“Hero’’ is an overripe word in sports. Loose use has trampled its meaning, its precision, its special-ness. “The hero of the game’’ is an oxymoron. Lauren Hill was not a basketball-playing hero. She was a hero who happened to play basketball. The difference is enduring and profound.
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“An angel taking flight is never cause for weeping.’’ I wrote that more than seven years ago, at the memorial service for a young woman who died when she was just 19 years old. I’d say Lauren Hill died too early, but I don’t know what that means.