Word of the Day
Adumbrate (v., ah-DUMB-brate)
To faintly outline or foreshadow, or to guardedly disclose something. Since this is a fancy-sounding word, the only thing being adumbrated when you use it is people rolling their eyes.
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Death took Jonah Lomu, because no one on a rugby pitch could - Spencer Hall
Rugby legend Jonah Lomu passed away yesterday at 40, and it's hard not to think of what might have been. What we have is simply incredible; a 6'5", 270lb man flying down the wing, nearly unstoppable:
An English rugby player, when asked how to stop Lomu, replied "I suppose you might stop him with an elephant gun." That is a fair summary. It is the closest thing we will see to LeBron James playing football, but perhaps even more awe-inspiring.
But beyond the mythic figure of rugby was a remarkably wonderful individual, and Spencer Hall's tribute to Lomu gets both halves right:
The other part about that exposure: Lomu was all too happy to reveal his humanity, even as his health declined. He helped make documentaries about his life, he appeared in ugly sweaters for UNICEF. Lomu openly talked of how he knew he might die young, and that he wanted to make it to 55 in order to see his young children reach adulthood. He kept busy, working the endorsement circuit and politely manhandling kids at youth rugby camps around the world. He visited Joost van der Westhuizen, the South African who prevented him from getting a try in 1995 in the final, and told him he loved him as Westhuizen sat in his wheelchair, paralyzed by ALS. Three days ago, he was in Dubai with his family, tweeting out pictures of the French flag unfurled across the front of the Burj Al Arab hotel. He was, in the end, a nice man with a horrible draw in life who played it about as well as one could.
A sad but beautiful story. RIP Jonah Lomu.
SportsRugbyAll BlacksJonah LomuTributesForces of natureSpencer Hall