Christian Curtis cares only for #1

“Jesus loves me, but He can’t stand you.”
— The Austin Lounge Lizards

A story last weekend in the Grand Rapids Press sports pages on local boy and former big leaguer Chad Curtis is yet another example of those who use their so-called Christian faith to hammer their opponents and expose their own selfishness.

In a story that should be regarded as astonishing because it appeared in print, some rehashing was made of Curtis’ public criticism in 1999 of New York Yankee teammate and shortstop Derek Jeter for fraternizing with the enemy during a brawl with the Seattle Mariners. It seems that Jeter and then-Mariner superstar Alex Rodriguez were friends and took a brawl during a game as an opportunity to chat amicably rather than engage in a barbaric practice that’s outside the rules of baseball yet mostly condoned by MLB and cheered on by the fans and sports casters. Curtis apparently questioned Jeter’s manhood and loyalty for not joining the fracas. I guess someone should ask Curtis: "Who Would Jesus Hit?"

Curtis, who grew up in Middleville and now lives in the Caledonia area, apparently believes that in order to be a true athlete you must treat your enemy with scorn, derision or downright hostility, that you certainly shouldn’t treat the opposition with respect. I'm sure many reading this will think I'm making some wild leap of logic but I think it’s that kind of Neanderthal thinking that continues to get the United States into dumb and costly wars like in Iraq and Vietnam. It's a symptom of a culture and society that thinks being "number 1" is the goal no matter how you get there. It's also shows that often someone can give lip service to practicing Christianity without actually understanding what Jesus was trying to teach.

However, the non-story published in the GR Press Sunday simply once again pointed to Curtis’ character, or lack thereof. Chad Curtis always has been a selfish, spoiled child, and because he’s a big-time Major Leaguer, he gets respect he doesn’t deserve.

Curtis, while he was playing for the California Angels back in the early 1990s, once came to an elementary classroom at Thornapple Kellogg in Middleville to tell the kiddies all about how being a good Christian has a lot to do with being a success. Not long afterward, the Angels traded him, with the manager commenting he rarely, if ever, had seen a player more selfish than Curtis.

By the time Curtis finally gave up his baseball career, he had played for seven teams in 10 years. He was swapped around an awful lot, and I heard not very many teams were willing to put up with his behavior. In one case, it was reported that he got into a altercation with a teammate, leading to his being asked to pack his bags yet again. Not exactly what I would call a good, Christian role model for the kiddies.

After he retired, he came back to this area with his riches and he bought a horse ranch near Alto and after earning a bachelor’s degree, he landed an elementary teaching position at Caledonia. He became close friends with now discredited former Superintendent Wes VanDenburg, who attempted to engineer the hiring of Curtis as head varsity baseball coach, even though the Caledonia High School Fighting Scots had done pretty well of late.

Curtis eventually landed the job, though VanDenburg got the ax after it was determined the school chief had played fast and loose with his credit card and expense accounts. When he was arrested, Curtis posted bail.

In one of the more bizarre school board meetings anyone will ever see, VanDenburg, just before he was canned, showed school board members a video of Curtis hitting a World Series game-winning homer for the Yankees. So what’s that got to do with education?

We live in a society that worships athletes far more than what they deserve and pay them far more than what they deserve. It’s gotten so bad that we even listen to their advice rather than more worthy or knowledgeable people, and we even elect them to positions they don’t deserve because of their celebrity status.

And in more recent years we’ve been subjected to their selfish and public pronouncements that “God loves me so much he makes the outcome of my career and contests be in my favor.” A few examples:

• Remember that big girl who played for Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University a couple of years ago, who said during an NCAA tournament press conference that the Lord was on her team’s side and they would win it all? Falwell and company were squashed big time in their next ballgame.
• Remember Tigers’ pitcher Frank Tanana, after shutting out the Toronto Blue Jays in a playoff game in 1987, saying on TV, “I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for this moment?” Tanana’s career didn’t go places after that.
• Remember the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills players on each sideline praying as the Bills’ kicker was set to kick the winning field goal in the Super Bowl? Apparently, God was a Giants fan.
• Remember Monte Clark’s infamous prayer in the Lions’ 1983 playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, when Eddy Murray missed a 41-yard field goal that would have won it. Must be God loves Frisco, but He can’t stand Clark.

But once again, after reading the GR Press article, I wondered why this was news. It seems A. Rod and Jeter are no longer best of friends, which prompted some ace sports reporter to dredge up an incident from more than seven years earlier. Maybe this story would have been more appropriate on the cover of “People,” or better yet, the National Inquirer. Or maybe it really was appropriate in the pages of the Grand Rapids Press, a newspaper that should really be printed on toilet paper so it can serve it's proper function: taking care of #2.