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THE PASSION OF A SPORTSMAN by Wayne Gretzky SINCE 1954, 60 individuals and two teams have earned the right to be SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Sportsman or Sportswoman of the Year. All share a standard of achievement, with many distinguishing qualities at the root of their successes. This essay is the third in a series by former Sportsman honorees about the aspects of their character that pushed them toward uncommon excellence. When I watched hockey games on television growing up, I could only sit for the first two periods. I just had to leave time to go out and skate. As soon as 40 minutes were up, I'd head outside to the rink behind our house in Brantford, Ontorio, and skate for an hour before my parents made me go to bed. Going to games or watching hockey, my first thought as a child was always that I wanted to be playing it. I'm not alone in that: Recently I saw a Peyton Manning interview on TV. He said that his lasting memory of watching his dad play football in New Orleans was that after the game, he and his brothers could go on the field and pretend they were playing for the Saints. It was the same with me and hockey. Where I'm from kids play a lot of hockey growing up, but I probably had more ice time skating alone than any other child. At ages three, four, five, I would skate hours and hours by myself. I'd skate before school, after school, eat dinner with my skates on and then head back out for more. It wasn't that I was practicing. It's what I loved. That was my fun, and I carried that mentality into my pro career.
Approximate Word count = 1152
Approximate Pages = 4.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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