I recently watched a Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel segment about a teenage boy who is committed to reuniting former Negro league players with each other and with their glory days. The story alone is inspiring and intriguing, and left me shedding a couple tears. But when you realize how much this young man has done, it's actually quite amazing!

I realize this post is a bit of a digression from what I typically write about. However, the online efficiency with which Cam Perron tracks down people and information was my motivation for writing this post. But before I can get into that, I want to give you some background on the actual story.

It all started six years ago when a young Cam Perron became fascinated with the "under dogs" of the Negro Leagues of baseball. He started researching and the more he found out, the more he wanted to know. He started sending letters, through the good old snail-mail means, to many of the former players he could track down. And, many of them started writing him back. He developed relationships and regular communications with many of these former baseball players.

Four years ago, Cam, at the age of 14, attended a Negro League Reunion, accompanied by his mom. Ever since, he has been a regular at these yearly events and is responsible for bringing together many of the former ball players. Cam has accumulated mass amounts of baseball cards and baseballs (all signed) for his personal collection.

But more importantly, he has contributed to the awareness and restoration of the former glory of these men's lives. It is estimated that 90-95% of all Negro League data was never documented. Statistics weren't recorded regularly, let alone archived. Photos and news stories are difficult to come by. And Negro League players weren't honored on baseball cards.

This is where the power of the internet and seemingly extreme resourcefulness comes in.

Through his research, Cam has submitted documentation to Major League Baseball, resulting in some of these men now being able to collect pensions from MLB! He has tracked down scrapbooks full of stories, photos, and memorabilia of numerous players' careers.

And, what does Cam do with all this information? He sends it, or gives it, to the players or their surviving families. He even started designing baseball cards on his computer and printed them up with the players' photos (past or present) to provide them with the honor of seeing themselves memorialized on a card!

The sincere gratitude and excitement of watching these former players remember their glory days, and watching them show their kids and grandchildren, will leave you feeling inspired and uplifted.

If you watch the whole segment on HBO, one of the most entertaining aspects is how humble and mellow Cam Perron is. When Bryant Gumbel asks him how he finds these people, Cam's answers are so simple and nonchalant, you'd think he was answering a question about watching paint dry. For example, Cam has tracked down former players who have been homeless. Gumbel's shock and admiration of such a feat is almost comical but Cam's response is priceless: "I check their churches."

While Cam's original strategy involved mailing letters to individuals, now he uses the power of the internet. He can essentially find almost anyone. He scours websites and online resources to track down people, information, statistics, stories, photos, and anything else of value. He has found information that the players themselves, and even museums, haven't been able to track down.

Through his extensive research and skilled online tactics, he has significantly changed the lives of countless people! Cam is your average 18 year old college student, having fun, and yet who is extremely talented with online capabilities. If this isn't a direct testament to the power of online resources, and essentially social media, I don't know what is.

You can see a short clip of the HBO interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM7kopK15-o

And if you have HBO, I highly recommend you find this segment, either on tv or online, and watch it. I promise you will be entertained!