Dolan Media Newswire Story
Subject: Commentary: It’s all in the name
Pub: Daily Record, The (Rochester, NY)
Author: Hon. Robert J. Lunn
Category:
Sub-Category:
Issue Date: 11/03/2009 Word Count: 122
Commentary: It’s all in the name
by Hon. Robert J. Lunn
Dolan Media Newswires
© Dolan Media Newswires 2009.ROCHESTER, NY -- “I’m sittin’ in the railway station/Got a ticket for my destination/ My suitcase and guitar in hand/ And every stop is neatly planned/ For a poet and a one-man band/ Homeward bound.”
— “Homeward Bound,” performed by Simon and Garfunkel, 1966
Well, I’m not exactly in a railway station!
But I am in a hotel room, even if I never picked up a guitar in my life.
In about two hours, after an interesting Halloween weekend, I am homeward bound from the good city of Boston. It seems one of the parental duties post-college graduation is to help your child set up his or her first living accommodation, which usually includes hanging pictures, drapes, shower curtains, etc. Who knew?
My wife, Paula, often reads my column, so let me state affirmatively right now that, aside from the occasional root canal, there are fewer experiences I enjoy more than this. When it’s for your kid, obviously it’s all worthwhile, and root canals have become fun again. And now, through the miracle of electronics and the Internet, I can finish this column in the solitude of my hotel room and whisk it off to my editor in Rochester.
So, what’s in a name? Apparently, quite a bit as history has shown us. The famous duo, “Simon and Garfunkel” originally started out as two grammar school friends dubbed “Tom and Jerry.” Their songs never charted until they went with their true surnames and, suddenly, their music made them the most successful recording twosome ever.
Still, for the 60-and-older set, how many of you quietly thought to yourself the first time you heard “Sounds of Silence” that, with a name like “Garfunkel,” you could just about forget it?
This morning I was on the treadmill watching a recap of the week’s news only to see the health care debate being rekindled as we head for the final stretch. Apparently, the phrase “public option” or “government option” was a nonstarter for most and was having a crippling effect in the polls. It seems the voters don’t have much confidence in either the “public” or the “government.”
No problem! We’ll simply give it a new name and move on. Henceforth it shall be known as “consumer option.” Everyone loves consumers.
Now, if you think this writing is being overly cynical, I actually already covered the health care issue last summer. I am now using this space to make a point about names and content.
I wanted to share a column recently written by my son, Rob Lunn, for the New England Sports Network — a piece bearing the exact same author’s name as my own, but with far different content. It’s an article written through the eyes of a 23-year-old about a fallen UConn football teammate, who had his life cut short at the age of 20 by a random act of violence. I offer it in juxtaposition to the column I wrote three weeks ago celebrating Nana (my wife’s grandmother) and her 106-plus, amazingly full years.
The following originally appeared Oct. 19 at NESN.com:
“Remembering Jasper Howard as a Friend and Teammate, By Rob Lunn
“A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of going to a Monday night football game. In the stands, I sat with my former teammates, joking and laughing.
“UConn’s star cornerback, Jasper “Jazz” Howard, sat next to me.
“While Jazz and I were hardly best friends, we were teammates, on the same defensive unit, who shared many laughs and, of course, trying moments together.
“‘How are the guys doing?’ I asked Jazz that night.
“‘Young, man,’ he replied in a throaty, soft-spoken voice, which sounded strained but was always at ease. ‘Real young. But, you know, we still gonna bang.’ (A smile crept across his face as he said this.)
“Fast-forward to a homecoming game this past weekend, where I selfishly explored my own emotions on being at a place where, for five years, I was very much on the inside, metaphorically and physically. Inside the locker room, inside the huddles, inside the football mentality.
“On Saturday, I returned to my home stadium, for the first time, and was very much on the outside. Outside the lines, outside the players’ box, outside the locker room.
“After the game, I got to join my teammates, my brothers, in the fight song. I made my rounds, slapping hands, hugging and smiling, exchanging the typical locker-room jabs. I went over to Jazz, congratulated him on his excellent game (an interception, forced fumble and about 13 tackles). Laughing, he told me I was almost as skinny as he was, and I reminded him that he was still about 1000 times the athlete I’d ever be.
“The entire time I was there, I was thinking, ‘Man, this is awful.’
“I am not yet at a place where I can enjoy watching the game from which I am less than a year removed. I was emotional about the smells, and on my long drive home, I had a lot of time to reflect on how much I missed playing, how important it was to me — things that in less than 24 hours would suddenly seem so much less significant.
“I left that locker room. I came back to Boston. I went to sleep.
“I woke up, and everything had changed.
“The text messages said it all:
“‘Call me, we need to talk’
“‘Jazz is dead’
“‘S--- went down last night’
“I look back at that moment, from my Monday morning perspective, and I am embarrassed.
“A lot changed from Saturday afternoon’s pettiness to Monday’s deeper meaning. All my complaints about being done playing football didn’t matter. My teammate and friend had lost his life, leaving behind a family, a girlfriend, a daughter on the way.
“Instead of enjoying the fruits of homecoming, remembering the good days, I am trying to make sense of something that is senseless.
“How does a kid who makes it out of Miami — leaving the violence of his hometown by his own reckoning — get murdered in the seemingly safe setting of Storrs, Conn.?
“These are questions without answers.
“The violence of the football field is the stuff we can control, and Jazz was a master. Analogies between on-field violence and the outside world are often made, without regard to actual violence. And yet, in this instance, I have realized just how petty and fake that violence is. There are rules, whistles, referees.
“Early Sunday morning, there were no such systems in place. My friend and teammate died at the hands of someone who clearly placed no value on life, and certainly did not consider the consequences of his actions.
“Jasper Howard was a man of incredible character and work ethic. He likely would have risen to the rank of captain in seasons to come. I have no doubt that Jazz, while undersized, would have been an NFL-caliber player. He was soft-spoken when he had to be, but was a vocal leader on the field. He pushed, provoked and brought out the best in his teammates.
“I am always grateful to have been a part of UConn football, but I am — without a doubt — a better man for having shared the same field with Jazz.
“I am not sure there are deeper lessons to be learned here. I don’t want to live in a world where one of my friends has to die for me or anyone else to value life. But here I am, reflecting more and more, valuing my own life and my own situation in a way I never did before Jazz passed.
“I wish that society allowed us more opportunities to stop and reflect, but it doesn’t. All I can do is lead my life, with my new lease on it, the way that Jazz did — with honor, integrity and a relentless work ethic.”
Thanks, Rob, for some deep and sobering reflections on the value of life and also for sharing our common name in the byline. I would like to believe I passed on some literary genes to you but, in reality, it is far more likely the converse is true. You have taught me so much. And, yes, helping you get started “on your own” away from home this weekend was very special.
The Hon. Robert J. Lunn served for 14 years (1995 to 2008) on the New York State Supreme Court, his last three as an associate justice of the Appellate Division of the Second and Fourth Departments. He has returned to private practice in the Lunn Trotto Law Firm in Greece. Lunn is the contributing author to three publications from West Publishing, the most recent being The Companion Handbook for Pattern Jury Instructions. He can be reached at rlunn@lunntrotto.com.
Rob Lunn graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he was a three-year starter at defensive tackle for the Huskies. He played professional football for the Carinthian Black Lions in Austria. He is a regular contributor to NESN.com, The Official Blog of Chris Cooley (http://chriscooley47.blogspot.com) and Deadspin (http://www.deadspin.com), and runs his own sports/entertainment blog, Toughts From A Fat White Guy (www.thefatwhiteguy.com).
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