Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
Greg Maddux said it just the other day.
And Tiger Woods said it shortly before him.
And countless others have made similar remarks in recent years with the spotlight centered on them.
Yet, in light of the sudden death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile over the weekend and boxing's Pedro Alcazar in Las Vegas on Monday, the time has come to ask for a moratorium on a phrase that is uttered with good intentions yet is long past its most effective date.
To wit, "It's a nice achievement but one I won't really think about until I've had a chance to retire."
Maddux dusted it off after he and Atlanta Braves teammate Tom Glavine became the first pitching duo since the New York Giants' Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity in 1908 to each be 100 games over .500 in the major leagues. It's a rare accomplishment, to be sure, but hardly one that Maddux can't contemplate or comment upon until he's eligible for AARP benefits.
I don't know who coined the passage, but I've seen it so many times of late that it has worn out its welcome. And in the aftermath of Kile's death, there's a little too much mileage on it for its own good.
Maddux and Woods and the others mean well as they humbly attempt to deflect attention that has been directed their way for one individual achievement or another. For those in the middle of a season and/or participating in a team sport, it's a way of reiterating that they're focused on a greater goal and that there's no time to bask in a short-lived glory or one that's centered on a singular player.
Reporters hear it, dutifully jot it down and pass it along, allowing the robotic athlete to clear the press away from his locker.
"When I'm done with my career I'll reflect on it some more," Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson said after winning a World Series game last year. Well, why not reflect on it right now, while the emotions are fresh and the implications readily apparent? Why not tell us how you feel about it this very instant? Why not take a stab on what this win means to your legacy or career? Why wait until you're a doting old man to muse or say "Hey, I don't think I can top this no matter how long I play"?
The "I'll give it some thought later in life" line of thinking doesn't take into account that there's no assurance you'll get to that rocking chair, let alone be able to fully recollect what happened years earlier. Kile's death -- which unexpectedly occurred as he slept in a Chicago hotel room at the age of 33 -- underscores how tenuous life is and how ill advised it is to put off for tomorrow virtually anything you can tackle today.
If you've got something to do or say, don't count on getting to it -- or having an audience for it -- 30 years down the road. Don't save your best lines for a retirement home.
If War Emblem were Mr. Ed would he have said "I'll think about these wins once they put me out to pasture" after his recent victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes? Or would he have had the good (horse) sense to say "It doesn't get any better than this" as a garland of roses was hung around his neck?
I'd like to think he'd choose the latter. I'd like to think he could be honest and creative.
I'd like to think he'd be quotable.
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