what it SHOULD be all about

Check out Erik Brady's USAToday article about University of Michigan student/athlete DeShawn Sims, 'A good man:' Michigan's Sims battles adversity to graduation.

You don't know how happy I am to use the term "student/athlete" right here.

Sims, a 6'8" forward, played basketball for the Wolverines for four years. He is set to graduate this Saturday.

He's the first in his family to graduate from college, but that's only a part of the story. As Brady says:

DeShawn Sims graduates Saturday from the University of Michigan. His mother, sister, grandmother and aunt will be there to see him get his degree and hear President Obama speak.

His father and brothers will not be there. The men in his family are in prison or dead.

And even that is only part of the story. Check out the article, because I can't do justice to the story in this blog.

What's important to me is that here's a guy who, against all odds, went to college, played basketball, and graduated. A success story. He's got a chance to play in the NBA, but that's not the important thing. That's not what this story is all about.

It's about a boy coming up through hard times and becoming a man.

Becoming a man.

And that's what it should be all about.