Tremendous Len Bias story

1. As just about everyone but you who has posted on this agrees, there is no reasonable way to call this piece Boston-centric.
2. In your initial post, you seemed to be belittling the impact of Bias' death by complaining that had he been drafted by another team, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. I was pointing out that you seemed to miss the writer's point -- the fact Bias was from the D.C. area and was drafted by Boston, when Tip O'Neill was majority leader, ended up making Bias a major touchstone in the war on drugs.
If you understood the writer's point and still thought it was somehow relevant to complain that had he been drafted by Golden State, he would have been quickly forgotten ... I'm not quite sure what to say to that. Why does that matter, and what does it have to do with anything?

 

Without judging the story (which I did read) or trying to be a wise guy, I ask seriously what is the statute of limitations on Len Bias stories?

It's 22 years later and there's no real news peg. Do we get more retrospectives at 25 years? 30? 50?

 

It's obviously not a Boston-centric piece; the whole thing is that it's timely again because the Celtics are again relevant for the first time since Bias' death.

 

Although the story does not tie into the present day Celtics in any way, so it strikes me it was going to be written regardless of the team's resurgence. I question the timeliness.

 

I enjoyed the story but also questioned the timing of it... as soon as I saw it I was trying to figure out if it was the 25th anniversary already.

 

Right, well, he was 22 when he died, and June 19 was the 22 year anniversary of his death. So I guess it was something to examine.

 

Or, you know, the fact that Len Bias was supposed to be the player that the Celtics counted on to continue the glory of the mid-1980s ... and this was the first time that they've won since that happened.

Why some people find such easy answers with regards to this story hard to find is beyond me.

 

The story mentions absolutely nothing about the Celtics winning this year. That's my point.

 

I don't think they needed to beat us over the head with why it's timely.

"Bias - whose story is once again relevant because the Boston Celtics returned to glory this season - began convulsing."

 

Exactly.

 

True, your throwaway clause accomplishes nothing. A lot more should be required. 22 years later, it's not obvious to everyone that Bias has any relevance whatsoever to Celtics history. I play ball with people who weren't even born when Bias died. And if you're not tying together the death and the current team, those folks should immediately be asking why the hell you're writing about somebody overdosing 22 years ago. It needs a peg.

 

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