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I want to be like Wayne

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Posted: Tuesday April 20, 1999 02:07 PM

I have decided that when I retire, I want to retire like Wayne Gretzky. Okay? In the past few days, I have watched about a billion hours of testimonials and tears as the Great One departed the NHL scene after 20 years of record-setting accomplishments and ... yeah, sure, that is what I want.

I want Madison Square Garden, filled to capacity, for my final day on the job. I want the crowd shouting my name as if it were some religious mantra. I want signs either telling me not to go or thanking me for all I have done. I want family and friends and famous names, gathered together, shaking my hand and telling me how much I meant to them.

I want the big-screen, high-definition television.

I want the car, driven right out onto the ice.

Do sportswriters also deserve such ceremonious send-offs? David E. Klutho

I want my number retired -- I guess in my case it would be my telephone number -- never to be used by anyone else again.

I want a last good skate, the wind at my back. I want the one last ovation. I want to walk away, 38 years old, whatever, with good health, rich, with as much of my life to live as I have lived already.

I want -- more than anything, I guess -- the immortality of Wayne Gretzky. Okay? Is that too much for any of us to ask for working as hard as we could for as long as we could? Immortality?

If it is, well, okay, I'll settle for the big-screen, high-definition television.

 

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