Oher entry

As a Yankee fan, every time I watch Nick Swisher, I feel like a proud father watching his son in little league. No, I am not his father, in fact, we are not even related. I get this feeling because I read Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball and have been following Swisher’s career ever since I was introduced to him in the book. Well, now I have a new guy to root for in the NFL. He plays on a team I hate, the Baltimore Ravens, but that is mostly because of the grudge I hold for the Super Bowl in 2000 when they humiliated my Giants. But this kid has such a compelling story, I would be a scrooge of a sports fan to not root for him.

Michael Oher was drafted this year in the first round with the 23rd overall pick. He was a four year starter at Ole Miss and is the starting right tackle for the Ravens. With a drug addicted mother and uninvolved father, Oher was brought up in foster homes most of his life. He got bad grades and was held back several years in school. He was living with a friend’s family sophomore year of high school, when he was accepted to a prestigious private school for his junior year.

Oher had played football for only a season, having dropped the sport after his freshmen year. Then he took the game up again as a junior and his prodigious talent unfolded before America. He was named to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl his senior year, and was considered the number one tackle prospect in the country. In the meantime, he was adopted by a family at his high school and caught up with his classmates academically.

I cannot do justice to the emotional appeal of this story, and luckily I don’t have to. Oher was the subject of another Michael Lewis book, The Blind Side, which chronicles the evolution of the left tackle position and Oher’s life. I would highly recommend it, as it is much more than the average sports book about overcoming adversity. This gives an in-depth look at the evolution of football strategy and player development, not in an complex or overly technical manner, but rather, it enriches every snap a person watches thereafter.

Reading the book has made me an automatic fan of Oher, and I no doubt will have that proud father feeling when I see the Ravens play. In a league where guys are constantly making news for screwing up, this is a story that really brings out the positives of the game. And for those of you who hate to read, the movie based on the book comes out in November… - Matt Aibel...

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