Okay, so let's get something straight - I'm not a Jeremy Lin hater. So ya, I'm not 6'3", I'm not Asian-American, I don't play in the NBA, I didn't go to Harvard, and I don't make nearly $800,000 a year. I hate on Lin cause he makes a whole pile of money playing a game, same way I hate on LeBron, Peyton Manning, Albert Pujols, and Wayne Rooney (LeBron should hate on Rooney cause he got his hair back faster than Stella's groove).
So insert Mo Isom.
For the record, Mo is an athlete and a very good soccer player. And now she's trying out as a kicker on LSU men's football team. For all those out there that don't know LSU or SEC football, it's the arguably one of the closest levels of football you can get without playing in the NFL.
You could say I'm putting this up as an "underdog" story because she's a woman trying to make a man's team. The fact of the matter is, irrespective of being a woman, she's trying something in a completely different sport.
What I find compelling about this whole story is right before her sophomore year at LSU her father committed suicide. In her words: "It was January 3, 2009, that my daddy put a gun to his heart, and pulled the trigger."
I'm not a woman, I'm not White, I'm not 6'0", I don't play soccer, and I was never homecoming queen, but I can't hate on Mo. Having to experience something like that is not easy. We say Lin is an American hero because he slept on his brother's couch while playing for the New York Knicks and making nearly a million dollars a year, why can't we put Mo up on a pedestal for overcoming a parent's suicide?
Athletes are athletes, their duty is to perform on the field/rink/track/court, they are not role models by choice. But every once in a while you've got to give some of them credit for the role they play in our society.
So insert Mo Isom.
For the record, Mo is an athlete and a very good soccer player. And now she's trying out as a kicker on LSU men's football team. For all those out there that don't know LSU or SEC football, it's the arguably one of the closest levels of football you can get without playing in the NFL.
You could say I'm putting this up as an "underdog" story because she's a woman trying to make a man's team. The fact of the matter is, irrespective of being a woman, she's trying something in a completely different sport.
What I find compelling about this whole story is right before her sophomore year at LSU her father committed suicide. In her words: "It was January 3, 2009, that my daddy put a gun to his heart, and pulled the trigger."
I'm not a woman, I'm not White, I'm not 6'0", I don't play soccer, and I was never homecoming queen, but I can't hate on Mo. Having to experience something like that is not easy. We say Lin is an American hero because he slept on his brother's couch while playing for the New York Knicks and making nearly a million dollars a year, why can't we put Mo up on a pedestal for overcoming a parent's suicide?
Athletes are athletes, their duty is to perform on the field/rink/track/court, they are not role models by choice. But every once in a while you've got to give some of them credit for the role they play in our society.
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