Without sports, Manny Ramirez is a nobody. His only marketable skill—the ability to hit a ball with a wooden stick with some regularity—doesn’t really lend itself to any profession besides the one that he finds himself currently employed in. Ramirez cannot be great without baseball.

But thanks to the miracle of sports, we have a generation of Manny Papi Sullivans and Johnny Pedro O’Learys popping up all over New England. Grown men wept during the 2005 Red Sox parade, and some people uttered the phrase, “now I can die in peace”, and actually meant it.

Through his actions, one man was able to affect the lives of millions of people. If that isn’t great, what is? (Note: Yankees and Cardinals fans, don’t answer that).

I was inspired to write this article after reading an article by ESPN’s Pat Forde about Eastern Kentucky guard Zach Ingles. Ten years ago, at the age of 12, Zach informed his mother that he was going to play in the NCAA tournament someday. That night, Cynthia Ingles was killed in a car accident.

Zach never forgot his words to his mother. Two weeks ago, Eastern Kentucky was battling with Austin Peay in the OVC championship game, with a NCAA tournament berth on the line. With 19 seconds remaining and Eastern Kentucky leading by a single point, Ingles found himself 26 feet from the basket, with the ball in his hands and the shot clock winding down.

He didn’t hesitate.

Ingles’ shot was good, sending the Colonels to the tournament for the first time in 26 years and—perhaps even more impressively—making Zach a man of his word.

And that, my friends, is greatness.

–Staff writer Jonathan P. Hay can be reached at hay@fas.harvard.edu.