ESPN 30 for 30: Run, Ricky, Run

Usually the focus of a sports movies is an event, the Miracle on Ice, the Rumble in the Jungle, or the show down against the Hawks a la The Mighty Ducks. Sometimes ending in triumph, sometimes ending in disappointment or tragedy, the payoff in these films is almost always the outcome of the event, but rarely do we look at the people who make these events so iconic.

Run, Ricky, Run, Sean Pamphilon's look at former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, is a giant departure from the sport-as-event lens that is so common in sports movies. Pamphilon begins his exploration of Williams with his decision to leave the Miami Dolphins in 2004 for the anonymity of the Australian outback, but that is just a jumping off point for looking at the psychology of an individual who at times looks incredibly thoughtful, articulate, and introspective, and others looks downright insane. In the trailer for RRR Dan LeBatard of ESPN says "95 percent of what he says is so illuminating, and so enlightening... and so refreshing... and then 5 percent of what he says makes you wonder if he's got aluminum foil on his head saying that's the reason it keeps aliens away".

This sort of dichotomy is what makes Williams such an interesting subject. He is a warrior on the field with a punishing running style, but studying to become a healer off it. He is described by just about everyone as friendly and charming, but he seems to want to be alone. The six year old boy who is described as the man of the house, who is not a father to his own children. At times he is so open and honest it almost makes him harder to figure out.

At his most enlightening, Ricky is able to expose the hypocrisy of fans' vitriol over his retirement. "When would it be okay for me to walk away?" he asks to 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace, "when my knees give out? When my shoulders give out?". In doing so, Ricky is able to conjure the images of running backs like Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, LaDainian Tomlinson (or Boobie Miles who never made it) who's bodies quickly deteriorated after a few punishing NFL seasons, and make you think that maybe he was smart, rather than flakey or selfish, for walking away. At his worst, Ricky seems be caught in some sort of nihilistic philosophic haze.

The reality, it seems, is that Ricky is both the self aware jock and the confused amateur philosopher.

At its core Run, Ricky, Run is the portrait of an unusually introspective football player who is scared, confused, and trying to figure out who he is. Of course, when you're seriously trying to do that under the scrutiny of the football media, you're bound to look strange, and you're bound to find people who don't like what you're doing.

The ultimate irony is that after all the controversy Ricky caused by walking away from football, and all the ire he drew from Miami Dolphins fans, it seems to be the best thing to happen to his football career and for the Fins. Williams, going into his 10th NFL season, is going to outlast many of his peers at running back by virtue of his break from football. While Williams was able to complete the 2009 Dolphins season with over 1,100 yards rushing and 11 TDs, his contemporaries like Edgerrin James, Jamal Lewis, and Shaun Alexander are physically no longer able to play in the NFL.

And so as fascinating as the story of Ricky Williams is, it is an incomplete story. As the 2010 NFL football season began Ricky remained a member of the Miami Dolphins with an eye towards completing his degree at the University of Texas and a doctorate, from Harvard no less, in psychiatry. Though one might imagine that he might just surprise everyone and play another 5 years in the NFL.

The Michael Jordan Syndrome

Def'n (1): when a youth holds unrealistic expectations about their athletic future; when an individual or a group aspire to "be like Mike".

The Michael Jordan Syndrome (MJS) is a disease whereby the afflicted becomes enamored with their own athletic ability to the point that they forsake everything in their life in pursuit of athletic excellence. MJS, is not, as is sometimes commonly thought, contracted merely through an individuals genetic predisposition towards athletic activity; it is an affliction that, as far as research shows, is largely environmental with the genetic make up of individuals having impact at the margins.

MJS will often occur areas with low levels of parental, adult, or community support for youths. In areas where community support is low, youth tend to contract MJS by viewing iconic athletes as role models, and attempt to follow in their footsteps without recognizing the impossibility of their goals or without having a back-up plan.

Alternatively, the disease can also be contracted through extended contact with an adult, typically a parent or coach, who may impose their own desires for superstardom on their child. The adult will seek to live vicariously through their children/pupil and will often deter them, through explicit instruction or through modelling behaviour, from developing academic skills will allow them to develop a plan B.

As the Michael Jordan Syndrome begins to take hold on the host, it seems to afflict those around the host. Often, but not always, adults may become entranced by the young hosts whose behaviour and academic results may flounder and will become rationalized by many as acceptable. As the hosts become bigger, faster, stronger, more co-ordinated, and develop more sport specific skills, adults seem to become increasingly less likely to recognize the on-set of MJS. In fact, in many cases adults will to feed the disease by praising only athletic ability, not the hard work and effort that is required for future success in their sport and outside of it.

MJS may also be exacerbated by early sport success or extended exposure to SportsCenter. While MJS is not contracted by athletic ability alone, what is known at this point, is a function of exposure to iconic athletes combined with limited adult interaction whereby the adult is able to give the youth their regular 'reality' injections.

See also, the Canadian mutation of the disease known as Gretzkitis.

Def'n (2): the destruction of the team game in basketball, particularly in last second situations, where players attempt to recreate "the shot".

Def'n (3): the basketball media's desire to anoint young, black, athletic shooting guards as "the next Michael Jordan, typically with disastrous results.