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IRVING, Texas - With his father in a coma and doctors offering little hope for recovery, Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs has needed football more than ever the last month.
Practices and games have been the only ways of escape from his sorrow. Until now.
On Sunday, Springs will play at Texas Stadium against his dad's old team, the Dallas Cowboys. Memories of his dad, Ron Springs, will be everywhere, probably dredging up some long-forgotten stories.
"I grew up being at Texas Stadium, being at the locker-room," said Shawn Springs, who was four when his dad was a rookie in 1979, and nine when Ron left to finish his career in Tampa Bay. "Tony Dorsett, Everson Walls, all those old Cowboys are our family. I used to wear Cowboys pyjamas and stuff like that. So going down to Texas Stadium might be a little tough."
The Springs saga puts a new twist on this old, bitter rivalry. Under these circumstances, Cowboys fans have to be rooting for Shawn and Redskins fans hoping the best for Ron. Of course, that won't have anything to with the scoreboard Sunday.
Dallas comes in 8-1, tied with Green Bay for the best record in the NFC. The Cowboys want to keep piling up wins before their showdown with the Packers a week from Thursday. The Redskins (5-4) are coming off a loss to Philadelphia and need a big win to buoy playoff hopes.
The feud between Dallas and Washington was as intense as ever when Ron Springs broke into the NFL and found himself sharing the backfield with Dorsett and Roger Staubach. A good blocker, runner and receiver, his most important role might have been his leadership in the locker room; ringleader is probably a better term.
A few years into retirement, Ron was diagnosed with diabetes. The disease took its toll, eventually gnarling his hands and costing him his right foot and several of his left toes.
His outlook soared in February when he received a kidney donated from Walls, his former teammate and close friend. It was the first known transplant between teammates in the United States, and they happily became advocates for awareness of diabetes and organ donation.
They testified on Capitol Hill and served as honourary captains for the Cowboys opener, which also served as the launch date for their Gift for Life Foundation. Walls helped Ron Springs get out of his wheelchair and salute the crowd, a moment Shawn regrets having missed; after all, he was playing his own season opener that day.
"When he stood up in the middle of the field and waved, it was one of the most exciting parts of his life that I can remember over the last 10 or 20 years,"' Shawn said.
In early October, Ron had a cyst removed from his arm. During a follow-up operation Oct. 11, he lost oxygen and lapsed into the coma. More than a month later, the prognosis is bleak.
"They're telling us, pretty much, that at best my dad would probably be a vegetable," Shawn said.
Ron's wife, Shawn's stepmother, may soon face a decision of whether to remove life support. Shawn's stance was clear during a 20-minute conference call with Dallas reporters Wednesday; throughout the interview, he referred to his dad in past tense and said he was "at peace about the situation."
"I feel whatever happens, whether God comes and he wakes right up or it's his time, I've accepted that my father is in a better place and it was meant to be," Shawn said. "I just have faith. I'm also very real about the situation. Not many people have ever awakened from this type of coma and the lack of oxygen. ... Whatever decision she makes, I'm quite sure it'll be the right decision."
Shawn played two days after his father became comatose, then flew to Dallas. He has made two more trips, usually arriving Monday and leaving late Tuesday. His plan for this weekend was to focus on football until after the game, then go straight from the stadium to Medical City Hospital.
"I'll get Dorsett or somebody to give me a ride," said Shawn, who plans to again remain in town through Tuesday night. "I know it's going to be a very emotional week, a tough week, because the holidays make it more difficult."
Dorsett and Walls have been among the many regular visitors to Ron Spring's bedside. Tony Hill, Eugene Lockhart, Robert Newhouse and Calvin Hill have visited, too.
"That first week, it was like a Cowboys reunion," Shawn said. "It's a loss for the Cowboys' family. When one of those guys goes down, all those guys are hurting."
Among the things Shawn picked up from his dad was that a man's word is his bond. Ron also liked to say, "Whatever you do, work really hard at it and try to be the best."
And, as anyone who ever knew or saw Ron can attest, he believed in a strong backbone and an even stronger sense of humour.
"He was always joking about something. Even in the most serious times, he would be joking about it. He was like, 'If this happens to me, do this, do this and do this. OK? Now, who y'all got this week?"' Shawn said, laughing.
Shawn does his best to keep the banter up during his visits. Although his dad "looks like he's asleep," Shawn updates him on the Redskins and the Cowboys and his beloved alma mater, Ohio State. He's already broken to him the news about the Buckeyes' loss to Illinois. He's also asked his stepmom to turn Redskins games on the television in Ron's room. He expects it will be tuned into the Cowboys game Sunday.
"I can hear him now saying, 'You let T.O. catch a pass on you?' I can hear him now talking smack if (that happens)," Shawn said, laughing again.
The Redskins' secondary is missing two starters and a top reserve is playing in pain, so they need Shawn Springs as much as ever these days. Teammates appreciate and admire how he's juggled everything.
"He's handled himself so well, he actually makes us forget about what's going on," Washington defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "He's laughing, joking around with the guys. We keep his dad in our prayers all the time. I think it will be tough for him, but if anybody can handle it, he can."
It was the once dashing, well - endowed and latterly thoughtful young man born with a golden spoon in his mouth who had whatever or whoever he wanted for his comfort and satisfaction, that left the world with these immortal words: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven….” Yes, “… a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to tear down and a time to build,….a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace”. (Ecclesiastes, 3: 2-8).
And when all had been said and done by our “Allegro” (John Milton) man, he ends up with his admonition in Chapter 12 of the same book in the “Holy Bible”, thus: “…Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Chapter 12:13-14)
Why is this column recalling these words from the great King Solomon, which may well have spiritual parallels in the Holy Koran? The answers are in Nigeria’s current public affairs.
Nobody can doubt the wisdom in the King’s College Lagos, School Song, which partly states that : “Present, past and future, form one mighty whole…”
And so, when people, especially those in the “centre of power” – not just its corridors - begin to express anxieties over current happenings and also give cautious warnings to those they think are going off-course, it behoves them to remember that “there is no smoke without fire” and, in any case, that “every effect has a cause”, as any elementary philosopher can assert.
It’s already well known that in his keynote speech at last week’s conference of judges, President Umaru Yar’Adua had advised the judiciary “to shun the temptation of basing their judgments on popular sentiments,”and to avoid “playing to the gallery.”
That statement has, not surprisingly, generated perhaps more reactions than any other made by Mr. President since May 29. And one-millionth of the citizenry have said nothing yet.
No one raised an eyebrow when the President consistently harped on his “rule of law” and “due process” philosophy, hallmarks of his Administration that are already yielding good fruits in terms of national image and personal credibility. But when he used words like shunning “temptation” and basing judgments on “popular sentiments”, obviously, he had some nerves rattled: When a man who does not talk much yells (however silently), people worry.
Some have said the President’s statement “was a planned and deliberate attempt to intimidate the Nigerian judiciary and the elections petitions tribunals”; others have “advised” him to “withdraw his statement in the interest of peace and justice”.
The most vocal and sensitive political party in the land with respect to taking positions on public issues, the Action Congress (AC), said last Wednesday that “Yar’Adua’s warning to the judiciary, at the opening of the All Nigeria Judges’ conference in Abuja on Monday, amounted to a subtle harassment of the Judiciary. Accusing the judiciary of playing to the gallery, shortly after a string of judgments that reversed some of the so-called victories of the PDP in the last polls, is nothing but a way to strike back at the judiciary, especially the election petition tribunals, “ said the party’s hawkish National Publicity Secretary, Lai Muhammed.
For the first time, someone has called the president either a rattle snake, or a boar constrictor that methodically but steadily squeezes its captives to certain death. The strategy is first to knock them silly and, like Mighty Igor (where is he now?) arrange to land the pin-fall, and the demolition is then assured.
Only President Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua knows his own mind; others can only guess its contents or intentions, and the current controversy over his pronouncement in the judicial theatre will be cleared by what he says or does in the next few days.
What needs to be said, without any fear of contradiction, is that those who believe in the rule of law and due process must always be mindful of certain facts: That they cannot afford to be equivocative or “double speakers” – saying one thing, and encouraging the doing of another. They must stay the course, or forever lay themselves open to criticisms of hypocrisy, deceitfulness, untrustworthiness, and of being unprincipled.
Even the president cannot but agree with prophet Isaiah’s view on sin, confession and redemption, when he said: “… for your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt, your lips have spoken lies, and tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil … “
Obviously, again, the Holy Koran must be full of wise sayings like these, but are they guides to proper behaviour by many of the leaders here?
Long ago, William Shakespeare, in his “Macbeth,” painted the picture of the dilemma to which President Yar ‘Adua indirectly alluded, when, in the course of executing the murder of King Banquo, Macbeth soliloquized thus: “…But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come. But in these cases,
We still have judgment here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice. To our own lips…” (Macbeth, Act 1, scene 7).
There we are! People inevitably reap what they sow. And there can be no wishing away the judgment of history.
That is where most African leaders miss the point, because they care mainly about the comforts and pleasures of today, forgetting that their thoughts and actions will be supremely judged tomorrow, or sooner than later. And they then begin to run from pillar to post, looking for salvation in the wrong places.
Back to the headline: Is it not logical that “do- or- die elections” must be followed by do - or - die decisions? That those decisions, acknowledging and re-enforcing the democratic doctrine of the separation of powers, cannot be made by those who, in the first place, gave “instructions” for “do – or die-touches” to the April 2007 elections?
Is it not true that, as in 2003, those presented for elections by some political parties were hand-picked by the high and mighty, and not through the known democratic processes? Does anyone doubt that the clauses of the Electoral Act 2006 and the Federal Constitution were not faithfully followed before and during those elections, as was honestly admitted by the President himself? This is indeed the time to uproot bad plants and practices and build again from surer foundations. A time for the critical decisions.
And talking about “the gallery,” we are all there. The judiciary serves everybody, so the gallery idea is neither here nor there.
The Judiciary should be allowed to do its constitutional duties without veiled threats, and freed from the financial (or apron) strings of the Executive. That is another, and assured, path to political stability in the land. There should be no beating about the bush on this matter.
Wilson and Noth have been dating for some time an have no immediate plans to get married. Noth’s business partner, Noel Ashman, said the ‘Sex and the City’ actor is “very happy” about the baby.
Meanwhile, Noth is filming the first ‘Sex and the City’ movie. He plays Mr. Big who is Sarah Jessica Parker’s character’s love interest.
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DHAKA (AFP) — More than 1,100 people were killed when a powerful cyclone smashed impoverished Bangladesh with huge waves, severe winds and torrential rains, and hundreds more are missing, a report said Friday.
Cyclone Sidr, described as the worst storm in years to hit disaster-prone Bangladesh, crashed into the southwestern coast Thursday night before sweeping north over the capital Dhaka.
The private UNB news agency, quoting unofficial local sources, said over 1,100 lives had been lost and more than 300 people were missing.
Government official Kazi Mokhlechur Rahman, of the home ministry control room, put the the confirmed death toll at 612 and climbing with 192 people unaccounted for.
Wind speeds of 220-240 kilometres (140-155 miles) an hour were recorded as the storm -- visible from space as a huge swirling white mass that moved north from the Bay of Bengal -- left a trail of devastation in poor rural areas.
Earlier, a government official said reports were yet to come in from two districts known to have been worst hit -- southern Barguna and Jhalokati -- because of communication problems.
"We are expecting many dead bodies will be found there," he said.
Most of the victims were killed when trees crushed flimsy homes made from bamboo and tin. In Madaripur district between Dhaka and the southwest coast, an AFP reporter saw devastated villages, one after the other.
Local businessman Mollik Tariqur Rahman told AFP that 80 percent of the homes in his village had been flattened.
"I cannot describe how devastating it was. It was like doomsday, the most frightening five hours of my life. I thought I would never see my family again," he said.
A navy spokesman said five ships had been dispatched with supplies of food, medicine and relief materials.
The European Commission said it was sending 1.5 million euros (2.2 million dollars) in emergency relief aid to the country.
"Preliminary indications are that the most pressing needs will be food, safe drinking water, emergency shelter, clothing, blankets and medicine," Commission spokesman John Clancy told journalists in Brussels.
Rescue workers, however, had yet to reach many remote areas, and roads, telephone lines and power supplies were also cut.
"The electricity went off across the entire country," said Mohammad Iqbal Hossen of Bangladesh's energy ministry.
The storm forced hundreds of thousands of people to spend the night bunkered down in a network of special shelters set up by the government to avoid the mass casualties of previous disasters.
Experts described Sidr as similar in strength to the 1991 storm that triggered a tidal wave, killing an estimated 138,000 people. Another cyclone in 1970 killed up to half a million people.
The head of the Bangladeshi meteorological department, Samarendra Karmakar, said the shelters as well as an evacuation programme should spare the country mass casualties.
"We are expecting less casualties this time because the government took early measures. We alerted people to be evacuated early," he said.
Neighbouring India, which was also bracing for disaster, escaped the worst.
"It's a great relief to us," said the relief minister in India's eastern state of West Bengal, Mortaza Hossain.
About 100,000 villagers in coastal areas of West Bengal were returning home Friday despite heavy rain after being evacuated to temporary camps, he said.
The state's finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, said one man was killed and over a thousand mud huts destroyed on the Indian side.
The storm, which reached Dhaka early Friday, later weakened and crossed the northeastern Sylhet district.
It was expected to progressively lose strength before ending on Saturday just south of the mountain kingdom of Bhutan.
