Cuban Athletes and Niki Lauda

Cuban Athletes and Niki Lauda…..

What do these two things have in common you ask? Absolutely nothing! …… Except that both topics were in the news this past weekend and both are important.

Apparently the Cuban government will permit professional athletes to seek lucrative contracts with foreign leagues.  This of course is great news for the island´s athletes because until now they have been limited to play the sport of their choice within the confines of national borders, but also for the teams that will now be able to draw great talent; especially in baseball.  Cuba loves baseball and baseball loves Cuba back.  It is a love affair that has been going on since time in memoriam.  Cuba is the epicenter of baseball in Latin America.  I suspect that many a Cuban baseball player will seek, and find, fame with the major league teams in the in the U.S.   Cuba also produces great boxers.  Who can forget the great, late Teófilo Stevenson performance during the 1972 Munich Olympics?

I for one feel great about this move on behalf of Cuban professional athletes.  Let them seek glory and fame, it is good for their families, good for the sport, and good for the future of the Cuban people if this opening signals the advent of less restrictions on Cubans in general.

The great Niki Lauda, professional Formula One driver is in the news this weekend because a new movie depicting his rise to the top of his field came out this weekend.  The Ron Howard movie titled “Rush” is fantastic.  But what draws me to write about the movie is not so much the movie itself, as is the portrayal of Lauda´s life and personal drive.  There is no doubt that one can say that to risk your life in a tiny little car going way to fast in a course that has sharp curves and other fast moving vehicles is a fool´s sport.  No doubt about that. However, in life, once a person has chosen a field in which he wants to excel then it must be done with complete and total dedication if he or she is to succeed.

For me, the take away from the movie was valor.  If you are going to do something you have to go all in and do it right.  Lauda saw the possibilities for him car racing.  He pursued the sport methodically and with careful planning and determination until he reached the pinnacle of the profession and of the sport.  The terrible accident in 1976 during the German Grand Prix that left him badly burned was a hurdle he overcame with sheer will power and inner strength.  The year after that terrible accident, Lauda came back to become 1977 F 1 World Champion; a title he also won in 1975 and 1984.  The movie Rush is a great human story, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I am Attorney Martin E. Regan, Jr. and these are my personal thoughts……