Triste despedida del Campeón (Farewell to the Champ)
I can´t believe Alexis Argüello is dead.
I´m still not over the deaths of David Carradine and Michael Jackson. They are among the people that you'll never meet, but are part of your universe. They were there before you, have been there all your life, and you expect them to always be. You think of them as part everybody´s world, they are almost deities, not supposed to be mortals.
I guess the celebrities that you actually get to meet, to talk to, and somewhat get to know as a human being; are part of a different clasification. My list is very short so far, but now I find myself grieving for a man I only met once. He was not any man, I must say. He was a "Three times Champion of the World", he was whole country´s hero. And, how many times one gets to meet a World Champion of anything?
Here´s the Champ, just as I remember him from about 8 years ago:
My team and I met him at a regional championship we attended, when I used to compete in sport karate tournaments. This was a pretty serious one (the kind they use for the rankings towards the really big events, such as the Pan American Games), that was celebrated in Managua City, and he was sponsoring it himself. He was there all the time, not very talkative but always smiling, encouraging the athletes and letting us take pictures with him (sadly, I lost mine!).
Oh, my... Managua City lost its Major, but a lot of us lost a human being we looked up to. I just hope that, if it was true he was suffering so much, he found his peace.
So, farewell Champ, we will miss you.