European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 22 a the stars and stripes sunday november 10,1991 commentary magic the one in a million spirit by John Eisenberg the Baltimore Sun you were standing there watching it on television thursday evening and someone said a i think 1 might cry a and you wondered yourself because you crossed paths with magic Johnson so Many times and there he was now on your screen refusing not to smile As he told the world about testing positive for the his virus. Then he was done and the to was off and you sat there dumbfounded with a million thoughts bracketing around your head and As strange As it sounds this was what you kept coming Back to at least now everyone was in on the secret you a known for so Long which was that he always shone More because of who he was not what he did. You would always say that when people asked about him and they did ask you because you were in the locker room with him so often but you always Felt they did no to really believe you when you said he was even More remarkable As a person than a player. You always Felt they would just say yeah yeah we see that big smile on to but not really believe you. Because this was one of the Best players in history after All. How could his Star Shine brighter off the court the thing was they possibly see it. You needed a press pass to have the privilege of seeing magic off the court up close when the sheer Force of his buoyant spirit really separated him from All the rest. You were Lucky. You saw it so often in so Many circumstances in so Many stages of his life. You were there at the final four in March of 1979, when he was a Sophomore at Michigan state and everyone Learned his name. You were a senior at Penn and your schools team played his and he was playing this game no one had seen before As big As a Center and deft As a guard. His team scored 36 of the first 42 Points. Ouch. But then afterwards he was up on this podium in front of hundreds of reporters smiling that thousand Watter and telling stories and going on about what a blast this was and All these Grumpy press boxers sat there grinning a Little sheepishly at each other saying is this kid a kick or what you were there when he came into an Aba that lets be Blunt was considered a league for selfish Blacks on drugs. And Here came this heartbreakingly clean kid running above All that every aspect of it More interested in passing than scoring so exuberant about just magic Johnson playing. Making everyone feel Good just by talking. It was said magic and Larry Bird were the ones who brought the league out of its gloom and that a True but magic was the More important of the two by far for magic was the one who All but single hand edly destroyed so Many wretched myths about Black Aba players. Destroyed them by being what he is but More so who he is. You were there that night in Dallas in 1982 when the Mavericks and lakers played 48 rollicking minutes before a shrieking crowd and Dallas won in the last Ond and everyone roared but there was magic afterwards cutting through it All smiling and talking about wow that was fantastic and this league is getting pretty Damn Good you know you were there at the 1983 All Star game the Day that in your mind the a bad a Ascendancy really took off. Marvin Gaye Sang the Anthem a wild motown version and the crowd was screeching at the boldness and the players were Stone faced and afraid to move knowing it Wasny to Good politics to Rock with this crazy Anthem on to. But then there was magic looking Over and giving it that Grin his of the Only one unafraid to say in essence that there Wasny to a thing wrong with this burgeoning league of Black athletes showing its real character to the rest of the country. You were there on that Day during the 1984 finals against the celtics when head already Given an hour of interviews and you were the Only one left and you asked him about a play and he grabbed your notebook and pen and diagrammed it lines and arrows and All making sure you understood and then patting you on the Back. So Many moments so Many circumstances so Many stages of his life. To this Day you feel like you know him even if you done to which is his real magic. And so you sat there watching him thursday evening this kid you a watched grow into a Man before your very eyes and you did no to think about basketball. You thought about him. About his suddenly slim chances of living a Long life. About the awful moment when the doctor told him. About a you found out later a his wife being seven weeks pregnant and whether that kid is going to get to spend a lot of years with dad. The thing is you did no to have to be there to know he would be cheering up the people around him carrying on that he will be a tireless spokesman for his new cause. You hang around magic Long enough you know hell do All the right things. But then everyone knows that now. They saw him thursday smiling As he gave us the news talking about fighting it not flinching so upbeat and Graceful and dignified even though you knew he was devastated. That was a is a the real magic Johnson the one in a million spirit. And As you sat there watching and wondering what kind of mad mad world you re bringing your kids into this was what you thought it be such a mad world at All if Only there were More people like this aids came Home to our neighbourhood today by the associated press excerpts from columns about magic Johnson in fridays newspapers Mark Whicker the Orange county Register on the first Day of the end of his life Earvin Johnson or. Embraced a weeping City and said a there the afflicted had become the comforter. Magic told us it would be All right. In his wonderfully ingenuous Way he talked of becoming a a spokesman for the he also said he would Chase a my dream of owning a Aba All his pursuits go faster now. Johnson a basketball player no longer is his positive. Jim Reeves fort Worth Star Tel Grani aids came Home to our neighbourhood today. Mine and yours. It pulled up a chair sat Down in our midst and began shaking hands As if it belonged there As if it Wasny to wearing the dark Hood and death mask of the grim reaper. As if a and this is the scary part a it was an old Friend come to pay its respects. By Mike Downey the los Angeles times you Don t say Goodby to magic Johnson. You say hello to magic he will say hello Back. Because that is what makes him magic Johnson. Because he has a hello for everybody. You Don t have to avoid magic Johnson. He is not contaminated. He is not a Leper. He is still magic Johnson still your Friend so go ahead be yourself shake his hand Pat his Back have him hug your child. Go ahead and ask Quot How Are you magic because he will say that he is Fine. And then he will ask How you Are. Because that too is what makes him magic Johnson. Mike Lupica new York daily news there is a line i read once about Rock Hudson a death from aids. I done to remember who wrote it or where it was but the line went like this now everybody knows somebody with aids. And now everybody knows someone who has tested positive. And maybe that was the Only positive yesterday. Maybe the fight against aids puts a Champion As much Champion As there has Ever been in american sport at the Point now. Tony Kornhi Cisco the Washington Post the first Telephone Call came around 4 . A did you hear about magic a a Friend asked. A what about him a i said. Quot he has aids. He a going to retire a i can to recall the rest of the conversation As i was no longer paying attention. I Felt the same stunned reaction that i remembered having 28 years before when i was in a seventh period math class and word of John Kennedy a assassination spread through the school like a bad dream. A Kevin Blackistone the Dallas morning news. In a sports age when Prima Donnas reign magic who was to earn $3.1 million from the lakers this season is a human being lie restores sports fans Faith in athletics his genuineness makes him adored beyond the United states. He is the nabs ambassador. As much As anyone if not More he has revived the Aba and paved its Way to other countries. Stan Hochman Philadelphia daily news Johnson was incredible yesterday his poise breathtaking his humor poignant his message Clear. You can run but you cannot hide from this deadly killer. No one is immune regardless of race Creed bankroll crammed trophy Case. It is winning time and we Are Lucky to have magic Johnson on our Side. May god bless him. Jim Litke the associated press the first reaction was to close your eyes and try to see its perfection one More time to remember exactly How the smile looked before the Light went out of it. Before magic Johnson found out How much closer he is to the end than the beginning. He was smiling bravely thursday when he unburdened himself of that great and terrible secret of our times and he was smiling again a few minutes later when someone asked him whether he was scared. It figured. But the confusion peeking out from behind the words he struggled to bring Forth said otherwise. Bob Gillespie the state Columbia . When the news comes the first reaction is ridicule. Magic Johnson has the aids virus yeah sure and William Shakespeare was an illiterate. Tell me another Good one. No joke they say. Its True. Absolutely totally stunningly True. I now have read the associated press wire seen the report on can. I still have trouble believing it. No not believing it comprehending
