12/17/2004 - Baseball
Rounding The Bases Of Life

Perhaps you had a prior commitment. 


Maybe you just couldn't scrape together enough spare change to fork over the five-figure fee for what was being hailed as "The Ultimate Experience" last weekend in New York City. 

Or almost certainly, you simply had too much sense - not that much was required in the first place - than to join the others at the Astor Ballroom of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. 

That's where an estimated 60-100 individuals assembled both Friday and Saturday nights, forfeiting the $7,500 required to munch on caviar and shrimp while chewing the fat for all of five minutes with baseball's Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. 


Apparently, they figured a brief brush with fame and a bag of parting gifts made their money - which might otherwise go to feeding a hungry family for the next year - well spent.   Even if certain subjects were taboo - such as "the cream", "the clear" and "flaxseed oil" - while bending the ear of "BALCO Barry". 


Whether you're wont to either laugh at or cry over the utter absurdity of it all, allow me a few minutes - free of charge! - to introduce you to another baseball player. 


One who has plenty to say.  One who is actually worth listening to. 

Granted, Trevor Thompson will never see a single pitch from a pro batter's box, let alone bear down on Babe Ruth's and Henry Aaron's career home run records.  Nor will he pull down a single dime - forget $252 million! - for playing the game he loves.   

In fact, he was just a .226 hitter last spring as a part-time starter in the outfield for a team that went 14-36.   

But then again, should we ever notice a change in Thompson's cap size, rest assured it won't be some side effect of chemical engineering intended to build bigger biceps.   


In his case, it's because he would have overstuffed his cranium, filling his brain with knowledge and observations processed during his life's journey - remarkable as it is in only his 22nd year. 

Just last month, over a span of 48 hours, the Naval Academy senior attained two measures of lifetime achievement.  First, Thompson was accepted into the training program for Navy SEALs.  A day later, he was granted a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford. 

Talk about hitting to all fields.  With authority. 

"I don't think I could make the claim that I am spectacular in the sense that I see the world differently or specially," says Thompson.  "I am curious and I have always been that way.  That's something that my parents always developed in me, to keep thinking, keep testing, keep challenging things." 

A third-generation Midshipmen, Thompson seems to embody the words of his grandfather, Lt. Gen. Charles G. Cooper.   

"Think big, but live one page at a time," Cooper, a distinguished graduate of the Academy, would advise. 

And so Thompson has, always at work on the next chapter of his story - binding pages written from vast experiences with varied people and cultures to form an uncommonly broad perspective. 

As a student, he's seen first hand what it's like on a civilian campus, after originally attending the University of Southern California, free of any pressure to lengthen the family ties to Annapolis.  

"I think my grandfather was ecstatic that I did come here, but he never told me either way what he wanted or pressured me at all," said Thompson, whose father, Stephen, graduated in the Class of 1973.  "And my parents certainly didn't do that." 



Upon rethinking his initial college choice, Thompson fully committed himself to the Academy.   


At the head of his class academically, his leadership roles range from being the 1st Regimental Commander - responsible for half the Brigade - to serving as the baseball team captain. 

Clearly, he'd rather be out front than recede into the shadows. 

"Every time I screw up I want to be in the background," Thompson says with a laugh.  "I really enjoy leading.  Although I'm not great at it right now, it's one of my strengths and something I have a passion for doing. 


"They talk about the Academy being a leadership laboratory.  What I really think that means is the opportunity to practice leadership.  And boy, have I screwed up a lot.  But I've learned more from those times than from my successes.  At least, in my life so far, I've never had the desire to get in the background." 

His lab can be either Bancroft Hall or Max Bishop Stadium.   

"(At the Academy) you have wealthy, you have poor, you have people from Iowa and Maine," Thompson says.  " I've never had a roommate from the same state.  I've gotten to see people from all over and different backgrounds.  That's one of the great things about the school." 


But Thompson's world isn't confined within the walls surrounding The Yard.   Who he is - as scholar-athlete and officer-to-be - is also a reflection of his travel abroad. 

Twice he's ventured to Nicaragua, long a third-world source of struggle between conflicting ideologies. 

"What I thought of the Nicaraguans and how they lived, and then getting to meet them and understand their perspectives on the U.S. just enhances my understanding of the world far more than any studying within the country can do," Thompson says.  

On his first visit, he accompanied civilian students. 

"People who are really skeptical of the military," Thompson explains.  "They asked me so many questions, challenged a lot of the basic things that I hadn't put into words, about why I was in the military.  To be able to put that into words and explain why to people was really good for me. 

"The second time was with an Academy group.  We interacted quite a bit with the (Marxist) Sandinistas.  To have that connection of the military and those people who had been enemies (of the United States), we realized we're all pretty similar." 

Seeking common ground with others so seemingly different is what prompted Thompson's pursuit of a Rhodes Scholarship. 

"(At Oxford) they try to take people from all different backgrounds, who see the world differently, throw them together and see what happens," says Thompson, one of three Midshipmen who were awarded Rhodes Scholarships this year. 


"A huge pull for me in wanting to go to Oxford is the idea of being in an international community, being surrounded by people who see the world very differently than I do.  Through that you understand how to see things from all different perspectives and make sure that you really have the best understanding of the world that you can have at that point in your life." 


Trying to fully reveal his true character, Thompson spent more than a year preparing for the in-depth interviews he would face.  Of invaluable assistance was Lt. Dave Bonfili, himself a Rhodes Scholar. 

"I still can't believe how much time he spent with us and with me, in particular," Thompson says.  "I felt that (Lt. Bonfili) spent as much time as me preparing.  He would set up practice interviews and get us to go meet different Rhodes Scholars. 

"In the practice interviews that we had, that's when I was able to clarify exactly what I want to do and how I see things." 

Hailing from Kent, Wash., Thompson was initially nominated by the Academy, before earning the endorsement of state and regional committees. 

"I got asked some pretty weird questions.  In the regional interview, someone asked me what I think of the 'Powell Doctrine,'" Thompson recalled, citing the vision outlined by Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.  "I was then asked to create the 'Thompson Doctrine.'   


"On the spot, I had to make up this grand strategy that I would (implement) if I were in charge of the military.  I love questions that really look at the big picture.  Although I probably didn't have a very good answer for that, it's one of those things I think about all the time and I'll continue to think about for the next 10 years."

 
In which time, Thompson expects to apply his studies at Oxford "looking at history and examining British occupation and counterinsurgency" to a career in Special Forces.  

"Their role is to prevent large-scale combat if possible and to pull the trigger at the very last second and have that be the last resort," he says of Navy SEALs.  "So they're able to think very critically and figure out problems that don't necessarily always (require) force.   


"So many of their missions are strategic and require officers who think on their feet.  For that reason, I can't think of a better avenue - in the military at least - to utilize the critical thinking skills that I will develop (at Oxford)." 


Someday, his "big-picture" thinking may lead Thompson into a different line of service.  


"I could see myself having a career in the military and getting into some sort of government service," he says.  "International relations is really my passion, trying to bridge gaps and different communities around the world, trying to increase this mutual understanding.  I'm fascinated with international relations." 

Earlier this month, on the very weekend grand jury testimony was leaked to the media, in which Bonds admitted to "unknowingly" using performance-enhancing substances, Thompson was in Philadelphia for the Army-Navy game. 


There he met President George W. Bush, the one-time owner of a baseball franchise who used no less than the State of the Union address to send an anti-steroids message to the major sports leagues. 

Perhaps in his next speech to the country, Mr. Bush can tell the American public about one of the best and brightest who plays our national pastime.   


And while he's at it, why not endorse Trevor Thompson for "The Ultimate Experience" in government. 

After all, 2026 will be here before we know it.