By Mike Fisher -- DallasBasketball.com
      Hello, Proud American. Uncle Sam and I have an offer for you. Will you please accept a US Olympic roster spot?
      You have a job you like with a salary for which you work hard. You have a family that loves you and needs you. But you’re all about mom and apple pie and the good ol’ U.S. of A, so unlike these selfish country-hating jocks, you’ll have no problem putting your cushy life behind you. Right?
      Tracy McGrady is joining the impressive ranks of NBA stars who are backing out of going to the Athens Olympics this summer? Fine. Uncle Sam needs you to go in his place.
      I’ve heard you say jingoistic things like “McGrady is unpatriotic’’ and “I’d serve if called upon’’ and “too bad my window of opportunity is passed.’’
      We sing along, screaming with pride, when Toby Keith sings “We’ll put a boot up your ass, it’s the American way!’’ We hear the DFW talk-show host who is saying he “wishes he could go.’’ We read the Salt Lake columnist who writes that backing out is “real weak. … What is proper and strong is for American NBA players, under such troubled global circumstances. … to join themselves with their countrymen. … and represent to a world that has forgotten what is decent and great about the United States, what is admirable. …’’
      Well, Toby, Talk-Show Guy and Columnist, I’ve got good news for you: You CAN demonstrate your patriotism! You can serve! You can go!
      There are holes to be filled. McGrady, who says honestly that he has security concerns, is out. Lumped into that same group, by the time all the dust settled, might be Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Mike Bibby, Jason Kidd and many more. Tennis star Serena Williams might pass. Concerns extend down to the US rowing team, where star Xeno Muller has pulled out. So, Proud American, let’s start filling those roster spots, you first!
      Now, you don’t happen to be a world-class rower, tennis player or basketball player, but that’s OK. Uncle Sam still needs you.
      What’s your specialty? If you can cook, if you can count, if you can change bedpans, Uncle Sam and I need you. Think you’re too fat? The Army has a weight-loss program that puts Jenny Craig to shame. Think you’re too old? The Army is signing up 17-to-34-year-olds right now.
      C’mon, Pat Tillman Jr. – bring it!
      Now, understand, this won’t be the same sort of duty as cheering for a basketball team, or writing for a newspaper, or working in the accounting department. And it’s not a John Wayne movie. In fact, the more truths we learn, the more scared you might deserve to be. Have you heard that NFL standout Tillman was in fact killed not killed by an enemy bomb in Afghanistan but rather by friendly fire? That subtracts nothing from his heroism, of course. … but it does help paint a more realistic picture of what’s going on in a profession where, I bet, the blood that is spilled on the battlefield is matched only by the urine spilled there, too, but petrified young men and women about to die for their country.
      Not SING for their country. Not TALK for their country. Not WRITE for their country. DIE.
      Aw, darn. You’re over 34? It occurs to me that there still might be a way to use you overseas (wouldn’t a bunch of fat 40-year-olds be effective while throwing themselves on grenades?), but the Army tells me no, so I guess you’re being denied our dream of fighting.
      OK, then you’re needed to help Uncle Sam doing what you apparently do best: Let other people possibly die while walking the walk. And you? You get to just keep talking the talk.