Which Athlete Broke Your Heart?

I was still a newspaper man when all the Lance Armstrong stuff came to a head.
The editor of the paper was about as square and oblivious to the world as anybody, bless his heart. He knew I had written several stories about Armstrong, was personally a cyclist and racer, a general Tour honk, etc. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was somewhere along the lines of how I was supposed to feel betrayed, forlorn, whatever.
I chuckled and said "Of course he was doped to the gills. Grass is green. The sun will rise in the east tomorrow." The guy would have clutched pearls if he had them and ran back to his office.

 

I've never really been into athlete heroism or anything, so personally I can't think of anyone.

However, at my first job I wrote a story about a high school friend — he was our pastor's son and a schoolmate, who had some disabilities — who was a huge Steve Garvey fan. He'd corresponded with Garvey, gotten a nice reply and some team goodies, and it made for a nice feature. With Garvey's wholesome persona and athletic talents, there was no doubt my friend and others put him on a pedestal. I guess many people did.

When Garvey's personal indiscretions became public my friend was quite disapponted, to say the least. It ticked me off because I knew his feelings for him.

 

I didn’t elaborate when I posted that, but I grew up as a fan of UVa and Ralph Sampson, and to this day, I am in awe of some of the ACC basketball that I watched back in those days.

I thought Houston should have drafted Jordan instead of Olajawon. They already had Sampson. Yeah, Sampson’s knees gave out, but maybe they wouldn’t have if he’d gotten to play C instead of PF and had MJ dishing to him. We will never know.

But Bias? Holy Moses, it was a real treat to watch yet another great player stick it to Dean Smith.

I remember hearing of his passing on WTOP AM Radio on the way into work, and that was a main subject of water cooler talk that day.

I was so looking forward to Bias and Bird fucking the Lakers for a decade.

Instead, it took the Celtics over a decade to recover from the loss of their #1 pick Bias and gain relevancy again.

Fuck drugs.

 

Wasn’t a Lakers fan but loved Magic. Remember exactly where I was for the HIV announcement. Wrote a column for the high school newspaper about how heartbreaking it was, and how he’d likely be gone in a matter of years. Really glad I was totally wrong, but at the time it wasn’t outlandish to think or write.

From a pure sports perspective, Tom Brady. As a Colts fan, there was a period where he beat Indy every time. It seemed like they could never get it done. Which translates into the 2006 AFC championship game being my all-time favorite NFL game.

I was also a big Pete Rose fan. He still could’ve been in the Hall had he handled it completely differently.

I kinda think he’ll get into Cooperstown… several years after his death.

 

I was in a newsroom. And everywhere you looked, everyone was joining a crowd around a TV. Biz staff, features, everyone there that day.

 

CNN was about to announce the possible discovery of Amelia Earhart's remains when they cut away to cover Magic Johnson's announcement.

 

My friends and I always had a chuckle - Chick Hearn was on tv that night and he said that if anyone tells you that (magic got HIV from gay sex), "You deny it!!"

 

I'm with you on Bias...not b/c I was a Maryland fan or a Celtics fan (in fact, I grew up a huge North Carolina & Lakers fan) but b/c I grew up in New England and knew how great he'd be in Boston and how great that'd be for the NBA and the rivalry. My Dad, who generally only called from work at lunch to say hi to my Mom for a few minutes, called to tell me what happened. Sad day, and history largely repeated itself a few years later with Reggie Lewis.

 

A little OT, but I was at a Milwaukee Bucks game the day the order of the '86 lottery picks was announced. The crowd erupted in outrage when the Celts were awarded the No. 2 slot.

 

What I never understood about the whole Twin Towers thing was why the Rockets didn't play Sampson at center and Hakeem at PF. I guess they were going for height advantage at PF, but Sampson was awfully spindly to be banging with the Karl Malones of the league. It just seemed that Olajuwon was a more natural fit at PF. Olajuwon was a stud, HoF player. Picking Jordan instead of Hakeem is a great what-if, but at least it wasn't a Sam Bowie style bust.

I was a huge Phi Slama Jamma fan. Hakeem remains one of the best big men I ever saw play the game. He not only got the points and rebounds you would expect, but also a ton of steals and assists.

 

As mentioned earlier, Alex Gonzalez in 2003 NLCS. Though, it made 2016 that much sweeter and at a better age to fully enjoy it.

Also, Tom Watson at Turnberry. That one still hurts.

 

Thank goodness he came up one block or one rebound short before the Rockets drafted him.

If anything, it was the other way around with the Rockets. Ralph was a 7-foot-4 guy with a small forward's game. Hakeem was more the true post of the group and not as likely to get knocked around by the Mark Eatons, Karl Malones, Moses Malones and such during that era.