Scott taught about life
Tim Casey
Assistant Sports Editor
On Monday night, sports and the real world intertwined.
On Monday night, Scott Delgadillo died.
He was 14.
These stories rarely make it to the back of this paper, or in any sports page in the country.
It's a funny business, sports journalism.
We spend countless hours typing, talking and traipsing around, trying to analyze athletic achievements. We treat games as somehow significant. We criticize coaches, put down players, ostracize owners. We glorify coaches, praise athletes, adore owners.
In reality, very little of this has any relevance to the important things in life.
Then along comes someone like Scott.
For over a year, Delgadillo battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia. In those 12 months, he went from your typical teenager to a Notre Dame icon.
Scott had become a symbol here. A symbol of hope, of determination, of dedication, of strength, of character. For many, his speech before the Purdue pep rally was the most memorable moment of this football season.
Following the short soliloquy, several major newspapers profiled Scott's story. In the past three months, The Observer published letters from coach Bob Davie, San Diego Children's Hospital pediatric oncology nurse Meredeth McNamara, and Notre Dame public relations administrative assistant Jennifer Laiber regarding Scott's condition and inspiration.
Then, Scott's words appeared in the Jan. 17 edition of The Observer.
"Every night I thank God for all the nice people that have sent me their prayers," Delgadillo wrote. "I also thank God for all the nice people I have met at Notre Dame like Joey Getherall, Shane Walton, Coach Bob Davie, Father Edward Malloy, Rudy Ruettiger, the entire football team and Jennifer Laiber. These people in some way have made my wish an on-going process and have affected my life in a positive way. These people as well as the whole ND family, in some way made me feel like I was a special kid."
On Monday night, sports and the real world intertwined.
On Monday night, Scott Delgadillo died.
He was 14.
Fittingly, the acronym for his disease was ALL, because Scott affected everyone. Including those who knew him simply through another source.
Mention Scott Delgadillo and grown men cry, "tough" people suddenly let down their guard and subway alumni from Bangor to Baton Rouge relate numerous "Scott" stories.
In a society criticized for insensitivity, ignorance, and individualism, Scott provided a uniting force. He brought out the best in people, especially Notre Dame people.
Joey Getherall was one of Scott's closest acquaintances. The senior flanker and the teenager met when Scott visited in September. They immediately became friends and shared e-mails, phone calls and letters.
In fact, they spoke on the phone last week.
"You could hear how much energy he had (on the phone)," Getherall said Tuesday. "He never complained once. Ever. There's not too many out there like him. He always had a positive outlook. He would say `yeah, I can't wait to do this, I can't wait to do that.' I remember him saying, `I can't wait to go to college."
I never met Scott. I never talked to Scott. I did not hear him speak at the Purdue pep rally.
But last week, I was assigned to write a feature on Scott that would appear in the Feb. 5 edition of The Observer.
While Scott spent his last hours with his family, I spent those hours in the Bond Hall computer cluster, searching the Internet for articles written about Scott.
I intended to chronicle Scott's battle with leukemia and provide an update on his condition.
Instead, I write this column.
On Monday night, sports and the real world intertwined.
On Monday night, Scott Delgadillo died.
He was 14.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Observer.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 31, 2001
