13th December: A dream come true
 When I first heard that Mario Lemieux was coming
back to play again, I couldn’t believe it - in fact, I was almost afraid to believe
it until it was made official. The first two seasons after he retired, I hoped against
hope that my hockey hero would change his mind and come back. But now, most unexpectedly,
Mario has decided to lace up the skates one more time.Rarely has the hockey world seen a player with more determination to accomplish his goals than Lemieux. He has already "come back" from a serious back operation and a scary bout against Hodgkin’s Disease. Lemieux certainly has nothing to prove to his fans. We’ve seen him do it all, more than once. But obviously he has something to prove to himself. One of the reasons Mario gave for retiring was that he wasn’t playing up to his own expectations. That should tell us that he intends to come back even better than when he left. And, remember, when he left, he took the scoring title with him. If Mario feels he’s not playing up to his own high standards, I think a second retirement will happen fast. Mario retired in 1997 But if he can get his amazing hand-eye coordination going, if he can get his legs going, and if he can inspire his teammates, we’re all in for a special treat. We’ve never seen Mario fail at anything he sets his mind to doing, so why would that change now? His impact should be immediate and enervating to the rest of the players. When they see all that Mario has overcome and how badly he wants to play and win, they will fall in step with him. His leadership and passion for the game will surely take the Pens to the playoffs. Lemieux gave some reasons for his return. The main one was
that he missed the game; the other was that Passion for the game, the one he’s excelled at since he
was a child, is the real motivation for a comeback. Other athletes say the competitive
spirit is in their blood; that’s way it’s so hard to walk away. Mario walked
away too soon. He wants to pick up where he left off and I believe he can. |
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his children,
especially his four-year-old son, Austin, had never seen him play. Cynics say he’s
coming back to sell tickets and to help with a new building. Well, he is the owner - what
better way to fill the seats than to give the fans the pleasure of watching their idol
play again? Even if that is one of the reasons for his return, is that so bad? He’ll
not only pack the Mellon Arena, he’ll help to sell out wherever the Pens play around
the league. Seems like a win-win situation to me.