Leaders In Their Field Essay, Research Paper

There is an old saying that history repeats itself. Well if this adage is true, then it means that some of the actions taken by the heroes, leaders, activists, mirror that of their predecessors. There are many fields to choose from if one wants to prove his or her point. Instead of getting extremely complicated by digging into old political or philosophical categories, this proverb can be proven by looking at the sports industry. Three men who have had phenomenal careers are Michael Jordan and Mark McGwire. These men are known for their innovation and their drive to succeed. Most of all they are known for how they have changed their professions of basketball, baseball, and football. Michael Jordan is the most recognizable athlete in the world. He has achieved this status by his artistry on the basketball court. He is ranked third in scoring andis the first of two players to ever win a Most Valuable Player along with a Defensive Player of the Year award(the second being Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets). He has claimed the scoring title for ten consecutive seasons. Michael claims six finals MVP’s(www.nba.com). What this man has done for the sport of basketball is truly amazing. Although he had perfected his own game, he had role models, people who he looked up to and eventually challenged. In a book written about him by Jim Patton “Rookie: When Michael Jordan Came to the Minor Leagues” in recounting his career, Michael Jordan talked about being compared to one of his favorite players, Julius Erving. Jordan won the 1987 Slam Dunk competition with a flight from the foul line, about fifteen feet from the basket. This was the same dunk used by Julius Erving in the 1977 Slam-Dunk competition. (www.nba.com). Julius Erving in the American Basketball Association(Patton 52) originated many of the moves that Jordan has now perfected. Fans do not know this fact Not to take anything away from Jordan, whose artistry is a major factor in making the NBA a six billion-dollar industry today. In the same way fans get excited when Air Jordan puts on a show, he would be no different when “Dr. J” went to work. Another man has done the same thing Jordan did for his struggling profession. Mark McGwire. He is not known as the greatest player in baseball history, he doesn’t have six World Series rings, in fact he has none. What he did was bring the fans back to baseball, after the MLB had an injurious lockout in 1994. As a reporter for New York Newsday claimed ” there is nothing worse than millionaires bickering over dollars”(Newsday 36)

The seasons following the lockout resulted in low attendance throughout the league(www.espn.sportszone.com). This year however, with the homerun race, the fans of the national pastime came out to support “Big Mac” and Sammy Sosa as they battled to outdo Roger Maris and themselves (www.espn.sportszone.com). However, what they did was break a record. A homerun is a fairly rare shot in a baseball, McGwire did not create the homerun, all he did was hit more than anyone else could. He created a standard for the record to be broken, but he did not create the existing record. Regardless of what events take place, history always repeats itself in some fashion. An existing record is broken, or even created, as were the other existing records. To prevent the duplication of history is futile, because wars, scandals, homeruns, and foul shots, are part of the world that we live in. All we can do is hope that the number of mistakes leading to wars decrease, and more people involve themselves in homerun races instead of being major factors in government scandals. To work on methods to avoid wars and scandals is futile, what we should focus our energies upon is the suppression of these events when they break out.

1. Patton, Jim. Rookie: When Michael Jordan came to the Minor Leagues. Reading, Mass : Addison-Wesley, 19952. Lupica, Michael “Strike Out.” New York Newsday 28 Aug. 1994 late ed.:36+.3. “McGwire, Sosa, A-Rod gets top Players Choice honors” Online. Internet. Available http://ESPN.SportsZone.com/mlb/news/1998/981030/00909684.html(1 Nov. 1998)4. Player file for Michael Jordan. Online. Internet. Available http://www.nba.com/playerfile/michael_jordan.html