Ugh.
Fucking Lance Armstrong is all over the
news today and not just the sports news and ESPN. Thanks to his
Oprah interview, he's on all the news. I can't even watch
E! News without seeing his lying, cheating,
sorry self. On days like today, it's easy to get cynical about sports and especially the idea of sports heroes, so it's good to look at some people who demonstrate the best of what sports can be.
The most impressive football stats of 2012 were not put up by anyone in the NFL, but by little league football player, nine-year-old
Samantha Gordon. In 232 carries, she rang up 1,911 yards and 35 touchdowns, and, oh yeah, she also kicks but on defense with 65 tackles for the season. Not that it really matters, but she did all this as one of the only girls in her league and the only one who played offense. Samantha's
highlight reel went viral, and
she got a Wheaties Box with her face on the cover. On top of all that, she gives a better interview than most adult athletes.
12-year-old Justin Kievet lost his wrestling match against classmate Jared Stevens, but his loss was the greatest display of sportsmanship in 2012.
Sport Illustrated Kids named
Conner and Cayden Long "2012 SportsKids of the Year".
Not only did their story make
LeBron James tear up a little--he was actually humbled to share a stage with them. James said that Conner and Cayden were not just the SportsKids of the Year, but that they were the SportsMEN of the year. Watch their beautful story: