A Sidebar to Priority

Do you know who Rich Behm is?

Certainly you know who the Dallas Cowboys are? No, he's not Tony Romo's back-up or the heir to the throne once owner Jerry Jones steps down. He's not the longest standing season ticket holder in Dallas or an oil tycoon with field passes.

On May 2, Rich Behm was simply doing his job, one that he loved, one that has little prestige, pay, or forgiving hours. The Cowboys were practicing in their “indoor” practice faculty and Behm, a scouting assistant, was on-hand to watch many of the rookies and free agent signees. He may or may not have checked the weather for that Texas Saturday afternoon to find a storm headed his way. Surely that would not be of much consequence to the scouting department. It's not like the region had never experienced a storm in its history.

That powerful storm, though, struck the Dallas region with incredible force and, in the process, changed Behm's life forever. The unfortunate and painful aftermath of the gale destroyed the faculty and ripped apart Behm’s spinal cord, leaving the 33-year old paralyzed, never to walk again. Take a look at the facts in the link above - the story and the video tell the story.

Anyone can feel badly for Behm and everyone should be sending their prayers and care his and his family's way. Personally, I struggle with how this is a mere blurb on our sports ticker. I'm not suggesting this is a national or global tragedy and I completely understand there existing more dire stories. It’s a shame, though, that our headlines of sports discussion center around Brett Favre’s waffling or Roger Clemens’ fabrications or Mark Cuban yelling at Kenyon Martin’s mother. Those stories are mere fodder for the National Inquirer, in my opinion. Nobody will be drastically affected by any of those soap operas, no matter how positively or negatively they unfold. It’s a shame, too, that one of the leading stories in the wake of May 2nd real-life nightmare is “how are the Cowboys ever going to replace their indoor facility?”

I can’t imagine what Behm and his family are going through. I can’t fathom going to the pool and having the roof collapse above me while trying to evacuate all of the kids from the water. That’s not something your boss prepares you for in the interview, nor should he. I hope to continue to follow Behm’s progress and he attempts to pick the pieces of his life back together. I doubt the sports world will gain much perspective from Behm, but here’s hoping they realize just how lucky each of them is.