Every once in a while the right guy wins.

I love sports. It is the ultimate in reality television. Unlike episodic or comedy or "reality tv" where in either 26 or 56 minutes all the angst or all the fun is fully and carefully resolved, sports provides an arena where sometimes the "hated" opponent (see Boston V. NY 2004) prevails. Sometimes even in individual sports the "not so nice" (see Ilie Nastase) rises up to win.

Sometimes "sports" is overtaken by the "sportscasters" or just news stories, (see Tiger Woods 2009-current) where someone so talented does something so reprehensible that they become the story not the event and not the competition. I was a huge Mickey Mantle fan, and yet, Mickey was the Tiger Woods of his day in terms of personal life, maybe even worse, he just preceded the Twitter/TMZ/E-media days. To  his credit, just before his passing, he held a press conference where he did say, clearly from his heart, "don't be like me". But it did take illness and age for him to get there.

Today, Phil Mickelson won the Masters. He won in dramatic fashion, hitting shots that are reminiscent of those Kevin Costner's character was unable to pull off in the movie, but he was able to do it. He completely erased the stigma of his collapse at the US Open in Winged Foot. He blasted out of the pine straw, under the trees, over the creek to land on the compelling 13th hole when he could have put the ball in the water and just been another lovable loser. This past year, Phil's young wife Amy and his Mom both battled breast cancer. Through it all, Phil was pleasant and accommodating to the galleries and the media. He took time off to be with his family, but when he played it was not days and days of legendary coverage. He just played. Amy's treatments have gone well but have not been easy, yet he played and did interviews, and didn't complain.

Today, he bested Tiger Woods, he put his head down, and played as well as he can play, all the while bumping fists and taking the chances that gave him the occasional (not too flattering nickname) Phil the Thrill. And at the end, he hugged his faithful caddy companion Jim, and with tears in his eyes, first Amy and then his three daughters none of whom will likely every have to read a discouraging word about their dad.

Sometimes the right guy just wins, and when it happens you can't help but feel that positive things do happen to good people.