Twenty-One Years Ago Tomorrow
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by user LastRow
Last week sitting here pecking away at these keys I gave a belated Happy Anniversary to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mr. Potato Head…Or some refer to him as Ben Toothlessberger. At any rate, it was unthoughtful of me to forget the one year anniversary of him running into a granny behind the wheel of a 300…I’m sorry! As I mentioned it’d never happen again! And for Lavar Arrington, I’ll remember your anniversary a year from now too! So with that said tomorrow marks another anniversary of sorts…Yes, on June 19, 21 years ago, Len Bias played his last game with narcotics. Now who knows if this was his first game, but come on people, let it go! How many times are we going to have to listen to the sad, emotional, pathetic, tragic story to one Len’s. Okay, we get the picture already since Mr. Bias decided to snort up some white lines after being selected number one by the Boston Celtics. And thanks to every sports media outlet every year they’ve done a very good job of cramming this repeated story down our throats. So it’s been 21 years since Len took his own life…So much for all that God given basketball ability, all that is six feet under now. Um a memo to the media…By now I believe we all know how this pathetic story goes!
Twenty-One years have passed and everybody is still pondering the question, why? Well that’s real easy. Len Bias was a high profiled basketball player coming out of the University of Maryland…In case nobody has noticed, all athletes, no matter if they are a superstar or those appearing on "The Bachelor" hoping and praying that females will except their rose, these fortunate ones always live a charmed life. It would appear Len was just starting to get comfortable with his new charmed life. Let’s not be naive here folks, what these high-rollers want they get, they’re willing to explore more some more than us LastRow ticket holders. Why? Cuz they can…Not caring about what the ramifications are at the time, for they’ll worry about that in the future. What I’m getting to is Len’s exploration into the world of drugs on that tragic day on the U of M campus was certainly just the beginning to a downward spiral regarding his basketball career, but more importantly his life. If anybody honestly believes that on that night in Maryland was going to be Len’s first and only time exploring in the Narcotics world then you’re only kidding yourself. It’s like a fat person sitting down with an unopened bag of Cheetos…Like they’re really going to open the bag, pull out just one and close the bag up. Or like an alcoholic who buys a 24-pack of Icehouse only to get home and drink just one. Let’s not be blind here peeps, why just because he was outstanding at basketball doesn’t make a damn bit of difference as to what kind of life he would’ve lived away from the basketball floor. This is my point, being one of fame and fortune the temptations at some point would’ve overwhelmed him just as they did Chris Washburn…You do remember him? The guy that used to smoke up in the locker room bathrooms before a game and during halftime. Where is he now, probably his best friend is John Lucas trying to turn his miserable & pathetic life around as I type this.
Every day we all make choices, not just athletes, if you can believe that…Some are right, some are wrong, but all have consequences of some sort! So then when a high profiled person as Bias decides to make an unwise decision it’s considered "sad & tragic", but when Tommy Redneck makes the same decision, it’s looked at differently! Why is that? Whether it’s right or wrong…I’m going with the ladder here, it’s quite simply how bright the light shines. And that my friends just goes to show you "All people and NOT created equaly"!
We ‘re so quick & willing to jump on a person’s bandwagon when things are going so well, but as soon as the Titanic appears, it’s man overboard and insert knife in ones back. Joe Theismann is all too familiar with this. How in the hell does anybody know what Len Bias would’ve done in the NBA. Sure just going on what he did at the University of Maryland, one may be inclined to say that he would’ve flourished…Then again the Portland TrailBlazers had these same thoughts about Bowie. How’d that turn out…Well, Chicago loved it as Michael Jordan landed in their laps. Bottom line nobody really knows nothing about anything, yes it’s great to speculate…That’s a part of sports. Although to call Len Bias a "Can’t Miss" is pure speculation. If it’s speculation that we are doing then how about speculating on this. Suppose Len Bias did survive that night 21-years ago…Where would he be? Would he be mentioned in the same breath of Michael Jordan or Chris Washburn…A Success or A Bust & A Failure…A Crackhead which currently resides somewhere under a bridge or one o the most influential athletes ever to live? These questions will unfortunately never be answered, although might’ve some of these questions been answered 21 years ago when Len passed on. Perhaps they were by a higher power, thus maybe he’s in a better place than he would’ve been? It’s time we let this story rest in peace just like Len’s doing.
