A fond farewell
Well, the end is nearly here. My time as the Mesa Legend sports editor is nearly complete. I must say, though, it has been an enjoyable experience.
There is a nature about community college sports I think few understand. I have witnessed firsthand extraordinary performances by athletes in numerous sports.
There have been colorful stories. Like the one of Mike Lavella, MCC’s equipment manager turned football player.
Lavella strapped on the football helmet for Dan Dunn this season at age 43, to play the game he loves.
“My wife thought I was crazy when I told her what I wanted to do,” Lavella said. “Eventually, she came around though.”
There is a certain camaraderie among athletes at MCC that I have rarely seen elsewhere.
Some like MCC football players Victor and Vincent Anderson, who traveled from East St. Louis to the Valley of the Sun to continue playing together, have kept it in the family.
I have enjoyed watching athletes on various teams in various sports improving all season and striving for perfection.
I was marveled by MCC’s cross country team. When the team learned they would not be scored in several meets, due to an administrative blunder making them ineligible, the team did not pack it in. Instead they contined to run hard and as a result posted a strong showing at nationals.
I am glad to have become a part of the fine athletic tradition at Mesa Community College in my own little way. This is an athletic program that truly cares about its student athletes.
The new mentoring program to be instituted for Mesa athletes shows that the athletic department is not interested in only building stronger athletes but also in helping them as students reach their fullest potential.
Through the good, bad, and ugly, Mesa athletes have represented their school well this season, further adding to 40 fine years of Thunderbird athletic tradition.
So T-birds, here’s to 40 more.
Volume
44, Issue 14. Today is
