It seems like every year in sports there are always feel-good or comeback stories, and every year, sports fans fall in love with these stories.
Why do we always embrace and pay more attention to these comeback stories?
I think we tend to root more and more for these feel-good stories because there has been a lot of turmoil in sports lately, such as steroids, paying college athletes and substance abuse.
These feel-good stories allow us as fans to escape from all the turmoil and let us become a part of something bigger than any one individual.
In the past year, it seems like there have been more feel-good stories gone bad instead of regular feel-good and comeback stories. Stories such as Lance Armstrong, Manti Te’o and Oscar Pistorius have gone from good to bad in what seems like a matter of seconds.
We all know the story about Armstrong. He was diagnosed with cancer and came back to win seven Tour De France’s in a row. He was one of the most inspirational athletes of our lifetime.
Then, last year, rumors came out that Armstrong was doping during his Tour de France run. Earlier this year, in a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong admitted to doping to gain a competitive edge.
I was disappointed to hear about Armstrong, and I probably wasn’t the only one either. I was inspired by Armstrong when I was younger; I wore a Livestrong band and also had a Livestrong shirt. I looked up to him like many others.
What Armstrong did is exactly why sports fans turn to comeback and feel-good stories to escape from the sports world full of steroids, cheating and performance enhancing drugs.
The Te’o story to me is probably the most bizarre twist on a feel-good story in history. The biggest headline of this past college football season was the season the star Notre Dame linebacker had after the passing of his grandmother and his girlfriend.
This would make a great story if it were true. By now most of you know that Teo’s girlfriend never actually existed. He claims he was a victim of an online prank.
I don’t know what to believe about this story; I was a fan of Te’o all throughout his college career. Like most, I don’t know if he is telling the truth or not. I like to think he is, because of the type of leader he was on and off the field. I think a lot of fans who followed Teo’s story have lost a lot of respect for him through this whole scandal.
The Pistorius story is probably the most tragic sports story since the O.J. Simpson trial. Pistorius, a double amputee, warmed hearts all over the world this past summer as the first paraplegic to compete in the Olympic Games. He was a crowd favorite at this past year’s games, as well as an icon to many.
I thought Pistorius’ story was inspirational; he never gave up and went through so much adversity to get to the biggest stage in the world.
Unfortunately, earlier this month Pistorius was charged with murdering his girlfriend in his native South Africa. I was very shocked and sickened by this story. A man who seemed so harmless turned out to harm another human being.
In the next couple years I hope that we don’t see any more feel-good stories gone bad like the Armstrong, Te’o and Pistorius stories. Many fans all over the world, including myself, want to see stories of underdogs who overcome obstacles with no controversy attached.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Crimson Tide looking to reverse 3-game skid against LSU
