Imrem: Banks, Lynch offer very different options

The Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday that people in Dallas, where Ernie Banks grew up, are exploring ways to honor him.

On Pittsburgh radio the same day, Arizona Cardinals linebacker Larry Foote criticized Marshawn Lynch for sending a message to young kids that defying authority is all right.

Makes you ponder the contrasting ways to live life.

The ongoing outpouring of affection for Banks just might be a lesson for all athletes and probably all of us.

Winning isn't everything.

Nor is losing.

Many believe it's how you play the game.

That isn't it either.

What is everything is how you treat people and what they think of you in the end.

Banks died recently, and ever since his life has been celebrated even though he played his entire 19-year major-league baseball career with Cubs teams that failed to qualify for the postseason.

Banks was an obvious Hall of Famer. But even Hall of Famers are doubted if they never win a championship.

Still, winning obviously wasn't everything when it came to Ernie Banks.

Then there's the case of Marshawn Lynch.

The Seahawks' star running back played in the past two Super Bowls and won one. So he is not only a winner but a champion.

Yet winning isn't everything here either, is it?

Many who never met Ernie Banks loved him because of what they heard from those who did meet him.

Marshawn Lynch? Many who never met him dislike what they hear about him.

The fact is, of course, few know Lynch and Banks. The rest judge the images of them, the former's being terrible and the latter's being terrific.

People in Lynch's hometown of Oakland hold him in high regard because he and his foundation do considerable good in the city.

Most football fans - most Americans, for that matter - don't know that. They know only that Lynch came across during Super Bowl week as selfish, defiant of authority and a breaker/bender of rules.

Naturally, Seattle fans still like Lynch. He might behave like a jerk, but he's their jerk, just as Dennis Rodman was a jerk but our jerk.

What most people know about Lynch is not only what he said to the media but what he refused to say. Some might also know that he has had several brushes with the law.

Then there's that Lynch act where he scores a touchdown and grabs his crotch as if that were cute on national TV.

Lynch might not be as indecent a guy as his critics say or as decent a guy as his supporters say. There's always an in-between.

However, in a world where perception is reality, the widespread perception of Lynch is negative.

Even in Seattle, it's doubtful that Lynch - champion that he is notwithstanding - ever will be known as Mr. Seahawk.

Ernie Banks touched so many people in a positive manner that the masses were deeply saddened when news arrived that he died.

Privately, publicly and consistently, Ernie Banks did the right thing often enough to become the beloved Mr. Cub in life and in death.

In the end, Banks appeared happy with a statue and millions of admirers. In midlife, Lynch appears content with a small circle of friends and millions of dollars.

It just seems that winning isn't everything unless it means winning the hearts of friends and strangers alike.

That's a lesson all of us might want to consider: Do we want to be remembered like Ernie Banks or like Marshawn Lynch?

mimrem@dailyherald.com