The tragic events of the past week overshadowed what now seems to be a very trivial personal disappointment.

Reportedly, Michael Jordan told three Chicago reporters Sept. 10 he is returning “for the love of the game.”

As a Chicago native and lifelong Bulls fan, this was not good news.

My admiration and respect of “His Airness” will certainly fade from the level of awe I was in when I saw him make the last shot of his career to win his final NBA title with the Bulls.

Fans will get to see the changed Jordan match up with current NBA superstars - Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Michael Finley and Vince Carter. Jordan’s 38 year-old legs won’t be able to handle those kids.

It’s not that I wouldn’t want to see the old No. 23 hitting fadeaway jumpers or soaring through the lane - I just don’t think it’s possible.

And by the unspeakably high standards he set for himself in the past, anything other than being the best won’t be enough. It wouldn’t be Jordan.

ESPN The Magazine’s Rick Telander spent a day with Jordan at Hoops the Gym in Chicago and reported on seven MJ pickup games. Telander wrote of a limping Jordan, a tired Jordan and, most prominently, an old Jordan. A mortal Jordan.

It has always hurt me to watch my childhood hero fail, as he did in his attempt at professional baseball and his attempt at an Academy Award in “Space Jam.” But those failures weren’t on the basketball floor, and who can expect one man to be the best at everything?

But I do expect him to be the best at one thing - basketball. And Jordan won’t be the best if he plays again.

Optimists will rant about his desire, his competitiveness and his undeniable will to win. I use the same defenses when I argue about his place among basketball’s elite.

But as painful as being a realist is for me, Jordan cannot and will not return to the level we remember him at. That alone is reason for him not to comeback.

Sure, it will be great for the league. Jordan is a great television draw. He’ll fill the arenas he plays in.

But for a man who had said he wanted to retire at the top, his legacy will be tainted by another trip back. That legacy is worth more than any TV contract or stadium gate receipt.

The Wizards will have MJ now, a claim no other professional sports team or city should be able to make.

But despite my angst and criticism, I realize something now that I didn’t know when I sat down to write this.

I have no choice but to cheer for Jordan to be the player he once was, even if it’s just for one single play and not entire games. I’ll cheer for him to defy Father Time the same why he defied gravity throughout his career.

I’ll still secretly want to “be like Mike.”

I want him to be Air Jordan, to win dunk contests by jumping from the free-throw line. I want him to wag his tongue during a drive through a crowded lane and to shrug his shoulders after hitting six straight three-pointers.

I want Jordan to drop 50 points on the New York Knicks, leaving Spike Lee nothing to do except watch in amazement.

I want MJ to be the MJ I remember, the one I idolized and the one who was bigger than the game itself.

I want Jordan to be Jordan - I just don’t think he can be.

Dan Wokie, State News volleyball reporter, wishes he was a baller, that he was taller and that he had a girl so he could call her. Say yo at woikedan@msu.edu