REAL COOL STORIES (week ended 2/1/20)
This was a tough week for basketball fans, especially those of Kobe Bryant. Kobe died in a helicopter crash on January 26 with his daughter Gianna (known as Gigi) and seven others. The crash occurred in Calabasas, CA.
Kobe was certainly one of the best to ever play in the NBA. His accomplishments included:
- Five-time NBA Champion
- Eighteen-time All Star
- Two-time Olympic Gold Medal
- 81 points in a game
That is just a few!
Kobe was my youngest son’s favorite player when he was a little boy. He wore a Kobe jersey despite the fact that we lived in New England and EVERYONE was a Celtics fan. He loved the moves Kobe made on the court and the way he would compete. We saw Kobe play in two NBA finals – game 3 in 2002 when he scored 36 (14 of 23 from the floor) against the Nets in NJ (Lakers won the series 4-0) and game 5 in 2004 against the Pistons in Detroit. Kobe was a mere mortal in that game (7 of 21 from the floor) and the Pistons won the series 4-1.
When the news broke, it was difficult to comprehend. He was a guy that you thought would be part of the NBA for the next forty years. The outpouring around sports this week has nothing less than incredible. From Nick Kyrgios wearing a Kobe jersey during warm up for a match at the Australian Open to Tony Finau and Justin Thomas wearing jerseys at the infamous 16th hole at the Waste Management Open, the tributes were EVERYWHERE.
I, too, was ALMOST a statistic of a helicopter accident. In 1997, a couple of months after a Colgate Palmolive helicopter went into the East River, I was on a helicopter leaving the now closed 60th Street helipad in NYC. As we lifted off the stabilizer on the copter broke and we started shaking in all directions. We were probably 50-100 feet in the air. There is very little room to maneuver with the 59th Street (or Queensboro) bridge right there. Somehow the pilots got the helicopter on the ground. We bounced a couple of times, but all six of us on board walked away without any injuries. It was a scary minute or so that seemed to last forever. I was fortunate that day.
My sadness is really for the youth on the helicopter, including Gigi, that had so much ahead of them that was lost Sunday. Also, the grief for the families that need to try hard to get through their grief and mourning.
From many discussions with friends and family this week, I was reminded to leave each day as your last. You just don’t know when that day will be!
A real, maybe not too cool story.