ESPN, Len Bias story

I do not know if any of you are interested, ESPN is running a special entitled "Without Bias" tonight (against the Celtics game!). It is supposed to air six more times. There is a big story on the ESPN website about Bias also.

I don't know about any of you, but along with Reggie Lewis, this is a subject that haunts me. What the Celtics may
have become with Bias on hand is something I dare not think about. I don't know if we ever would have gotten Reggie in the l987 draft if Bias was here, but, can you imagine those two together? I dare not even dream about it!

Any way, I just thought I would let you all know about this.

Bias would have been legendary--the perfect NBA body coupled with incredible talent.........ok,I'll say it......Jordanesque.

Thanks Rosalie
Bias has had to cross every Celtics fans mind as we saw Walton get injured in 87 and beyond.That team could have won 5 or 6 titles if not for youthful stupidity.I also think Reggie Lewis was one of those under the radar players at a small school,so we still might have gotten him.The 91 Celtic team was one of my favorites,Lewis,Gamble,Shaw and Dee Brown running the break with the Big 3 still leading.If not for Father Time catching up to Bird that season after the Suns game,that team could play with anybody.....adding a stud like Bias to that team and Magic and Michael don't get as many titles.....I think we could have done 6 maybe 7 or 8 and now Isiah gets none.
cow

DJ wrote:Bias would have been legendary--the perfect NBA body coupled with incredible talent.........ok,I'll say it......Jordanesque.

no hes bigger more Lebron-like than Jordan

Lenny was one of my all-time favorites. Watching the draft that night knowing that the cavs were going to take Brad Daugherty and we would get Lenny was exciting beyond belief. I still remember to this day my younger brother telling me the terrible news. Lenny had the greatest sequence of plays that I ever saw, there is a grainy video of it on youtube but the documentary should have a clear shot of it; especially since the game was live on espn. It was during a MD-UNC game, Lenny swishes a contested 18 footer from the left side of the court but instead of going back upcourt he baits Carolina center Warrin Martin #54 into a lazy inbound pass to Kenny Smith(?). Lenny stole the pass, Martin, a 7 footer, Came from out of bounds to defend the "layup" (so he thought) Lenny Twisted and reversed 2 hand tomahawk dunked on the big guy. Martin had a look on his face as if he had just seen a 6'8" 220lb angel descending from the heavens! Watch for this play on the show and tell me if it is not one of the greatest, most thrilling you've ever seen.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I do not know if any of you are interested, ESPN is running a special entitled "Without Bias" tonight (against the Celtics game!). It is supposed to air six more times. There is a big story on the ESPN website about Bias also.

I don't know about any of you, but along with Reggie Lewis, this is a subject that haunts me. What the Celtics may
have become with Bias on hand is something I dare not think about. I don't know if we ever would have gotten Reggie in the l987 draft if Bias was here, but, can you imagine those two together? I dare not even dream about it!

Any way, I just thought I would let you all know about this.

For any lifelong Celtic fan, it was downright painful to dream what might have been. I remember telling a friend of mine at the end of game 6 of the finals that year...after the C's had won #16...that next year Bird should play wearing a tuxedo. He could just "conduct" his orchestra with a new superman (Bias) being added to the mix...With Bird's savvy and Bias's physical prowess...WOW. So tragic, so senseless...
It shook the franchise pretty hard...

It would have added meaningfull years to McHale, Parish, and Bird.
Those so called Great 87 Lakers would not have stood a chance.

Such a waste.........

beat

Rosalie

I cant and wont watch it.

I read a book called by a guy named George Pelecanos. All the guys in the book are hoop heads and they are following Bias through the tourney. It is part of the storyline. One of the characters has a mounting cocaine problem. The last time we see that character in the book he has been up all night doin blow with some girl and he walks by a tv with a picture of Bias on it and people are standing around crying. The novelist uses it to wake that character up.

Anyway I cant watch it. All those great 80's celts would be wearing at least 2 more rings...ah well.

Jeb

There was further tragedy in the Bias family, years ago I attended a seminar on grief in Beaver Falls PA. Lens mother was a speaker, very sincere, stoic women, shared her life story of the death of Len, and also lost another son in a sense less manner. Len Bias will always be associated with "what could have been".

when we think of len, it is always it seems in terms of what could have been.. and we think of the titles galore we're sure we wooda collected with him and the guys we already had..

more so is what could have been, a human being living a long and prosperous life..

another reason i hate drugs.

Matty,

You got me on your response. Just a thought. What a great story to share with teenage kids, sports oriented or not on drugs on a grand scale. I haven't seen the ESPN version, but if it captures the essence and the potential lost, it should turn just about any kid from drugs who is considering it or around it, which is just about every one of them.

As parents, we use sports programs to keep our kids from being idle in hopes that they won't have time to think about and do evil things like drugs, but as this story shows, it doesn't protect them, even someone as great and as talented as Len. I remember that game against Carolina because I lived in Raleigh (Wake Forest, now) at the time. I was and still am a big N.C. State fan, who by nature, loathes anything Carolina. I was elated Len was sticking it to the Heels. (And eventually would take the torch from Bird in Boston)

I can record the ESPN program but maybe with a great response, ESPN can put out a DVD or something. That story may well be one of the most tragic stories ever and should be used in every public, private school program on drug awareness and the potential lost by participating.

This will be perfect at the right time for my three sons (6,5 and 3) in dealing with this very difficult topic for parents and their kids. Thank you very much for tying that all together with your comments. My sons are huge Celtics fans. Perfect. Absolutely perfect!

Matty Dbrown

My son is a frosh in HS and is doing a presentation on drugs in sport, and the aftermath. Of course Bias is part of that. With my line of work within the criminal system, he is well aware of what abuse of drugs and alcohol can lead too, as are most kids. BUT even then it is not enough in too many cases. Kids will test things, try things for various reasons and all you can do as a parent is present facts and protect them as best you can. My son is fortuate in that many times he has sat in a corner of my report station doing homework while I have people report. He has heard first hand what substance abuse has done to many of these people and their families.

Never take anything for granted that your kid will never get hooked.

I've seen to many tragic situations that perhaps never needed to be that way.

beat

Well said beat. My oldest is in 1st grade and the public school he goes to has already talked about drug awareness to them. Would it be a good time to show him that story on ESPN, given he is a huge Celtics fan or should I wait, given your experience? BTW, does anyone know what other times it is showing this week?

Sorry to turn this into an advice column way off topic but your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Seems a bit young perhaps to lay heavy stuff like the Bias story on him. I did not watch it so am not sure how it was presented.

As a 6 year old, I'm not sure they have the capacity to really deal with these issues yet. Suffice to say then let him know there are many bad things out there like illeagal drugs and alcohol abuse.

You want to make him aware but you don't want to SCARE him to death at his age. If the movie is well done, sitting with him and talking about it while it is going on, tell him to ask questions, and although you might not have all the answers, saying that you do not know but will find out is fine.

Of course NO one will ever know why Len threw it all away for a couple lines of coke. All we know is that he did.

hope this helps as I went from saying he's too young to saying go ahead. I guess you have to go with how well he can understand things like death. When I was 6 I though OK when I die just prop me up in front of the TV and I'll be fine.

Then when I had grandparents die and never saw them agian I becan to understand it a bit. May seem funny but my parents always came to the foot of the stairs and yelled up at each of us to say our prayers. And one by one we did, "Nw I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I should DIE" .........hold it right there I ain't going to sleep tonight!!!!

Good luck with all your kids, knowing your there for them is the biggest thing you can do.

And as I tell every dad, Play 5 minutes of catch with them every day if you can.

beat

Well said and understood. Thank you for your advice and help. db

Bias had the world as his pearl in the oyster and tragically fell under the influence of Brian Tribble, who got him the drugs to begin with. He was a horse, but I wonder if that was his first time using or not. Bias grew up in Southern Prince George's county, a D.C. suburb and a drug that ran rampant in that area during that time was something called, "Love Boat". From Landover on down to the Virgina border the county was drug infested. Bias obviously used poor (fatal) decision making. As much as I feel for the C's not having the benefit of Len's talent, his Mom is the one who rightfully gets the lion's share of condolances. (MD.)

dbrown4 wrote:Well said beat. My oldest is in 1st grade and the public school he goes to has already talked about drug awareness to them. Would it be a good time to show him that story on ESPN, given he is a huge Celtics fan or should I wait, given your experience? BTW, does anyone know what other times it is showing this week?

Sorry to turn this into an advice column way off topic but your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

seems to me not really off topic - the potential of Bias goes unrealized as the result of choices he made. although if he was actually addicted there might have been less "choice" in it than many people would think. fighting an addiction is lots harder than fighting an impulse to try something out. there, i've opened up a can of worms with that ... a matter of opinion i suppose.

i work with kids of all ages and i know that for so many teens, a story of what happened to some other guy may not have much impact - it doesn't pierce their belief in their personal invulnerability. just cause it happened to someone else, don't mean it can happen to me - i'm smarter/stronger/better than that guy, so i'm safe.

this sort of attitude is very adolescent. oftentimes it's really tough to "scare" teens away from anything. and they think that your point is to scare them, rather than to inform them about these are facts about what happens to people who use drugs, it'll screw everything in your life up and it's even a killer. so beginning the drug and alcohol awareness-education process earlier than those teen years makes good sense. 6 is young, but he will probably get something out of the story if you're there with him. 10, 11, 12, even maybe 13 are ages where you can still get information in without hitting that wall of invincibility.
that wall is what killed Len - the It can't happen to ME ! wall, or the One more time can't hurt ME ! wall. so tear down the wall, or try to keep it from going up in the first place. and good luck and God bless ...

dbrown/beat

beat im sure knows of my love for alcohol, i have no doudts im an alcoholic, and i know thats not a good thing, but as for drugs, i absoletly hate them, even as a kid i hated them.

part of the reason was my dad having grown up in the 60's was VERY familer with drugs as a young person and rammed it into his kids heads drugs were evil. he'd actauly got himself cleaned up at the ripe old age of 19..

however we lived in an area where i could see daily the effects drugs, their usuage and the buisness of drugs had on people, i knew as a child i wanted no part of the drugs.. [of course when the other kids were smoking pot i was there, drinking a 40 so maybe that wasnt all so good either] from what my dad taught me, and what i'd seen first hand, i can honestly say i was never tempted to try drugs, i had access to them all the time, but they never interested me. in fact, i usualy made a piont to not hang around with individuals using or dealing.

then when i was 15 my dads best freind was arrested for selling, a guy i personally knew had turned nark and help bust mike-then the police made a mistake and let mike know who'd helped bust him.

mike was the wrong dood to piss off, and as soon as he was out on bail brian was murdered with 2 shots from a shotgun.

the funny thing about mike was, he was the guy who got my dad cleaned up, he'd absoletly hated drugs and booze as a kid, untill he realized the sort of money that could be made selling.

after mikes conviction he contacted my dad and asked if he'd bring me up to see him, he wanted me to see firsthand what drugs can do to a person.

i got pretty hard lecture from mike about drugs, and he asked me to promise him i'd never use them myself. to look at him and know that if i got into drugs i'd either end up where he was or where brian was..

that expereince took me from being afraid of drugs to having an outright hatred and disgust of drugs..

i kept my promise....

i think thats the problem today, just about everyone knows what drugs can do to you- much like people know what smoking can do- yet how many people start up smoking every year? or try drugs

i think that to prevent young people from trying drugs you have to educate them beyond just knowing the dangers of drug usuage, we need to teach them to hate and loathe drugs... only then will they be truely safe from them

Matty

Wow. Doode you are a good writer. Do you read? Have you ever read George pelecanos?

Jeb

Thank each of you for your excellent insights. They are greatly appreciated. db

matty -
nice post. and welcome to the club - i'm an alcoholic too. like you, i loved my booze, but been sober for a while now. it's quite a change, to say the least. just thought i'd mention, i definitely can relate. and there is a way oput - or more than one. now i don't miss it and rarely think about it. i don't hate it. it's fine for other people - just not me.
write me if you want to "chat" ...

i think your point about not just being scared of drugs but hating them is probably a very good one. what about respect, too - respect the profound awful damage they can cause. the story of Mike being a great case in point.

regards,
Michael in Denver
bigpygme@gmail.com

My daughter deals day in and day out with substance abusers. She works daily with abusers of both drugs and alcohol. Some of the people who come to her have been coming for years. Addiction is a terrible thing, you have to want to stop in order for you to reach success. Many of the people who come to her are there because they are court ordered. It is a trying job watching young and old come in and out daily with excuses about why they are still abusing. She even worked in the Nashua Street Jail for a few years. What a trip that was.

Len Bias was on his way to becoming one of the most successful basketball players in the NBA. Just watch the clips, he was a beautiful basketball player. He would have rivaled Jordan. It all comes down to the decisions that one makes in life. He took the wrong road, even if it was only for a
night. Blame Tribble if you want, but it was Bias's choice. Sad as it seems,
he is the victim of his own decision. It is so sad to watch that show. He is forever locked in time, forever young and forever a shooting star. I remember the day he died as if it were yesterday. I was so excited the night before that they had drafted him, then a friend called, asked me if I had heard the news about Bias, and I cried. Cried for the loss of a young life that would never reach the stars.

Matty-Alcohol can grab you just as much as drugs. Take it from one who has lived through alcoholism in their family. Reach down inside of you, try to stop now. There is a wonderful world out there just waiting for you.

Rosalie, your words come from feelings from the left side and life experience. Many can benefit from heeding your advice!-MD.

Wordup.

Matty your one of the good guys. Damn ol alcohol you can buy at the store. Man have I lost some friends to it...and to drugs.

Rosalie as always your wisdom is appreciated and well received.

Jeb