Yankee Ambassador
By lefty
I was never a Bernie Williams fan. I am now. I guess over the years the pinstripes distracted me from seeing the man. But Thursday night, I was lucky enough to have a couple of tickets to the Red Sox vs. Yankees. Not a baseball game, but a forum on the famous rivalry hosted in the grand Bushnell Theater in Hartford, CT as part of "The Connecticut Forum" series. During the discussion, panelist Carlton Fisk mentioned how he once looked at a younger Bernie Williams and thought that he needed to toughen up if he was ever going to make it in the big leagues. Apparently Bernie was being bullied by a couple of the Yankee players at the time and none other than Don Mattingly stepped in to protect the young soon-to-be superstar. Bucky Dent filled the story out a bit and mentioned that Williams would rather play his guitar than get into it with the obnoxious players. Mike Francesa and Bob Ryan all said nice things about Williams so I figure whenever the Red Sox and Yankees agree on something, it's got to be true.
Over the last few days we’ve had a string of bad sports news. The NHL canceled its season, Jose Canseco’s steroids accusations, and the verbal shots volleyed between some Red Sox and Yankee players have been grabbing all the headlines. However, the New York Times, published a story by Jack Curry Friday about the latest goodwill ambassador to Colombia. It is Bernie Williams. It’s a lengthy story and I highly recommend the read. It turns out that Williams, a week away from having to report to spring training, accepted an offer to take part in an international initiative to improve global cross-cultural understanding. Protected by the United States military, Williams entered the tumultuous country armed with baseball equipment, his guitar and his reputation. He ignored the dangers of guerrillas and drug lords to help bring a better understanding of US culture to the young Columbians.
His journey was about influencing people. “If anything,” he said, “he felt a 120-hour embrace.”
“I was looking beyond the political picture to the people," Williams said. "It's different parts of the world and different cultures, but, in some ways, we are all similar. It's people."
When Brian Sexton, the senior advisor and Special Coordinator for Culture of the United States State Department, contacted Williams about becoming an ambassador with CultureConnect, Williams was intrigued. It took about three years to coordinate the arrangements with the Yankees for Williams to become the country's 12th cultural ambassador, joining luminaries like Yo-Yo Ma and Wynton Marsalis.
The program uses people in fields like music, art, literature and sports to enhance the understanding of America among young people in other counties. Williams agreed to a two-year commitment and is expected to make four trips during that period, all paid for by the United States. He and Sexton have discussed going to Japan and the Philippines after the coming season.
"It was," Sexton said, "Bernie's great adventure."
