Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
February 2, 2001, Washington Post

The Comeback Kids

One of the best things about sports is the comebacks. I'm not talking about the Hail Mary touchdown passes, overtime goals or even last week's Maryland-Duke basketball game. Those are great, but I'm talking about another kind of comeback.

I love it when athletes come back after everyone thought they were done. Finished. Over the hill. I love it when an athlete picks himself or herself off the ground and gets back in the game.

These days, the sports pages are full of those kind of comeback stories.

Football? How about Kerry Collins. Not long ago, the New York Giants' Super Bowl quarterback was known for drinking alcohol and throwing away his talent. Now, Collins has quit drinking and is throwing touchdown passes. Sure, the Giants and Collins lost to the Ravens, but I have a feeling that Collins will be back.

Tennis? You've got two comeback stories.

Just a few years ago, Andre Agassi was overweight and out of shape. He was rated 141st in the world. That is terrible for a guy with Agassi's talent. But Agassi got back in shape and has added five more Grand Slam tennis titles to his collection.

And how about Jennifer Capriati? The one-time teen darling of women's professional tennis was the game's most famous flameout. Even when she was down, Capriati didn't quit. She grew up, got serious about her game and recently won the Australian Open, her first Grand Slam title.

Basketball? San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott is maybe the biggest comeback story of all. Elliott almost died from kidney disease after the Spurs' 1999 NBA championship. These days, Elliott plays with a transplanted kidney from his brother.

Then there's Pittsburgh Penguins hockey star Mario Lemieux. Lemieux came back after being retired for four years with back problems and Hodgkin's disease. Now, he is scoring, passing and playing like Super Mario again.

I love all these comeback stories because they show that things can change. And that is a good thing for kids -- or anyone -- to remember.

It's so easy to get discouraged when things aren't going your way, but if you push through the bad times, good things can happen.

Look at Kerry Collins, Andre Agassi, Jennifer Capriati and Sean Elliott. They could have easily given up and just faded way. Instead, they stuck with it.

Andre Agassi ran up and down a big sand hill near his home to get in tip-top tennis shape. He even ran the hill on Christmas Day. That took a lot of willpower.

You may not be a Super Bowl contender, tennis star or hockey pro. But chances are that sometimes you're on top of your game and sometimes you're not.

The next time you are stuck in a slump, on a losing streak or sidelined by injury, think about someone like Agassi, Capriati, Lemieux or Elliott. Hang in there. Work at getting better.

And maybe, just maybe, you will write your own comeback story.

FRED BOWEN is the author of sports novels for kids. Write to him at KidsPost,
1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Or e-mail (with "The Score" in the
subject field): kidspost@washpost.com.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company