A teacher none of you had, who taught in a school no one has ever heard of died today, and received little recognition outside of the 1,400 person city he taught in. A group of men wearing jerseys and shorts won a basketball game today, and millions upon millions of people know it. There is, in fact, a point to this, and that is that people who do extraordinary things are never the ones who get the recognition they deserve. People have called the Detroit Pistons a "group of heroes" to the city of Detroit, and have apparently saved it from itself, when really all they've done is get paid millions upon millions of dollars to play a game. The people who actually deserve the recognition that's always given to other people for lesser work, never actually get the credit they should, like the teacher who died recently. Why should he deserve special recognition? Because he did things that no one normally does in this day and age. After being in the school system for more than thirty years, he didn't stop caring about his teaching, and was in fact working on lesson plans up until a few weeks ago. He didn't do the typical method of treating every student like a number, who sits in their class and has to learn about whatever subject they're teaching, instead he had a vested interest in his student's lives, knowing what they did, how they were, and anything that's important to them. He didn't do what so many teachers do when recommending a college, and suggest people go to a community college. Instead, he told people to do better than they thought they could, instead of just following the advice of a guidance counselor. None of you actually met this person in particular, but I'm sure that somebody knows someone like this, someone who does above and beyond what they need to, but never requests, nor receives, the credit they so richly dserve. Paris Hilton loses her dog or attends a movie premiere and it's front page news. A basketball team wins a game and they're given demigod status. I'm not saying that these people don't deserve some recognition for some special talent (except Paris Hilton, who has no worth), but lets put things in perspective! Teachers and people in related fields affect peoples lives in ways that even they don't know are possible. They suggest and teach things that you would never think to remember yourself, but for some reason, people who go out and play a game that has no bearing on your personal life, or do things that you could care less about are getting front page articles. People always seem to remember these teachers or kinds of people after they've left and gone, saying what a waste it is for them to leave, after all the good work they've done. This teacher in particular taught high school and middle school students, and at the same time managed to teach adult education classes at night. Not because of the money it brought him, or the recognition, it was the fact that he actually liked doing it. I'm not saying that the guy should have a plaque in his honor, but lets at least try to level the playing field so that people who actually make a difference get a little more attention, and those who win sporting events and movie awards are shoved down our throats.