It’s More Than Just a Game
There are two tales intertwined here, one of horror and inhumanity, one of hope and humanity.
They both concern death: dying in despair and dying with dignity. And they both concern the San Jose Earthquakes, the Galaxy’s opponent tonight at the Rose Bowl.
Together, they underline the fact that there is far more to sports than what goes on between the lines. As always, the winners and losers are not necessarily those the scoreboard indicates.
Abdul Thompson Conteh is a 29-year-old forward for the Earthquakes. A native of Freetown, Sierra Leone, he came to the United States as a teenager and played at Marshall High in Fairfax, Va., and at the University of the District of Columbia before turning professional in 1993. This is his rookie season in MLS.
Jimmy Conrad is a 23-year-old defender for the Earthquakes. Born in Arcadia, he played at Temple City High, San Diego State and was a member of UCLA’s 1997 NCAA championship team. He turned professional in 1998 with the San Diego Flash of the A-League. This is his second season in MLS.
Tonight, they will both be playing for San Jose, but more important, for their families--one in civil war-ravaged Sierra Leone, the other in Southern California.
One estimate puts the number of people killed in the nine-year-old war in the West African country at 75,000. At least 20 of them have been members of Conteh’s family.
Conteh, who has played 17 games for Sierra Leone’s national team, as well as for Rayados of Monterrey and Toluca in Mexico, for Atletico Marte in El Salvador and for Communicaciones in Guatemala, does what he can.
He sends money and clothing to relatives, but whether they are received is unknown.
Conteh, whose parents, fearing future violence, sent their eight children to the United States one by one in the 1980s, wishes the American public would be more aware of what is happening in the country of his birth, but understands why it is not.
“I’m not blaming the American people,” he told the San Jose Mercury News. “The people who come to Earthquakes games are not going to be looking for positions on things happening all over the world. They have their own lives to lead.”
And sometimes those lives include turmoil of a different but equally heart-wrenching sort.
By all rights, Conrad should not be playing tonight. He received his third yellow card in three games last weekend in Kansas City and was therefore suspended by MLS for this evening’s game.
But tonight is the first time that his stepfather, Rob Doty, the man who raised him from age 3 and who introduced him to soccer, will have a chance to see him play in a professional game.
There won’t be another chance because Doty, 43, is dying of cancer. When the Galaxy next plays San Jose, in August, it might be too late.
The cancer was discovered four years ago, and treated. It reappeared in Doty’s lymph nodes last October and, despite chemotherapy, had invaded his liver and brain by March.
“It’s not getting any better,” Conrad said.
The Earthquakes appealed to the league and the Galaxy, asking that Conrad’s suspension be lifted for tonight’s game and that he sit out the team’s Aug. 30 game at the Rose Bowl instead.
Both agreed.
“I coached Jimmy as a college player, and now he has a unique family situation,” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid told the Mercury News. “I thought at this time it was the right thing to do. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”
Said Conrad: “Sigi said, ‘That’s fine as long as you don’t play too well.’ He understands the situation, and he understands the importance of life in general, something bigger than the sport itself.”
