Broncos cornerback killed in drive-by

Did they have it before or after the Rocky Mountain News (which is AP's source on this tidbit)

ESPN on the other hand, doesn't recognize the other media outlets and is still reporting it as something like "two team sources have told ESPN's Len Pasquarelli that Javon Walker was in the limo"

 

I had interviewed Darrent many times and watched him play countless times at OSU. He was really one of the good guys (I know you always hear that after someone dies, but it's true in this case). He was cocky -- he'd say things like, "That kid reminds me of myself: He can score anytime he touches the ball." -- but he never seemed to be anything but kind.
OSU had the plane crash that killed 10 members of the basketball family (including two players) in January 2001. Then another cornerback, Vernon Grant, died in another car crash in May 2005. Now this.
In this neck of the woods, people are starting to wonder why so much tragedy in one place.
And for what it's worth, Bell on Cold Pizza said Darrent was NOT involved in the altercation. Maybe someone with him was, maybe Bell's lying, I don't know. Either way, drive-by shootings are about the most cowardly act I can think of. I hope they catch the bastards.

 

a-ha! i KNEW somehow the NBA had something to do with this.

 

Is there anything Lenny P won't stick his name on after another news outlet reports something first? It's a New Year Lenny, how about a resolution that you won't tag every fucking story after the fact.

 

My initial response is simply to re-state that it's not completely random given that Williams' high-profile status put him at a higher risk for this sort of incident. Upon reflection, though, I see what you're saying. Had there not been an altercation, it could be couched as random, and it probably wasn't as much about who he was as it was about what transpired. Perhaps my point should be staked more to the high incidence of athletes being robbed. Essentially, I've mis-applied what is probably a good argument to a story that really wasn't about the flashiness of today's athletes.

As for your lifestyle choices, I can't relate. I was married at 27 and, therefore, became a shell of my former self. But I am, mind you, super-dad, and I'll go toe to toe with Shaft any time.

 

Can we dispense with the athlete-in-altercation bullshit?

I'd venture to guess that 99.99999 percent of altercations like this one DON'T involve athletes at all. It's not as if tragic gunplay is confined to athletes. This shit happens everyday in nearly every center of population.

To say athletes are pre-disposed to these things, to criticize them for wanting to have a good time and to suggest they should shudder themselves into a hermistic existence is a ridiculous construct and simplisitic overreaction when these tragic occurences, which are RARE FOR ATHLETES no matter what we may think and no matter how they are publicized.

I mean, this wasn't the Minnesota Vikings renting out a sex boat -- that was athlete hubris in extremis, these were just some guys wanting to hang out, like all of us have likely done at some point. And most of us have seen something go down in a bar or a club, maybe not with gunplay, but certainly with violence.

The guy willing to pull the trigger in some faux-display of macho bullshit is the problem here, not athletes wanting to have a good time.

RIP Darrent Williams.

 

Why aren't we making a big deal of Kemal Kolenovic's death not being a top story on CNN or ESPN?

 

Because until yesterday, I had never heard of Kemal Kolenovic. In fact, I had to google him just now to remember who he was and what happened. Darrent Williams was a spotlight player on a team in the most popular league in the country. I think the contrast is fair.