Brett Favre is under investigation for sending a Jets employee lewd photographs while he played for the team. The New York Jets made their own headlines by allegedly sexually harassing a female reporter. Tiger Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant, and out spewed his hidden secret of mistresses in the double digits.
Jamie Dixon, coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers, pulled over on a busy highway in Pittsburgh to help the passengers of a car that was pinned up against the guardrail.
Point: Dixon.
It’s a sensational world. A world that is filled with humans who want to see others’ demise play out. Unfortunately, those associated with sports are often the ones who voluntarily fill this role.
Not a week goes by where the breaking news ticker at ESPN isn’t going off with news of an athlete driving under the influence or getting into a club brawl. There’s never a news ticker for an athlete or coach who did good for the world. An athlete/coach who did something like take time out of his day to pull a victim with a broken ankle out of a car on the side of the road.
Dixon has led Pittsburgh to many firsts. First Elite Eight appearance. First No. 1 ranking. First No 1. seed entering the NCAA tournament. He’s a phenomenal coach who stays out of the news because he is a phenomenal man.
Dixon found out earlier in the week that his squad was ranked fourth in the AP preseason polls and were favored to win the stacked Big East. That’s a pretty big deal. Most coaches would gain a bloated ego. An ego that would keep them from doing any physical work to help someone else.
Dixon could have called 911. He could have reported the accident while he drove on by. But he didn’t. He injured himself to help a fellow human being—a simple civilian as many athletes or coaches might think—feel safe and secure. Why is this such a rare phenomenon?
Plenty of players contribute to charities and start charities of their own. Plenty say they want to be good role models. But they make mistake after mistake and live life like everyone owes them something. In reality, that player owes those people because they are who made the player a star.
Dixon’s actions were a gleaming hope for the sporting world. Dixon himself is a gleaming hope. He conducts himself with class, generosity and honesty. He doesn’t serve as a stepping stone to NBA riches. He teaches his men how to play basketball and life the right way.
Under Dixon, Pittsburgh players consistently graduate. What Division I college athlete, especially at a premier program like Pittsburgh, graduates anymore? Dixon’s do. They also have consistently high scores on the NCAA Academic Progress Rate.
In high school, it wasn’t uncommon for star players to do something wrong and get away with it. The star quarterback may have failed his math test, but he’s the X in the formula for a winning team. So that F he got will gain some half ovals to make it look like a B.
In college, the trend continues onward if not gets worse. There’s no point in taking real classes when you take Intro to Dance and a few other easy classes to stay enrolled. It’s not like you’ll need the classes for your major—it’s not like you’ll be graduating.
In life, sport participants still get away with acts civilians may not. A DWI is waved away, a sexual harassment charge is swept under the turf.
It’s shake of a finger or a slap of the wrist. But not in Jamie Dixon’s world. Jamie Dixon showed once again that he’s a good human being in a profession where that seems to be rare. If only more athletes acted in his manner, people may not think so negatively of sports and the people who play and coach them.
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