The war zone surrounding the Robert Taylor Homes–between 51st and 43rd Streets–has been a terrifying theater of gunfire, gang warfare and death, particularly over the last couple of months.
But tranquillity and hope were introduced to the area Thursday morning–at least for a couple of hours–as current and former Olympic athletes visited Beethoven Elementary School to espouse the value of education, perseverance and self-esteem.
“I just think it is so important to talk to kids because nowadays so much negative is reinforced in their heads,” said Linda Mastandrea, a two-time Paralympian and world record-holder in wheelchair track. “To be able to come and talk to them and share a little of what I have gone through helps them see that there is something good that can happen. They may not have a physical disability, but they are certainly handicapped in terms of the (societal) barriers before them.”
During the captivating school assembly, one young student asked Mastandrea if she would rather be able to discard the wheelchair and walk instead of being a Paralympian.
“That was a fabulous question,” Mastandrea said later. “It is because of what I am that I was able to do everything that I have done. Obviously, if I was standing on two legs, I wouldn’t be a Paralympian and I don’t know if I would have been an Olympian.”
Mastandrea, a Bolingbrook High School and University of Illinois alumna, was joined by five-time track Olympian Willye White and Olympic steeplechaser and NCAA distance running champion Charles “Deacon” Jones as part of the United Parcel Service Olympic Sports Legacy nationwide project. The tour began in Chicago thanks to the efforts of Chicago Housing Authority officials Gil Walker, LeRoy O’Shield and Joseph Shuldiner.
On Friday the CHA Police Athletic League (PAL) will receive a special delivery from the UPS, a donation of about $50,000 worth of new sports equipment.
“By being the only black American (in the 1950s) to win distance races and national championships, these kids need to know that story,” Jones said. “The message should have been out there a long time ago.”
Coole and the gang: University of Georgia and Rockford Guilford alumna Lisa Coole will be honored Sunday in Atlanta as one of the country’s top amateur athletes by the NCAA, along with Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, Michigan’s Brian Griese and others. Coole is a former state champion in swimming who is a graduate student in veterinary medicine at Illinois.
New jerseys: Not only have the Bears been chasing the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Central Division the last few years, but the Packers also are killing the Bears in the world of team sportswear apparel.
Packers paraphernalia is outselling Bears gear by 3-1, according to Sportmart, the dominant sporting goods retailer in the Chicago area.
Jerseys bearing the numbers of Brett Favre and Reggie White are the most sought after, along with Packers team caps, mini-helmts, refrigerator magnets, T-shirts and team sweats.
The fine print: Cook County Board President John Stroger reminds residents the Cook County Forest Preserve District is presenting its annual Ski Fest Sunday, snow or shine. The free international celebration of cross-country skiing will be held at Camp Sagawau in Lemont. . . . “Soul of the Game,” an exhibit of photographs of legendary street basketball players by photographer John Huet, opens to the public Friday at the Field Museum.
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Send e-mail to Fred Mitchell at Kick3485@aol.com
