Michelle Wie ... romancing a game
If this story were a romance, it would be longer than Gone With the Wind. If it were a fairy tale, the prince would grow old tracking down the owner of the glass slipper. If it were a life lesson in patience and perseverance, it would be … perfect.
I don’t cry that often, but today I did. After I had been glued to the TV screen for three days, Sunday afternoon brought an emotional reward. When Michelle Wie tapped in a birdie putt on the last hole of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara to win her first LPGA tournament, the tears began. I let them flow.
Michelle is only 20, but this day has been anticipated for … forever. Especially here in Hawaii, where we have watched her long journey from a young teen phenom of the links, to an older teen who struggled with injury and disappointment, to her emergence this year as a happier person, and a top golfer, including that week in August in Sugar Grove, Illinois, when she led the American team to a thrilling victory over Europe in the Solheim Cup.
Today the glass slipper is where it belongs. The romance has a happy ending. If we view this story as a long running romance between the islands and Michelle Wie, perhaps the only local sports story that rivals this one would be Hawaii’s love for the University of Hawaii’s Rainbow Wahine volleyball teams.
The Wahine volleyball phenomenon has been running longer, but more smoothly. It’s a story of continuing success going back to the 1970s. When Michelle Wie was born, the Wahine had already won four national championships. But Michelle, in the past two or three years, has had to fight through more dark days than the volleyball girls, who have been part of a 35-year success story.
Michelle has grown into an impressive young woman, attending Stanford as she pursues her golf career, and yet there’s a still a lot of little girl in Michelle. Soon after her victory this afternoon the Associated Press reported some of her Twitter postings:
—wowwwww ...... never thought this would feel THIS great!!!!
—thanks
—thanks to allll my fans, family, nike and omega, david, friends, people at img for everything!!!
—wooooOoooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
—wow this is just sooo delicious.m
—such a great weekend. first stanford football dominated and now this!
wooowwwwwwwww i love life
Well, let’s all soak it in. Good for Michelle. Good for all her fans who stuck with her over the years and refused to listen to the cynics. Good for all of us who can enjoy this happy ending with her. We wish her more victories, on the golf course and in life, and we thank her for chasing her dreams.
Something in this for everyone, I suspect. For me, it feels like an early Christmas present. One I’ve been waiting for … forever.
Tags: Michelle Wie, Romance, Wahine Volleyball
