DOWN WITH PANTS!

It was a sad day in the world of sports on Friday when it was learned that former Arizona State Sun Devil and Phoenix Cardinal Pat Tillman was killed in action in Afghanistan. Tillman left the NFL in 2002 to join the Army Rangers turning down $3.6 million in the process.

It is a very sad thing to happen. He is the only person that I personally knew of to die so far in the wars. However, we need to not hold Tillman up so high. His loss is no more important than the loss of every other soldier that has been sent out there to die. And from what I know reading about Tillman, I think he would agree.

There has been so much talk about the sacrifices he made giving up so much money and fame to join the army. We understand these sacrifices because they are literal. We can see what he gave up. Does that mean that we consider these sacrifices as more important than the families that other soldiers have left behind? There are plenty of other real people who have died that have sacrificed as much and we must not forget about them

This is not a slight to Tillman or the importance of his death. For the first time most people can identify with someone who has died in the wars. It also reminds us that we are fighting two wars at the same time. In Afghanistan the situation is still unstable and has been stripped down before completion in favor of Iraq and continues to get worse.

If we learn anything from Tillman it is that the personal nature of these wars is only going to increase with time. Soon we will all have to deal with the death of somebody that we personally know and not just from the football field. Maybe his death will help us understand the ridiculous nature of asking anybody for the ultimate sacrifice to fight wars that have no end and no meaning. Nobody should be asked to make that sacrifice in the name of revenge.