Jimmy V Week Spotlight

This afternoon, as I took a quick break from the piles of books and papers that surrounded me, I flipped on ESPN. The piece I saw on SportsCenter was a feature for Jimmy V Week, one week out of the year honoring NCSU basketball coach, Jimmy Valvano. Valvano was diagnosed with cancer and battled the disease for an entire year before passing away. Known as a spirited and passionate coach, Jimmy V has become an icon in not only the world of college basketball, but the world. His well-known speech at the 1993 ESPY awards was the kick off to the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. Jimmy died 2 months later.

Back to the feature story I was initially writing about...sorry, took a little background information to get there. Anyways, ESPN's piece this afternoon was something that touched my emotions and brought tears to my eyes. For those of you who know me, this isn't unusual; I cry at every movie I watch or book I read. But this story was different-it focused on the cancer battle of a 14 year old boy named Matthew Costello, a young quarterback and avid Baltimore Ravens fan.

Does anyone remember the first score for the Ravens in the AFC playoffs last year? If you don't, Ray Rice rushed the football for 83 yards to strike first against the New England Patriots. But after realizing who called the play, it wasn't the 7 points that mattered...it was who orchestrated the play to kickoff the Raven's 33-14 playoff win. It was Costello, who was a classmate of the Cam Cameron, the offensive coordinator in Baltimore.

Today, Costello continues to build a relationship with the Raven's franchise...hanging out with Rice and texting Cameron suggestions of play-calls in sticky situations. And the Ravens listen. They listen to the 15 year-old kid who has fought the hardest fight of his life...they listen to the avid young fan who couldn't see straight a year ago because of a massive tumor is his brain.

Who woulda thought that the Baltimore Ravens (a team loathed in Cleveland) could have brought tears to my eyes at 2:00 on a Wednesday afternoon? Not me, that's for sure...but they did with the story of their secret weapon, Matthew Costello.