H1Man
04-04-2006, 02:36 AM
Gone "Fishin'"
Jiri Fischer is alive...he can't fly aboard an airplane, can't drive a car, can't do anything that might elevate his heart rate. But Jiri Fischer is ALIVE! To him that 's all that matters."Fish" will be a part of the Red Wings Pregame Show with John Keating prior to Monday nights' game in Calgary. I suggest you not only watch it, but record it. You'll want to watch it again and again. And the first thing you'll notice is just how appreciative he is to still be among the living.
I've had a couple of opportunities to see Jiri and speak with him at "The Joe" as this season has rolled on. He attends most home games and whenever I've seen him up close and personal I couldn't get over just how "normal" he appeared to be. By normal I mean you'd never know a brush with death had, at least temporarily, robbed him of his passion - hockey. You'd never know he was limited in what he can do in his day-to-day life. You'd never know his outlook on life has been changed forever. You'd never know these things because everytime I've seen Fish, he's had a big smile on his face and nothing but positive things to say about everything.
Here's a taste of my last conversation with him...
TT; "So Fish, what's up, have you gone home yet?" (home to the Czech Republic)
JF: "No. The doctors won't let me fly."
TT: "Ah, that sucks."
JF: (Big Smile) "No it doesn't. The alternative sucks... They won't let me drive either."
TT: "Dude, you can't drive...ah, that sucks."
JF: (Big Smile) "No it doesn't...the alternative sucks...hey man, I'm still here. Nothing sucks. Nothing sucks at all."
After our converstation he bounced down the hallway like he had not a care in the world. This guy loves life. He's not feeling sorry for himself because he can't play hockey. Rather, in the immortal words of Lou Gerhig, he feels like "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." And I'll tell you right now, his attitude is infectious. He doesn't want anyone's pity, he doesn't want anyone down about what happened. He's grateful for everyone's well wishes, but he also wants everyone to know that life is for the living and he is living it to the fullest every single day. He's thankful for every single day. He's embracing every single day, along with embracing all the loved ones in his life every minute of every day..
Fish is a great guy who just happened to play hockey for the Red Wings. But his greatness as a person has now been elevated, largely because of how he's handling not playing for the Wings. Nothing he could have ever done on the ice could be as impactful as the lessons he can teach us off it. Lessons that have nothing to do with hockey and every thing to do with loving the game of life.
He won't be on the ice for the Wings during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but I'm telling you, Jiri Fischer is a winner folks. The biggest winner I've ever known.
http://blogs.foxsports.com/trevorthompson/2006/04/03/Gone_Fishin
Jiri Fischer is alive...he can't fly aboard an airplane, can't drive a car, can't do anything that might elevate his heart rate. But Jiri Fischer is ALIVE! To him that 's all that matters."Fish" will be a part of the Red Wings Pregame Show with John Keating prior to Monday nights' game in Calgary. I suggest you not only watch it, but record it. You'll want to watch it again and again. And the first thing you'll notice is just how appreciative he is to still be among the living.
I've had a couple of opportunities to see Jiri and speak with him at "The Joe" as this season has rolled on. He attends most home games and whenever I've seen him up close and personal I couldn't get over just how "normal" he appeared to be. By normal I mean you'd never know a brush with death had, at least temporarily, robbed him of his passion - hockey. You'd never know he was limited in what he can do in his day-to-day life. You'd never know his outlook on life has been changed forever. You'd never know these things because everytime I've seen Fish, he's had a big smile on his face and nothing but positive things to say about everything.
Here's a taste of my last conversation with him...
TT; "So Fish, what's up, have you gone home yet?" (home to the Czech Republic)
JF: "No. The doctors won't let me fly."
TT: "Ah, that sucks."
JF: (Big Smile) "No it doesn't. The alternative sucks... They won't let me drive either."
TT: "Dude, you can't drive...ah, that sucks."
JF: (Big Smile) "No it doesn't...the alternative sucks...hey man, I'm still here. Nothing sucks. Nothing sucks at all."
After our converstation he bounced down the hallway like he had not a care in the world. This guy loves life. He's not feeling sorry for himself because he can't play hockey. Rather, in the immortal words of Lou Gerhig, he feels like "the luckiest man on the face of the earth." And I'll tell you right now, his attitude is infectious. He doesn't want anyone's pity, he doesn't want anyone down about what happened. He's grateful for everyone's well wishes, but he also wants everyone to know that life is for the living and he is living it to the fullest every single day. He's thankful for every single day. He's embracing every single day, along with embracing all the loved ones in his life every minute of every day..
Fish is a great guy who just happened to play hockey for the Red Wings. But his greatness as a person has now been elevated, largely because of how he's handling not playing for the Wings. Nothing he could have ever done on the ice could be as impactful as the lessons he can teach us off it. Lessons that have nothing to do with hockey and every thing to do with loving the game of life.
He won't be on the ice for the Wings during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but I'm telling you, Jiri Fischer is a winner folks. The biggest winner I've ever known.
http://blogs.foxsports.com/trevorthompson/2006/04/03/Gone_Fishin