they voted no and it failed. but the house did it sometimes you're going to make a miss a shot, but i'm saying if you disgrail with me, challenge he, but challenge me on the merit of the idea. >> find out how kevin johnson, now sacramento's first african- american mayor is making the difference in in his own home town. and it's not just johnson making an impact, we'll profile several former athletes now making the political rounds. and you're the biggest hockey fan on the planet, right? but where do you draw the line between the casual fan and the

hockey obsessed? net impact starts right now. and hello, everyone, and welcome to this edition of net impact, i'm art finell. you know, there's a long list of former professional athletes who later segued into a life of politics, guys like bill bradry, j.c. watts, steve largent, just to name a few. they've all made valuable contributions in the political arena for sure, but you canned a kevin johnson's name to that list. he was called k.j. on the court, and he was a huck of a point bard for the phoenix suns, made the all stars several times, but now he's called his honor, as the first african-american mayor of his hometown sacramento. we look at a day in the life of kevin johnson. >> reporter: it's 5:00 a.m.,

the city sleeps, but kevin johnson has traded in his comfortable bed for a pair of running shoes. moonlit pavement. and the biggest day of his young political career lies before him. >> for me, it's about staying in good shape, mental, physical, spiritual, and running allows that happen. when you get up at 4:30 to run, there's no distraction, it's quiet out. it allow use tow think and reflect, and a chance to certainly get the right perspective and early in the morning allows that really take place, because once the hustle and butle of the regular day starts, it's very, very difficult to have a private moment and get a peace of mind. >> reporter: with his workout behind him, the mayor begins what promises to be a very long day. even a quick car ride to a local television station is an opportunity to conduct business. >> this is kevin johnson

calling, the mayor of sacramento, is the congresswoman ready? yes, ma'am, how are you doing this morning? i'm doing very well. yes, ma'am, i just finished a run and a workout. yes, indeed. >> on my desk, there's a gavel that my brother gave me on christmas day of december of 2007. i announced my canadacy on march of 2008, so my brother was the first one to kind of somehow have this vision that i should run for mayor of the city of sacramento. the next thing i know, i'm throwing my hat in the ring. >> reporter: the ride to sacramento's state of the city address is a familiar one. >> when i was growing up, everything that impacted me was

in this two-mile radius. i do remember this growing up, that in my neighborhood, which was a poor are in city community, didn't have sidewalks. now as mayor, i know how to make sure to there's no equality across neighborhoods, not just the nice neighborhoods get things that others don't. >> reporter: he may have the home court advantage, but johnson is no longer in his comfort zone. in a matter of hours, the eyes of his hometown will be on him. the clock is ticking. >> good morning. >> how are you? first and foremost, i would like to report on the state of our city the economic crisis comes opportunity. can you go back? isn't this letter size here different than what we just had? >> yeah, that's the way it came to me. >> this will also help us in

our goal to decrease crime and improve public safety. in terms of education, it's the first time we've brought together superintendents of the city to discuss the challenges that we are facing in our city. people's livelihoods hang in the balance. i can't read and talk. i'm not good at both. that's my weakness when i try to read and do that. >> ladies and gentlemen, join me in giving a rock and roll welcome for the 55th mayor of the city of sacramento, mr. kevin johnson. >> i'm not asking you to always follow everything i say. as i said earlier, sometimes i'm gonna be wrong, sometimes i'm gonna miss a shot, but what i am asking you is, if you disagree with me, challenge me,

but challenge me on the merit of the idea, not because it flies in the face of the way things have been done in the past. our attitude and our perspective is going to to be the difference on how we navigate through all of these challenges. it is our ability to give back, to serve, especially for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. thank you very much for your time, and god bless each and every one of you. (applause) >> really a great job. >> thank you. >> at some point did your heart take over that speech? >> yeah, you know, early on, i was trying to just get my thank yous and my formalities out of the way, but i started off by saying i'm living a dream. i love this. there is nothing else i would rather do, and somewhere through the speech, you know, it just became the kid from sacramento talking to people in his city and saying, look, i want to do all i can, and i need your help and we can collectively get through this, but we're going to need

everybody to be on the same page. and you did great. >> hey, thanks. we also wants to actage the special guests who are with us this evening. mayor kevin johnson, the mayor of the city of sacramento. >> i want you to put your hands together for mr. jim brown. (applause) >> governor arnold schwarzenegger! >> (applause) >> thank you very much karen for the wonderful introduction. also thank you for inviting me to be part of this great operation here. tonight it's about honoring those who break down the barriers and to promote social justice. tonight's heros have excelled

in all walks of life. i think that each and every one of those honorees are also, at the same time, a great inspiration to millions and millions of people. and i will say especially for the young people, because that's the important thing. they need this extra push to know that the american dream is also there for them,. that they can reach whatever dream that they have, and so this is why we have inspired them to show them that there's more out there than just gangs and violence and drugs and alcohol and those things. there are positive alternatives. >> i have felt very strongly that athletes have a responsibility, whether they like it or not, or whether we like it or not, to be role models. those who had the biggest impact on us as kids growing up are the people we came in contact with every day. >> i would like to thank the governor for his remarks, and speaker bass for hernandez, and

the legislative black caucus for being here today. i do want to poke fun at a couple of people really quickly. one of our honorees joe morgan. joe, raise your hand. and i saw joe morgan few minutes ago and said how are you doing? and he said i want you to know that even though i don't live in sacramento, i voted for you, so thanks joe. (laughter) >> i get a chance to spend a little time with our governor here, and i don't know if you know this, the governor has a little rhythm, got some dance moves. i think we might have to think about inducting him next year as an honor airy african- american. thank you very much. (laster and applause). >> reporter: a day of accomplishment here is concluded. but there is still time to reflect on the magnitude of what has happen, and what is

still to come. >> even in a day among days, that has to be a big highlight. >> like i said, i'm living a dream. effect i get to do is somehow beyond my wildest expectations. jim brown. i couldn't even mess with him, that's too emotional. >> at some point, you realize there's not enough people that are doing good work in elected office, and i shouldn't stand on the sidelines and complain. if not now than when the? all of those things led me to saying i need to get in the ring and do my part to not just make sure the neighborhood i grew up in, but the city i'm so proud of, reaches its potential. >> thanks, matt for that report. by the way, you saw govern toker schwarzenegger featured in that piece, as well. but this generation may not even realize that in 1970, at the age of 23, schwarzenegger became the youngest person to

be named mr. olympia. he would go on to win that competition six straight years. of course schwarzenegger was elected governor of california in 2003. you may also remember former nfl quarterback heath schuller who is now making his rounds in the u.s. capital. he was the third overall pack in the 1994 draft by the washington redskins. he played just three short seasons before finally retiring in 1997 because of a foot injury. well, he is now congressman schuller, and he represents north carolina's 11th district. still to come on net impact, one athlete recall as vivid memories of war as a youngster in war-torn bosnia. >> they kidnapped us and took to us where my dad was staying, which, and we just kind of hid there for a couple of months. >> now that same athlete is living his dreams out on the soccer field right here in the

united states. and the husband saving his wife's life, but they say the philadelphia phillies played a major role in her recovery. we'll tell you how that happened, and you'll hear her amazing story. you're watching net impact on

here is another tidbit for you. former president dwight eisenhower, gerald ford, and ron at reagan all reached the highest office in our land, but before they were president, they were each standout athletes in college. wow. now this. what a year it's been for this next athlete. his name is bofgio. the chicago fire welcomed the rookie mid-fielder to her roster, and being all to play in front of his own hometown has been. a a dream come true, especially when you consider that his

journey began in another country where his memories of death and destruction still remain a big part of him. josh mora has gee or geo's story. >> i spent a lot of time playing with my family, so that's really basically it, that i remember, is just playing around with my cousins, running in the wood, and that sort of thing. >> reporter: peaceful life. >> yeah, very nice, very peaceful. >> reporter: until he was 7 years old, he lived an idealic life in bosnia with his parents and older brother. his family owned land and had money, but wars a all around them. >> it's war, you see people dead. i lost my brother to, you know, yes, i lost my brother. yes, a lot of people dead, you can see it right there, bombed everything, you know, it's war. >> there are stores like they held up father, you know,

rained the mom and just kind of left the kids. >> reporter: they left behind their family, their money, their home, their lives. >> had worked in the office 17 and a half years, she worked in the office, too, and war come, and we lost everything. and how she say, we left august 20, '94. just take a couple of bags in car and we stop at the border. >> my dad paid off a soldier, or i think he gave him our car to let my dad come across, and he stayed with his niece, who was located in croatia. so my mom told me and my brother to fake that i had a ear ache, and my brother had an

eye problem. so when they let us come across, because, i mean, there was no way we could get across, you know. i remember they would read off names for like nurses to come take and you bring you in, and wire kind of in the middle of the line, they & they read our names off, and they wouldn't allow us -- you know, other people were in line, had been waiting there for days, you know, just like everyone else, and i remember the guards shooting, like, guns in the air, and they kind of ran away, and the guards came and grabbed me and my mom and my brother and took us across, and while we were there, a soldier who my dad paid off to, like -- he kidnapped us, and, like, took us to where my dad was staying, and we just kind of hid there for a couple of months, you know, and it was like we were, like, we had nothing. >> reporter: for a short time,

germany accepted bosnian refugees. >> it was pretty hard. there was a lot of racism going on. we were an easy target for a lot of the kids. we were all put together with nothing, you know. you know, you could tell the way we dressed and everything, we had nothing. and we were made fun of so much, i mean i was fighting every day after school. three years later, the german government ended its program for families who didn't have visas, so the husidics had a choice, go back to boss the kneia, or end up in the united states. they went to chicago. >> that's when i finally felt like you can enjoy life now, we've made it. you can relax now. you know, it's yours, so, you know, i always, like, wanted to have a house i could have friends over and stuff, and every day, like, since we had the house, i always have people over, there's not like one day where my mom is not cooking for everyone.

but in bosnia, it's just like that. you always have family over, friends over, you're grilling. >> reporter: and from there, life was good. boggio starred in soccer, and now he's getting plenty of playing time for the fire. >> i can't really describe like how you feel, like -- because you, like, you remember, when you go back, it all comes back to you like everything happened yesterday, and its just like, you know, it's -- you try to make it happy where you get to see your family again, but as soon as like that goes away, like, wow, like i left all of this behind. what if i didn't have this sort of future? >> reporter: and so you can understand when the practices get long and the guys get sweaty and the work seems difficult that boggio doesn't seem to find site hard. he is living a life that years ago simply didn't eve exist for him, not even in his dreams.

>> when we played columbus, it was like a pretty packed house, and starting in that game, i it was like the best feeling work like such a big feeling of accomplishment, like everything my family and i have been through. >> you watch him after 15 years behind, i will show you he was involved, unbelievable. not just one, almost two guys, you know, oh, feel good. >> it has been a pretty good year for the chicago fire, they may have had in the playoffs, and the team is hoping for bigger things in their future. now let's talk baseball. what a season it was for the philadelphia phillies. one of the things that always feeds the philadelphia phillies is their fan support, which is always off the chart. by the way, they had more than 50 sellouts at sipsens bank park this past season, but this next story takes fan support you might say to a whole new

level. as sportsnet philadelphia reports, one couple's love of the phillies truly became a matter of life and death. >> reporter: don has seen hundreds of phillies games, but it's the one he didn't see that he'll always remember. don and his wife sandy had tickets to see the phillies play the angels last june in what turned out to be a forgettable 7-1 loss. the events that drains spired that night, however, they will never forget. >> i went upstairs to get ready, and i got a splitting headache like i've never had before. i mean, this was the most intense pain i've ever had. he came upstairs and found me rolled into a fetal position on our bed, and all he could decipher from what i was saying was bad pain, hurts bad. >> i was just totally -- you know, company can see your life just flash in front of you. i took her into the hospital, they took her in for a cat scan, the doctor came out and said we have a helicopter dispatched from the university

of pennsylvania coming down to pick her up, and this was, like, three hours after this first when i came home that this happened. it's, like, what is going on here? the skull is full of blood, it's a bleed, we have to get her up there immediately. she came in between annal and a 9 and 10 is fatal, and usually they don't make the flight, but they said we have her stabilized, next morning they twenty in and operated on her, and long, long road to recovery, and 50% of then people don't make this, they told me. >> reporter: if he was not at home to find his wife, it she likely would have not survived what turned out for a brain aneurysm. with that, they believe the phillies saved her life. >> don came home from work three hours early. the only time don comes home from work is when he's going to a phillies game. otherwiseny stays the rig rather time >> if it wasn't for me going to watch the phillies game that night, she would. >> reporter: be here for this interview.

>> reporter: a speech and language therapist by trade, she's had to deal with the harsh irony of struggling with basic communication. under normal circumstances, degrees may have completely ravaged their lives, but a phillies title drive proved to have therapeutic powers. >> she followed the phillies games through the playoffs, light late in the year, and he was able in the hospital bed to to watch that, the world series. her sister came down and watched her for game four, which i winter up to see, and she weighed in the hospital bed in our house, and she watched the whole game there, and it just played out that the phillies won that world series that year, and it was almost like, you know, somebody was watching up above there. >> one of the things that they would do is every day they would come in asking what day it was, you know, what's the next holiday, things like that, to see if my brain was functioning. so when the phillies were there in the playoffs, they would come in every day and ask me, okay, who won last night? so i would have to remember who

won, what the score of the game was, because they knew i was watching the phillies. so it was a big part of my recovery watching the games during the playoffs. >> and you can't blame them for believing that the greatest save in fills hist -- phillies history didn't take part of the field. >> they were just a major part of her recovery, and for sure part of my recovery. >> my neurosurgical team knows what they did to save my life. the phillies have no idea what what they did to save my life, but i consider them my heros now inspect >> and we certainly wish her the best on her recovery and for the philly, be a speedy return to the world series. coming up next, there are hockey fans who take obsession to a whole new level. we'll explain. south africa, an 8-year-old boy picked up the game of golf from his father.

by the age of 9, he was already outplaying him. the odds of this gentle lad winning the junior world golf championships at the age of 14? 1 in 16 million. the odds of that same boy then making it to the u.s. and european pro-golf tours? 1 in 7 million. the odds of the "big easy" winning the open championship once and the u.s. open championship twice? 1 in 780 million. the odds of this professional golfer having a child diagnosed with autism? 1 in 150. ernie els encourages you to learn the signs of autism at autismspeaks.org. early diagnosis can make a lifetime of difference.

finally, you know their names, crews by, ovechkin, preair. they are among the les of the top selling jerseys in the national hockey lead, but as chuck found out, blackhawk fans take their passion for hockey jerseys to a whole new obsession. >> reporter: blackhawk fans love their jerseys. how many blackhawk jerseys do you have? >> i have about probably 20. >> reporter: 20 jerseys? >> at least. >> reporter: from pure hockey passion to borderline addiction. you have your own separate closet for them? >> i actually do. >> reporter: that's sick. >> it's very sick, and i'm horribly embarrassed right now. >> reporter: so if you can't actually be them, you might as well ware them, even if you can't spell them. put you on the spot, how do you

spell -- >> how do i spell it the american way or the right way? >> reporter: the way it's on the back of your jersey. >> byful -- let's see here, byfug -- >> oh, okay. du. >> reporter: no, no,llu. ien. but hawks fans really remember those special ones from the past. >> this is signed by bobby hull, 1983, the year got in as a hall of famer. >> reporter: and who on the back? >> stan mckeithia, number 21. >> that's awesome. >> if i could get him to sign it, that would pretty much take the cake. >> dennis hull, you're the only person i've ever seen besides dennis hull to wear a dale

earnhardt this hull jersey. why dennis hull jersey, why is that? >> to be different. >> reporter: i'm looking here, there's a kane number 14. i hate to say this, but past 88 what happened here? >> no, i'm 14, i'm pat kane, the real pat kane. >> reporter: you were born on the 14th? >> exactly. >> reporter: you were born april 14th, 1960? >> yeah, exactly. >> reporter: do you have your driver's license? let me see this. i need more on that within sense of license. your plummer's license. that says pat kane. okay -- think i'm gonna believe him. but then you might not believe this. you show up showing whose jersey? >> eric, my favorite. >> reporter: and he happens to be here. >> he happens to be here, i

came here with my three nephews, they government me the jersey, and he hannans to be here. it's awesome. >> reporter: have you ever seen a fan wear one of your jerseys? >> no, it's the first one, i'm serious. >> i figured what better way to honor him than to get his jersey. that's the way to go. >> reporter: why were you named after hem? >> my dad's favorite player on the blackhawks. he said he was the best on the pk, swooping up and down the ice. >> reporter: ask and here you are today, and he's right over there, the guy you were named after is signing autographs right over there. >> what better way to come in here and get an autograph, and i added some research to do. i asked him if he tipped in bobby's 50th. so i heard it from the horse's mouth. >> reporter: what did he say?

>> absolutely. >> reporter: so at your next hawks game, remember, everybody can be somebody, and we mean anybody. >> i don't normally ask people this, but can i have of have your autograph? >> sure. >> reporter: i really appreciate this. >> where do you watch me to sign? >> caller: just sign my sweater. thank you, i appreciate pit. >> and that will do it for another edition of net impact. i'm art fennell, thanks for joining us. coming up next months on net impact as the year comes to an end, we'll take a look back at some of our top sports stories that shaped 2009. and to find net impact in your area and for the law enforcementest breaking local