All too often the wonderfully talented athletes we have here at Ohio State catch a bad rap for things they do off the field.

One need not look too far into the recent past for examples, with the most striking being the events surrounding a few of our football players late last fall. In contrast, the good deeds they do off the field seem to receive much less attention.

Here is a little story about such a good deed that I had the good fortune of hearing about first-hand on Tuesday. It is one of those good deeds for which the deed doers expected no attention or reward. But I think it is safe to say, they really deserve it.

Almost every day I grab lunch from Mirror Lake Café. Over the past few months I have come to know the staff fairly well, and so many of us

greet one another when we see each other. They are quite courteous folks.

Tuesday, when I greeted one staff member, she returned my greeting with much more enthusiasm than usual. As she said hello, she was all

smiles, and her face was glowing with pride. I asked her what was up. She went on to tell me that the basketball team, who she often took

orders from this summer, had all signed a basketball and then delivered it to her today.

She said, “And I thought they had forgotten about me.” Then she said excitedly, “Even Coach Matta signed it!”

Hearing this story made me feel really great. It made me feel great to hear of such a kind, selfless act by such a talented and, I imagine, busy group of people. And it made me feel great to see the way she responded to it. It meant the world to her.