Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Fire Up the DVR: "Catching Hell"

Steve Bartman is one of the most compelling figures in the history of sports.

That's not hyperbole.

Driving the compellingness -- or maybe even compounding it -- is Bartman's disciplined silence since the night it happened.

Maybe it's principled. Or stubborn. I think it's an easy case to make that, more than anything in this era of cheap celebrity, it is admirable.

I wonder if Bartman will eventually need the money and come forward to get paid in the ways we know he would -- for an on-camera interview, for a book, for his life rights to be made into a movie, for marketing endorsements or reality-show appearances.

There are very few things that remain pure in sports -- Bartman's reticence is one of them. It should be celebrated.

The ESPN documentary on Bartman is on tonight. In the meantime, Wayne Drehs has a terrific ESPN.com story on the guy right next to Bartman. Well worth your time to read.

-- D.S.

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