One woman's stand

Jackie Berube refuses to back down from terrorism

There has been a lot of patriotic bravado in the world of sports since the sad events of Sept. 11, 2001. Flags have been waved and songs have been sung at stadiums everywhere. Just the other night our president, George W. Bush, threw out the first pitch of the third game of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. His picture was in newspapers across the land, an image of defiance against terrorism, a message that the show must go on.

There also has been a flip side, though, a number of instances where the show has not gone on, mostly involving U.S. athletes scheduled to appear in foreign countries. The Ryder Cup at the Belfry in England was canceled almost immediately after Sept. 11, security worries keeping the stars of the PGA Tour at home.

The NBA canceled its foreign exhibition schedule. The U.S. women's tennis stars pulled out of the Federation Cup finals in Madrid. The scheduled heavyweight title fight between John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield was taken out of Beijing, China, and rebooked for a casino in Connecticut.

These were all prudent moves, I suppose, but if the idea for all of us Chicken Littles is to act as if the sky isn't falling, well, not going abroad is not the way to do it.

That is why a 127-pound, 30-year-old Michigan woman named Jackie Berube is refreshing. When the USA weightlifting federation withdrew funding for its seven-woman, four-man team to compete in the world championships that begin this weekend in Antalya, Turkey, Berube raised her own money and took her own self across the ocean.

She's in Turkey right now. Our one-woman team. She doesn't have 1,000 New York policemen guarding her. She doesn't have an environment totally scanned by metal detectors and cleansed by body searches. She's just there. Standing up. Standing tall.

Good for her.

Leigh Montville's commentaries appear regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

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