healthy, wealthy, and as prominent a businessman as he was an athlete. But AIDS and HIV are still with us, people die daily while a search for a cure continues, there is more work to be done by us all.

It is all well and good to celebrate Johnson, the work he’s done, the life he’s lived, the person he’s become since he left the game.

It is all well and good to watch the grainy old videos of him as a player and the utter joy he got from playing the game.

But Magic Johnson got the best medical attention anyone in the world could get to help him deal with his illness 20 years ago, until we can make sure others are afforded the same, there is work to do.

Maybe today stands as a reminder of that, rather than of a dark day in sports history.

And maybe that’s the good that comes of this anniversary: There are ways to fight this blight, the battle must continue.

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Okay, time for fun, and a list.

(Told you there was stuff left over from the weekend to parcel out)

Q: How about a list.

Can you list your top five favourite (and least favourite) sport logos of all time?

S S, Newmarket

A: So many choices, good and bad.

Let me get these off my chest and off the top of my head and we’ll see what you think:

Worst

Memphis Grizzlies

It looks a bit cuddly, doesn’t it? Oh, and there’s the whole “are-there-grizzlies-in-Memphis” part of it.

Dallas Mavericks

Odd, that’s all.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Looks like snowflakes or something, doesn’t it?

Portland Trail Blazers

A bunch of squiggly lines? Um, okay.

And the absolute worst

Carolina Hurricanes

‘Nuf said.

Oh, and I will say that of the four pro sports, the NBA probably has more bad ones than any of them.

Best

Chicago Bulls

Under-stated but forceful. Or something like that.

Detroit Red Wings

Just classy, and timeless.

Montreal Expos

Yes, I’m throwing it in ‘cause it was cool.

Chicago Blackhawks

More traditionalist in me, I guess.

And maybe my all-time favourite

Milwaukee Brewers

I like the subtlety of the ‘M’ and the ‘B’. Don’t you?

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And, of course some of you had to know this was coming today simply because of the opening lyric …

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Wonder how Dwane Casey’s feeling today?

Today was the day the Dallas Mavericks, the team he helped coach to an NBA championship just five months ago, were to make their only visit to Toronto.

Now, I’m pretty sure, if history holds, that the Raptors would have taken a big lead, spit it up and lost a heart-breaker but I bet Casey would have loved the chance to compete against his old team.

And, yes, the lockout sucks. I kinda was looking forward to this early season game as some kind of litmus test for Casey and whatever new defensive system he’d devised.

Oh, and it would have been fun to bust on the Dirk-Andrea talk, as it always is.

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Oh yeah. Wanna talk some football?

Somehow they keep roping me into doing that NFL chat thingy at noon so stop by, it’s fun. Most of the time.

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Comments

[Kevin Murray]

HI Doug

Raptors would have taken a big league (I think you meant to use lead)

Blogger's note: Fixed. Thanks

[D-Mac Ottawa]

Oh yeah, I'm with you on the Brewers' logo. That's first-class. On the other, um, hand, I've always thought the Tribe's logo, in silhouette and if you squint a little, looks like someone's flipping ya the bird. And what can you do, really, with a dolphin or thunder...
So Doug, if this Most Wonderful Lockout Ever continues ad nauseum beyond the nauseum we've already endured, will your theme music need to be revised? Like maybe... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg1di8sGxWc (we could change the title to "The Dougie Grunt Blues")
Cheers!

[ditch]

I did not re-up my season tickets to the Blue Jays after the strike. I couldn't believe that Murray Eldon could croak out "YOUR Toronto Blue Jays" with a straight face. My Toronto Blue Jays? Are you kidding me? I follow them on TV and radio, but they ain't mine.

Now I feel the same about the Raptors. Let's face it people, "our" Toronto Raptors are guys who got the most money they could by coming to Canada to play basketball. Their choice likely boiled down to Canada or Europe. Europe or NBA?

Obviously, they chose Canada and the NBA. Canada. Dude, it's like a foreign country or sumpin'!

Maybe they'll come back or maybe I'll just learn to enjoy following another sport.

Do they televise checkers yet?

(in Alastair Sim voice) I'll retire to bedlam.

[kyle]

Wow! for the life of me, I never saw the M and B in the Brewer's logo. Don't know if my world has been shattered or opened up. Perhaps I was just a little too young and missed the revelation back in the 70s, but since I knew about the e-M-b of the Expos I would have thought it have been come to light long ago. Maybe it was more that I was an Expos fan, etc.

Doug, informative as always. Thanks.

[doug]

I passed a sporting apparel store a few weeks ago and in the window was a Expos cap, i was going to go in and buy it, but then i thought, in whose pocket is that money going, so I begged off, but from their logo, to their name, to Youppi that team had it all, even talent...so Stern has thrown out his ultimatum of the week, blah,blah,blah...does he know what negotiations are??...no wonder the players are frustrated as there has been no negotiating going on, he now says you have until Wed or the best deal your going to get after that is 47%, yea right, the union needs to call his bluff and decertify, if it is going to get ugly Mr.stern then welcome to the dance...

[Lorie]

Morning Doug!
First, your remembrance of Magic's announcement and thoughts on HIV, AIDS was well done, and an important read. Thank you. And, second, about logos? While the NBA struggles to find resolution to this most acrimonious of disputes, its logo remains to me the most elegant, understated and perfectly designed of any logo, any team, any league. Anywhere. Anytime. Cheers.

[Dave]

@ D-Mac, I love the theme song. I may have to paint some flowers on my wall for January and February.

[The J]

Minnesota Wild - Just awful. That's the worst to me hands down.

[m]

The best analysis of the lockout that I've seen,
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7186103/why-players-cave

[Andre]

Hey Doug,
Maybe this is a mail question. But what would decertification really do to help the players get a deal they want? I dont get it. And i do believe they need a hard cap. It sucks that 9 teams have won the NBA tilte in the last 20 years. what are fans to hope for?

Blogger's note: It wouldn't help them get a 52 per cent share at all

[GM]

I don't remember exactly where I was when Magic made his announcement, but I do remember he was supposed to play in Vancouver in an exhibition against the Sonics. He didn't make the trip, which disappointed me, then the next day (I think it was) the announcement came.

Even though I have no time for hockey, I think the greatest logo ever was the Hartford Whalers. Like the Brewers, it included everything in the all aspects of the name into the logo. In this case, a W, a whale's tail, which both formed an H in the middle. Perfect.

[SheikYurbouti]

I appreciate the props to the Expos logo. A truly great organization screwed over by new ownership and an incredibly inappropriate stadium.

@ D-Mac. Flowers on the Wall. Precious!!

@doug. You've made your choice of sides pretty obvious on a number of occasions, but I'm not sure you've clearly stated why you're so dead set against the owners. Since I'm not in the room either, I certainly can't be sure of the accuracy of my view, but I'm getting a strong feeling that the BRI issue is just a pawn in trying to deal with the real issues (system changes) that most of the owners are trying to address. Do you not think the system needs fixing? Between the MLE being available to teams way over the cap, a cap that really isn't a cap to teams like LA, Boston, Dallas, fully guaranteed contracts, the trend of superstars gathering in a select few cities, etc., something has to give. This current model will not sustain a league of more than 8-10 teams for much longer, especially now that the system issues are much more out in the open now, and being analyzed to death by the fans. The inmates have been running the asylum and there appears to be a large portion of owners that have had enough. If the players are calling the owners' "bluff" on this, they'll lose. Just ask the NHL players if it was worth it, in any way, to sit out a year.

[john]

Sheik Yarbouti,
AMEN!

[LeeZ]

Say what you want about the hated Yankess, but I've always thought that their pinstripes are really classy. Very simple but classy logo. Those old Seattle Pilot and Houston Astro unis were painful.

[james]

An eloquent recollection of Magic's announcement and how it still resonates today: Well done.

[doug]

yes the system needs changing but to do it in one fell swoop is to me absurd...ask yourself this why were the owners fine with giving 57% in the first place in the last agreement??, it makes no sense now as it did then and it was Stern and the owners that signed off on that agreement...and since then league revenues have increased significantly,....and by all calculations the owners would profit on a 52% BRI.....to me the owners are asking for to much , and do i wish the players too decertify? no, but come on, Stern is relentless, so the players need to be as well, will it get them what they want, no...but let's get serious here, this was a negotiated agreement and is a LOCKOUT by the owners not a strike, not anything....i could care less at this point, but I side with the players, if the season is a loss then play all your cards...and this whole media thing of players grouping together to form "super teams" is hogwash...it has been happening for years and years, give me these 3 duos over the Lebron,Wade,Bosh trifecta any day....and they are (Worthy,Magic.Kareem) or (Bird,Parrish,McHale) or most recently (Jordan,Pippen,Rodman) or even (Doc,Cheeks,Malone) I could go on and on, so this whole "superteam " talk is just hyperbole....i don't react well to snake salesmen and that is what Stern is ....plain and simple...

[VikZ]

Hey doug, where would you rate the raptors/blue jays logos?

Blogger's note; Bottom half of the world o' logos

[wuycik]

My favorite Joe Frazier moment, was back in the day of the inagural Superstar (think that was its name) competition, where they took some of the great athletes at the time and they competed in events outside of their specialty to determine who was the best all around athlete. Joe was in the swimming competion and got disqualified for running instead of swimming. Year's later I read an article on the toughest jobs in sports. Boxer was obviously well up the list, but when they asked Joe who was the toughest he said swimmers and that, "Mark Spitz was one tough mutha". Ended up he was terrified of the water.

[wuycik]

sorry Doug, posted the Joe comment to yesterday's blog by accident.