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By Jim Caltagirone
For the Mirror
Scoop a cup of water from a freshwater stream and you may see a few random particles floating around.
Place a drop of that water under a microscope and you'll discover a complex world of living organisms.
Shohei Ohtani and Deion Sanders are experiencing a metamorphosis that is easy to overlook. Like a precious few in history, they are elevating themselves beyond the relevance of their sport.
These men have an aura about them.
Babe Ruth had that aura. So, too, did Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods, Billie Jean King, Michael Jordan and Bear Bryant.
The comparisons of Ohtani to Ruth began in the two-way player's first season with the Angels and seemed premature.
Now they appear prescient.
As of Labor Day, Ohtani was tied for the major league lead with 44 home runs. He ranked first in slugging percentage (.654), fifth in runs (102), sixth in runs batted in (95) and eighth in batting average (.304).
Before suffering a torn UCL in his right elbow, Ohtani was a headliner on the mound as well, just like Ruth early in his career.
In 23 starts, Ohtani was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 11.4 strikeouts per 9 innings.
Over the 63-year history of the Angels' franchise, Ohtani is the only player with 40 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season. As a testament to his unparalleled brilliance, he's done it twice.
"In so many ways, Ohtani perfectly represents why we still love baseball after all these years," Joe Posnanski wrote in the Washington Post. "That is because Ohtani, like baseball itself, blends the surprising and unsurprising like nothing else."
With the rockstar-like arrival of Sanders at the University of Colorado, college football has entered a new era. FBS programs that boast luxurious facilities, national championship pedigrees and NIL incentives are now challenged to recruit against a widely popular cultural icon who inspires like a preacher, instills discipline like a drill sergeant and dispenses tough love like a father.
Granted, Colorado's upset win over TCU does not elevate Sanders to the stature of Rockne, Paterno and Wilkinson. But it does signal a remarkable offseason transformation of a program that posted only two winning seasons over the last 17 years.
Charismatic and supremely confident, Sanders is skillfully merging style with substance to advance his program. Beneath the cowboy hat and behind the sunglasses, Coach Prime is an organizational genius.
He has assembled a veteran coaching staff that includes assistants who won national championships at Alabama and Florida State and several who coached in the NFL.
The roster is laden with talent bolstered by the transfer portal.
All of a sudden, the same people who regarded Colorado as a sideshow are now looking for a spot on the bandwagon.
"Deion Sanders is more than a personality. That guy can flat out coach," said ESPN commentator Dan Orlovsky. "Just to put it into context, first of all, he's perfect for college football right now. He is so needed in college football. We're talking about personality. We're talking about fun. We're talking about joy."
This is Ohtani's sixth season in the majors.
After three seasons as head coach at Jackson State, Sanders is in his first season at the FBS level.
Those sample sizes are already big enough to conclude that the impact of both men has been otherworldly.
Jim Caltagirone writes a monthly column for the Mirror. He also comments on college football's national scene for Gameday.