Johnny Tauer is an American psychologist, professor and basketball coach. He is the current head coach of the St. Thomas Tommies men's basketball team.[1][2] (wikipedia)
As a function of us wanting to believe we can cheer our team on to victory, we feel much closer to those individuals.
He allowed spectators to see his human side. He wasn't a chiseled athlete, like a Greek god or goddess.
I think we all feel, then, that that's a part of us that we invested a lot in that's now gone.
Most kids grew up in the Twin Cities dreaming of being Kirby Puckett.
