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Thursday, November 6, 2008

HUNTLEY ADDIE: If you take time, follow up, dreams come true

posted by BOFarrell at 8h48

On June 26, I wrote a column about how sometimes in life, there are no coincidences. This is the follow-up.
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Nine-year-old Eli Addis of Beaconsfield turned to his mother and father while watching Superbowl XLII last Feb. 3 and said, “Too bad Grandpa couldn’t be here to see this.”
Wayne Robinson, Eli’s grandpa, had passed away after a valiant battle with cancer a week before one of his favourite teams, the New York Giants, was to take on the heavily favoured New England Patriots in the Superbowl. Under direct instruction from his beloved grandpa, Eli and his family, sat and watched the game.
In case you are living under a rock, the New York Giants, with an MVP performance by QB Eli Manning, stellar defence and one particular 33-yard highlight-reel-pass-and-catch from Manning to David Tyree, won the Superbowl by a score of 17 to 14.
Eli knew that his grandpa had had something to do with it.
A week later, on Feb. 10, a day’s before Eli’s 10th birthday, His mother, Wendy, was at Babaloo’s restaurant regaling some friends about Eli’s undaunted confidence in his grandfather’s transcendent abilities when Steve Traynor, co-owner of Babaloo’s, chirped in: “This is just too freaky, Wendy. Eli is turning 10, right? And it’s Feb. 10 today, and you’re talking about the MVP of the Superbowl who shares not only your son’s name, but also wears jersey #10.”
The next day, a #10 Eli Manning jersey was hanging from the door handle of the Addis/Robinson home with a note that read: “To Eli; from Grandpa.”
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The follow-up:
Eli’s mother, is at work in early September. The phone rings. She picks it up.
“Hi Wendy, it’s me, Matt.”
Wendy replies: “Matt who?”
“C’mon Wendy, you know me; Matt!”
“Matt, I work in a high school. Do you have a clue how many Matt’s I know?”
“Fair enough,” Matt realized, “It’s Matt Tower, from high school.”
It turns out Matt Tower, who had been taught by Wendy’s dad, Wayne, had decided to do a ‘Google-search’ follow up on his old teacher where he stumbled upon my column and the above-mentioned story.
Matt is a sports promoter of sorts, a close personal friend of Joe Thornton and a man with some solid inside connections with the New York Giants organization.
After reading Eli’s story, he sent his contact from the Giants the column. The contact immediately called Matt back and said: “I’m taking this to Eli right now; he has to read it!”
On Friday, Oct. 31, a large envelope arrived from the New York Giants addressed to Eli Addis. Inside was an 81⁄2-X-11 photograph of Eli Manning signed: “To Eli, thanks for your support in the big game, Eli Manning.”
On top of that, another envelope arrived later that day. It contained a poster of “the catch,” the throw from Eli to Tyree. It was signed by both of them.
So cool!
I called 10-year-old Eli and asked him about the whole thing.
“All I could think was ‘Wow,’ ” was all he said.
I asked him if he was now officially going to be a Giants’ fan.
“I guess I have to be, eh?” he replied.
Do you have any idea how many people would go crazy for that picture or that poster, I continued?
“Yeah,” Eli said, “I actually know two, Alec and Alan, from soccer who would love it.”
Two!
That’s kind of funny when you think about it. When Eli gets a little older, I’m certain he’ll realize that that number could certainly be followed by at least five zeroes.
Eli Manning did not have to do what he did. He did it for young Eli without grand expectation. This merits respect.
For even if this seems like a simple gesture to you, the fact remains that it takes a person of integrity and substance to actually do this sort of follow-up. How easy it could have been to just nod, smile and move on. Too many icons today are all me, me, me; smile, nod and move on.
And yet follow-up is often everything.
This was, in case you didn’t catch it, the Superbowl offensive MVP writing to a 10-year-old West Island kid to thank him for his support.
That doesn’t happen every day.
Dear Eli Manning,
First, thanks for reading.
Second, please know that you’ve gained yourself a few new fans here in Montreal. And who knows, maybe you’ve even cemented a few more beyond.
Huntley Addie shares Eli’s belief that Grandpa Robinson has had a hand in all of this.