When I was in junior high school, the coolest speaker we ever had was a guy who had either climbed or attempted to climb either Mount Kilimanjaro or K2 a few years before. I think there was a movie based on his adventures – possibly “K2″ – but can’t be sure. As you can tell, it wasn’t the most memorable experience of my life.
I hope the kids at Riverside Middle School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, were a bit more inspired by the special guest speaker they were surprised with on Tuesday: Detroit Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson.
Granderson was in the area for a rehab stint with the local minor league club, the West Michigan Whitecaps, and apparently chose to make himself available to any public schools that were interested in having him speak for a few minutes on Tuesday afternoon. His Riverside talk centered around the importance of teachers, education, and teamwork. Granderson’s parents and sister are teachers.
I like what Dave Murray, the writer of the story for The Grand Rapids Press, had to say on his personal blog, Mets Guy in Michigan: “I now have a favorite Tiger.” This wasn’t something Granderson HAD to do with his free time, but it’s great that he chose to utilize his fame to touch a number of young lives.
Posted by Extra P. on April 24, 2008 at 12:28 pm
He’s my favorite, too. I liked him when he declared himself a Jayhawks fan for the Final Four, but this is a much more valid reason to love the guy.
Go Curtis!
Posted by AAA Spotlight: Rehab Start Edition 4/25/2008 « Bus Leagues Baseball on April 25, 2008 at 6:29 am
[...] you’ve already read OMDQ’s ode to Curtis Granderson, and his advice for Scott Kazmir, who both spent some time slumming it with the rest of us this [...]