Book Reports

Well. It looks as though Lindsey Vonn was able to get through the weekend in Are, Sweden, without further damage to her knees.  In fact, Vonn walked into retirement with one last medal, a bronze.  As to what’s next for the 34-year old Minnesota native, only she and her oft-injured body know for sure.

 

As ever in sports, the young pursue the veteran.  Already, the almost-24-year old Mikaela Shiffrin has 56 World Cup wins to Vonn’s 82.  “I wrote book reports about her,” Shiffrin was quoted in an AP story today. Of course, that made me think of Clare.

 

No, my daughter didn’t ski.  I wouldn’t allow it; broken legs and softball don’t mix.  But she did spend much of grade school doing book reports on a sports figure, that being Jackie Robinson.  I’m sure there were books about Jennie Finch, who would seem to have been a more obvious choice.  Only Clare saw herself as a baseball player first.  That led her to Robinson, a fellow outlier. 

 

And the women of the AAGPBL, whose exploits were recounted, more or less accurately, in “A League of Their Own”?  She loves that movie and probably wishes it had led to a serious discussion of the role of women in baseball.  But women baseball players didn’t affect the game the way Jackie Robinson did, so Robinson it was.

 

Maybe Lindsey Vonn could get around those bad knees of hers by learning how to DH.  That would be good for a book or two.  I’m sure Clare would want to read it.