Tragedy in a Game Winning Shot

It's a classic tale.  A tremendous leader carries his followers to great heights, overcoming tremendous odds to win the game, the war, the contest, etc.  A perfect example of this kind of storyline is Braveheart, in which the legendary William Wallace leads the Scottish commoners in battle against the mighty English.  The odds couldn't have been much worse, but with a leader like Wallace to rally them, the commoners were able to win many of those battles.  The tragedy of the story, however, is that William Wallace was not able enjoy the victory.  He died shortly after the victory.  And I'm sure many of you know the story.

The title of this movie is strangely fitting of a story that happened in a Michigan high school just last night.  Fennville High School was 19-0 entering their game last night led by star player and leading scorer Wes Leonard.  By all accounts everyone loved the 16-year-old.  Viewed as a very atypical high school superstar because he was humble and friendly to everyone.  He was also the quarterback of the football team. 

So last night, when the game was tied in overtime, and their 19-0 start to the season in jeopardy, the team obviously turned to their leader.  With 30 seconds left in the game, Leonard took the ball down the floor and scored the winning shot.  You can imagine the scenes that followed.  The fans rushed the floor, and it was pandemonium.  However, in the midst of all of that, Wes Leonard had collapsed.  Just moments after scoring the game winning shot, Wes Leonard died of dilated cardiomyopathy, or in layman's terms, enlarged heart failure. A tragic interruption to a thrilling story.  My heart goes out to the family and friends of Wes, who must be searching for answers right now.  It may be difficult to understand, but there's a reason for everything.  And while he may have not been able to enjoy his victory for long, he went out on top, and that's what any athlete wants.