Ever since the national sportsmanship awards settled for good in St. Louis in 2005, we have had a close look at some of the greatest deeds in sports.

Most of the acts that have been honored by the Musial Awards have developed organically.

For every embarrassing act similar to the three UCLA freshmen men’s basketball players who were caught shoplifting on a recent trip to China, there are hundreds of stories of good deeds by one of the Bruins’ best athletes of all time.

That all-time UCLA great is Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the pride of East St. Louis who exemplifies all that is good about our community. She was honored with the Musial Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor of the night.