One for the Home Team

I am no fan of the LA Times, the USC Trojans football team, nor Bill Plaschke. And yet, in yesterday's LAT, Plaschke wrote a very fine article about a very moving story involving a USC football player. Here. I will quote the beginning of the article.

Four days before Christmas, and the bare fir sits in the middle of the cluttered living room, undecorated, unlighted, no presents, the only music coming from sirens that rattle the thin walls.

On one couch sits a housewife, lips pursed, one leg elevated and swollen, a woman battling various debilitating illnesses.

On another couch sits her husband, his fingers trembling, his head adorned with a Santa hat that belies the joylessness of Parkinson's disease.

Outside their Boyle Heights project apartment are roaming gangs, one of which recently attempted to rob them between Thanksgiving dinner and dessert.

In the middle of it all sits the youngest son, built so thickly the couch sags under his weight, a USC fullback who carries far more than a football.

His name is Jody Adewale, and when you ask about the lack of Christmas tree lights, they point to him.

"He is our shining angel," says his mother, Linda.

When you ask about the lack of presents, they again point to him.

"He is our gift from God," says his father, Sunday.

In four years at USC, Adewale has zero rushing attempts, three pass receptions, 32 total yards. But during that time, no Trojan has shouldered more hopes or covered more ground.

Because, while playing for one of the nation's premier college football teams, he has also had to prop up his own poverty-stricken family.

For four years, he has kept one foot in the bright lights and another foot in Boyle Heights, straddling the line between this city's shiniest and bleakest.

Go ahead, read the rest. With a dry eye, and jaded spirit. I dare you.

And Merry Christmas!