Today is the 20th anniversary of his death. I saw this on Yahoo!'s 'today in history' date list. I wasn't a basketball fan then, but I remember this tragic story being splashed all over the media everywhere when it happened. I guess it brought drug use in sports to the forefront. Such a sad situation. Makes you wonder what he would of been in the NBA.
Len Bias - 20 years ago today
- Thread starter RoyalDiva
- Start date
This was the beginning of the end for the Celts as a power. Very unfortunate, I had a friend that went to UNC and is a huge UNC fan and he said there is no question in his mind Lennie could have been bigger than Jordan. His presence would likely have prolonged the careers of Bird and McHale as well.
Yup, this tragedy really hurt and effected his family - HARD, very hard.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060619/APS/606190502
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060619/APS/606190502
Last edited:
Yup, no way of telling how special Bias would have been but he was incredible in college and had all the earmarks of a great one. Yes that was single moment in Celtic hitory where the team began to go down hill. Palu Pierce was a smart move but over the years the team has made managment, coaching and draft mistakes that have really devestated the once great franchise.
Since Folsom Al's link isn't working for some reason, I googled and found this:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/061506/laurspo173918_31940.shtml
Remembering Len Bias
Twenty years after the death of the dream
Thursday, June 15, 2006
by Derek Toney
Staff Writer
Next week marks 20 years since the death of Len Bias, who starred on the basketball court at Northwestern High and the University of Maryland.
It seems like only yesterday. The electrifying dunks. The chiseled body and the soft shooting touch. He seemingly had it all. Then it was gone.
On June 19, 1986, Len Bias died of cocaine intoxication. Less than 48 hours earlier, the Boston Celtics had selected the former Northwestern High star and University of Maryland All-American as the second pick in the National Basketball Association draft.
‘‘He’s probably the best athlete and basketball player to come out of this county at the college level,” said County Schools Athletic Supervisor Earl Hawkins, who was the boys’ basketball coach at Crossland High in 1986. ‘‘He had potential for greatness at the pro level. It was just a total tragedy.”
Monday marks the 20th anniversary of Bias’ death. It’s one of the greatest tragedies in American sports history. Around Prince George’s County, the loss of a favorite son remains fresh.
‘‘The thing about Lenny, was he was very good. He went to a local university and was very, very good there,” said Fairmont Heights coach George Wake. ‘‘To never see him to step on the floor and see if he could be the next [Michael] Jordan or partner to Larry Bird or match up against Magic Johnson, and see how good he is ... his life was cut short.”
Len Bias was just 22 years old.
‘Air’ apparent?
Like most stars, Bias’ ascent began modestly. He played at the Columbia Park Recreation Center in Landover, a few blocks from his family’s Columbia Road house in Landover Hills.
‘‘He was a big kid,” said Leon Rivers, who played with Bias at Columbia Park when they were pre-teens. ‘‘You never thought he would develop into the player that he was, I can tell you that.”
Bias went to Northwestern and played under Bob Wagner. Hawkins, who coached another former Maryland standout and NBA player, Walt Williams, said the Wildcats played a team system, but Bias’ talents were evident.
‘‘I remember Bob [Wagner] would go to camp, learn a move, come back and the first thing he’d do is teach Lenny,” said Wake, who coached Bias on the AAU circuit. ‘‘Teach Lenny today and Lenny would use it tomorrow. He was that quick of a learner and good of an athlete.”
Bias chose to stay close to home at Maryland, less than a 10-minute walk from his high school in Hyattsville. After winning player of the year honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1984-85, following in the footsteps of North Carolina’s Michael Jordan, Bias’ legend began to grow.
‘‘I just remember him being the king on campus,” said Laurel coach Keith Coutreyer, who was then a freshman at Columbia Union College in nearby Takoma Park. ‘‘I remember him being in the dorm room that looked out over the court, looking to see if the run was good, then coming out and just taking over the court. He was so good, guys would go up there in the event that he would come out on the court that day. He may not show up, but it would be 50 guys out there playing hard to get [Maryland’s players] to come out and play. On the day they came out, you remembered that if you lost, you weren’t getting back on the court.”
Bias won his second straight ACC player of the year honors in his senior season and finished with a then school-record 2,149 points. His signature performance may have come in the Terps’ victory at North Carolina, which was the Tar Heels’ first loss at the new Dean Smith Center. Bias scored 35 points, including a steal and reverse dunk off an inbound pass.
At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, Bias was built like a Greek statue with a blend of grace, power and athleticism. He was seemingly on his way to joining another local kid, Palmer Park’s Sugar Ray Leonard, in athletic stardom.
‘‘In passing, you would hear about Len Bias and his incredible leaping ability, then you would hear he’s 6-8 but he has a silky smooth jumper,” said former Largo and current Riverdale Baptist coach Lou Wilson. ‘‘You may hear someone else talk about his timing and the way he can go block shots and retrieve the ball.”
Jordan and Nike were in the early years of a relationship that arguably opened new marketing doors for professional athletes. Reebok believed Bias could become a name to raise its image, inking him to a $325,000 endorsement deal before he’d even played a pro game.
With a rookie contract that was expected to be in the $700,000 range, the kid from Columbia Road was on the verge of becoming a millionaire. He already knew the first purchase he was going to make.
‘‘A car,” he told a reporter at the NBA Draft in New York on June 17, 1986. ‘‘A Mercedes.”
‘The cruelest thingI’ve ever heard’
On the morning of June 19, 1986, Coutreyer was working at a shoe store in Langley Park next to Langley Hairstylists where Bias would get his hair cut.
‘‘I just remember the guys running out of the barber shop, driving up on campus trying to get whatever information they could get,” said Coutreyer.
‘‘I was outside fixing my car, and my wife came to the door and told me, ‘you better come look at this,’” said Wake.
The last time many people saw Bias he was wearing a white suit with a black tie, holding a Boston Celtics jersey alongside NBA Commissioner David Stern. Now, Bias was completely wrapped in a white sheet and being rolled out of Leland Memorial Hospital into a medical examiner’s truck.
‘‘We couldn’t believe it. When I got home, my mom had run over to the Bias’ house,” said Clinton Venable, who was best friends and a former Northwestern teammate of Len’s brother Jay. ‘‘We were trying to calm Jay down. It was like a bad dream.”
Bias’ last hours have been recounted many times over the years. After meeting with Celtics officials and the local media in Boston June 18, Bias and his father flew back to Maryland and went to their Landover home. Late that evening, Bias returned to the University of Maryland campus.
In the early hours of June 19, Bias had a celebration with friend Brian Tribble and teammates David Gregg and Terry Long in his dorm room at Washington Hall. Cocaine was present. Several hours later, Bias collapsed.
At 8:55 a.m., Leonard Kevin Bias was pronounced dead.
‘‘It’s the cruelest thing I’ve ever heard,” Celtics star Larry Bird told the Boston media that day.
‘‘He was perfect for us,” said Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge, who was the team’s starter at shooting guard in 1986 and had played in pickup games with Bias in the summer of 1985. ‘‘I was never so excited. With Kevin [McHale], Robert [Parrish] and Larry, he would give us the perfect rotation. I looked at it as a great fit for him and the franchise.”
Earlier that June, Boston had won the NBA title. But the Celtics were an aging team, desperate for the infusion of youth and athleticism Bias was to have brought. The Celtics lost in the NBA Finals in 1987 and have only made it as far as the Eastern Conference Finals twice since then.
In the span of two days, Len Bias went from being the next face of a storied NBA franchise to the center of the nation’s drug problem.
‘‘His death woke the nation up,” said Lonise Bias, Len’s mother. ‘‘If Len would have lived, he would have entertained you. But in death, he brought life.”
Lessons learned?
One son died of a drug overdose. Four years later, her other son was killed in a random act of violence. The unimaginable pain has been a source of strength for Lonise Bias. Since Len’s death, Lonise has spoken across the country about drug abuse among the nation’s youth.
‘‘Life is a bowl with lemon and honey, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter,” said Bias, whose other son, Jay, was shot and killed in the parking lot at Prince George’s Mall in 1990 after an argument. ‘‘One’s character is defined through hardship.”
Lonise Bias didn’t know Len used cocaine. Tribble stood trial in 1987 for providing the drugs that killed the basketball star, but was acquitted. Long testified Bias had taken cocaine on several occasions.
In the aftermath of Bias’ death, Maryland revamped its athletic department policy including random drug testing, a stricter admission process and expanded academic support.
Though Len Bias became the face of the nation’s cocaine problem 20 years ago, recent statistics from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration showed an increase in first-time usage over the last decade. Len Elmore, a former Maryland All-American, said the Bias tragedy is still relevant.
‘‘When you talk to kids about it, they’ll understand and make the connection,” said Elmore, a college basketball analyst for ESPN and CBS. ‘‘And I imagine their response will be, ‘Well, it won’t happen to me.’”
Rivers said he thinks about Bias when he sees children wearing his No. 34 throwback jersey. He shakes his head because they don’t know about Bias’ rise and sudden tragic fall.
‘‘They know he was a great player, but don’t realize how good he was, how significant he was and how he impacted the whole community,” said Coutreyer while his watching his team play a summer league game at High Point.
In a couple of weeks, the 2006 NBA Draft will take place in New York City. Young men will realize their dreams, just as Len Bias did 20 years ago.
‘‘I grew up in Landover, and to see someone to make good, that was probably the biggest thing I’ve ever wanted to see,” said Rivers. ‘‘Then to see it happen the way it did, it was a sad day.”
E-mail Derek Toney at dtoney@gazette.net.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/061506/laurspo173918_31940.shtml
Remembering Len Bias
Twenty years after the death of the dream
Thursday, June 15, 2006
by Derek Toney
Staff Writer
Next week marks 20 years since the death of Len Bias, who starred on the basketball court at Northwestern High and the University of Maryland.
It seems like only yesterday. The electrifying dunks. The chiseled body and the soft shooting touch. He seemingly had it all. Then it was gone.
On June 19, 1986, Len Bias died of cocaine intoxication. Less than 48 hours earlier, the Boston Celtics had selected the former Northwestern High star and University of Maryland All-American as the second pick in the National Basketball Association draft.
‘‘He’s probably the best athlete and basketball player to come out of this county at the college level,” said County Schools Athletic Supervisor Earl Hawkins, who was the boys’ basketball coach at Crossland High in 1986. ‘‘He had potential for greatness at the pro level. It was just a total tragedy.”
Monday marks the 20th anniversary of Bias’ death. It’s one of the greatest tragedies in American sports history. Around Prince George’s County, the loss of a favorite son remains fresh.
‘‘The thing about Lenny, was he was very good. He went to a local university and was very, very good there,” said Fairmont Heights coach George Wake. ‘‘To never see him to step on the floor and see if he could be the next [Michael] Jordan or partner to Larry Bird or match up against Magic Johnson, and see how good he is ... his life was cut short.”
Len Bias was just 22 years old.
‘Air’ apparent?
Like most stars, Bias’ ascent began modestly. He played at the Columbia Park Recreation Center in Landover, a few blocks from his family’s Columbia Road house in Landover Hills.
‘‘He was a big kid,” said Leon Rivers, who played with Bias at Columbia Park when they were pre-teens. ‘‘You never thought he would develop into the player that he was, I can tell you that.”
Bias went to Northwestern and played under Bob Wagner. Hawkins, who coached another former Maryland standout and NBA player, Walt Williams, said the Wildcats played a team system, but Bias’ talents were evident.
‘‘I remember Bob [Wagner] would go to camp, learn a move, come back and the first thing he’d do is teach Lenny,” said Wake, who coached Bias on the AAU circuit. ‘‘Teach Lenny today and Lenny would use it tomorrow. He was that quick of a learner and good of an athlete.”
Bias chose to stay close to home at Maryland, less than a 10-minute walk from his high school in Hyattsville. After winning player of the year honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1984-85, following in the footsteps of North Carolina’s Michael Jordan, Bias’ legend began to grow.
‘‘I just remember him being the king on campus,” said Laurel coach Keith Coutreyer, who was then a freshman at Columbia Union College in nearby Takoma Park. ‘‘I remember him being in the dorm room that looked out over the court, looking to see if the run was good, then coming out and just taking over the court. He was so good, guys would go up there in the event that he would come out on the court that day. He may not show up, but it would be 50 guys out there playing hard to get [Maryland’s players] to come out and play. On the day they came out, you remembered that if you lost, you weren’t getting back on the court.”
Bias won his second straight ACC player of the year honors in his senior season and finished with a then school-record 2,149 points. His signature performance may have come in the Terps’ victory at North Carolina, which was the Tar Heels’ first loss at the new Dean Smith Center. Bias scored 35 points, including a steal and reverse dunk off an inbound pass.
At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, Bias was built like a Greek statue with a blend of grace, power and athleticism. He was seemingly on his way to joining another local kid, Palmer Park’s Sugar Ray Leonard, in athletic stardom.
‘‘In passing, you would hear about Len Bias and his incredible leaping ability, then you would hear he’s 6-8 but he has a silky smooth jumper,” said former Largo and current Riverdale Baptist coach Lou Wilson. ‘‘You may hear someone else talk about his timing and the way he can go block shots and retrieve the ball.”
Jordan and Nike were in the early years of a relationship that arguably opened new marketing doors for professional athletes. Reebok believed Bias could become a name to raise its image, inking him to a $325,000 endorsement deal before he’d even played a pro game.
With a rookie contract that was expected to be in the $700,000 range, the kid from Columbia Road was on the verge of becoming a millionaire. He already knew the first purchase he was going to make.
‘‘A car,” he told a reporter at the NBA Draft in New York on June 17, 1986. ‘‘A Mercedes.”
‘The cruelest thingI’ve ever heard’
On the morning of June 19, 1986, Coutreyer was working at a shoe store in Langley Park next to Langley Hairstylists where Bias would get his hair cut.
‘‘I just remember the guys running out of the barber shop, driving up on campus trying to get whatever information they could get,” said Coutreyer.
‘‘I was outside fixing my car, and my wife came to the door and told me, ‘you better come look at this,’” said Wake.
The last time many people saw Bias he was wearing a white suit with a black tie, holding a Boston Celtics jersey alongside NBA Commissioner David Stern. Now, Bias was completely wrapped in a white sheet and being rolled out of Leland Memorial Hospital into a medical examiner’s truck.
‘‘We couldn’t believe it. When I got home, my mom had run over to the Bias’ house,” said Clinton Venable, who was best friends and a former Northwestern teammate of Len’s brother Jay. ‘‘We were trying to calm Jay down. It was like a bad dream.”
Bias’ last hours have been recounted many times over the years. After meeting with Celtics officials and the local media in Boston June 18, Bias and his father flew back to Maryland and went to their Landover home. Late that evening, Bias returned to the University of Maryland campus.
In the early hours of June 19, Bias had a celebration with friend Brian Tribble and teammates David Gregg and Terry Long in his dorm room at Washington Hall. Cocaine was present. Several hours later, Bias collapsed.
At 8:55 a.m., Leonard Kevin Bias was pronounced dead.
‘‘It’s the cruelest thing I’ve ever heard,” Celtics star Larry Bird told the Boston media that day.
‘‘He was perfect for us,” said Boston Celtics President Danny Ainge, who was the team’s starter at shooting guard in 1986 and had played in pickup games with Bias in the summer of 1985. ‘‘I was never so excited. With Kevin [McHale], Robert [Parrish] and Larry, he would give us the perfect rotation. I looked at it as a great fit for him and the franchise.”
Earlier that June, Boston had won the NBA title. But the Celtics were an aging team, desperate for the infusion of youth and athleticism Bias was to have brought. The Celtics lost in the NBA Finals in 1987 and have only made it as far as the Eastern Conference Finals twice since then.
In the span of two days, Len Bias went from being the next face of a storied NBA franchise to the center of the nation’s drug problem.
‘‘His death woke the nation up,” said Lonise Bias, Len’s mother. ‘‘If Len would have lived, he would have entertained you. But in death, he brought life.”
Lessons learned?
One son died of a drug overdose. Four years later, her other son was killed in a random act of violence. The unimaginable pain has been a source of strength for Lonise Bias. Since Len’s death, Lonise has spoken across the country about drug abuse among the nation’s youth.
‘‘Life is a bowl with lemon and honey, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter,” said Bias, whose other son, Jay, was shot and killed in the parking lot at Prince George’s Mall in 1990 after an argument. ‘‘One’s character is defined through hardship.”
Lonise Bias didn’t know Len used cocaine. Tribble stood trial in 1987 for providing the drugs that killed the basketball star, but was acquitted. Long testified Bias had taken cocaine on several occasions.
In the aftermath of Bias’ death, Maryland revamped its athletic department policy including random drug testing, a stricter admission process and expanded academic support.
Though Len Bias became the face of the nation’s cocaine problem 20 years ago, recent statistics from the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration showed an increase in first-time usage over the last decade. Len Elmore, a former Maryland All-American, said the Bias tragedy is still relevant.
‘‘When you talk to kids about it, they’ll understand and make the connection,” said Elmore, a college basketball analyst for ESPN and CBS. ‘‘And I imagine their response will be, ‘Well, it won’t happen to me.’”
Rivers said he thinks about Bias when he sees children wearing his No. 34 throwback jersey. He shakes his head because they don’t know about Bias’ rise and sudden tragic fall.
‘‘They know he was a great player, but don’t realize how good he was, how significant he was and how he impacted the whole community,” said Coutreyer while his watching his team play a summer league game at High Point.
In a couple of weeks, the 2006 NBA Draft will take place in New York City. Young men will realize their dreams, just as Len Bias did 20 years ago.
‘‘I grew up in Landover, and to see someone to make good, that was probably the biggest thing I’ve ever wanted to see,” said Rivers. ‘‘Then to see it happen the way it did, it was a sad day.”
E-mail Derek Toney at dtoney@gazette.net.
Thanks VF ...
This link should work now ... my bad - I doubled-up on the "http://"
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060619/APS/606190502
This link should work now ... my bad - I doubled-up on the "http://"
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060619/APS/606190502
They're running a piece on ESPN called "The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Len Bias' death for the Demise of the Celtics". Tonight @ 7PM. That should be interesting!
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/classic/index
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/classic/index
Brilliant that they would run that today against the Finals instead of yesterday on the actual anniversary of his death... But anyway of course you can't blame him solely for it, they'd probably suck now either way. But I bet they would have gotten at least 2 more championships had he had a productive NBA career.
I think the family of Len Bias definitely deserves sympathy, but I personally don't sympathize with Bias himself at all. I don't blame him for the demise of the Celtics, but I do blame him for his own death.
I don't mean to sound cold or insensitive...but the guy chose to take drugs. It's not like he couldn't have said "NO" when someone offered them to him! I know the effects of drugs weren't as well known then as they are now...but by then people knew they were dangerous!
I think the deaths of Drazen Petrovic or Reggie Lewis were a lot more tragic because they had promising careers ahead of them, and they were cut short from situations out of their control...Lewis's haert ailment and Petrovic's accident. Bias threw his life and career away whereas the others didn't.
I don't mean to sound cold or insensitive...but the guy chose to take drugs. It's not like he couldn't have said "NO" when someone offered them to him! I know the effects of drugs weren't as well known then as they are now...but by then people knew they were dangerous!
I think the deaths of Drazen Petrovic or Reggie Lewis were a lot more tragic because they had promising careers ahead of them, and they were cut short from situations out of their control...Lewis's haert ailment and Petrovic's accident. Bias threw his life and career away whereas the others didn't.
Amanjoy you're right about Lenny, although I've come to the realization that a lot more people than I could have ever imagined were doing coke back then, so in some ways he's just one of the few unlucky ones that paid the ultimate price.
Having lived in Boston through the Reggie Lewis ordeal I have a much different take. He is completely at fault for his own death imo as he was told by multiple doctors to retire immediately. He ultimately found a doctor who would clear him to play and not long after he collapsed and died. Then his widow drug the team through a rather nasty lawsuit. I liked Reggie but the lawsuit exposed a lot of the medical info that otherwise would have remained private and made his widow look horribly greedy in the process. I can understand why he would not want to give up the game he loved but ultimately proves that we should listen to our doctors, whether they tell us to quit smoking, get some exercise, go on a diet or heaven forbid quit playing basketball.
Having lived in Boston through the Reggie Lewis ordeal I have a much different take. He is completely at fault for his own death imo as he was told by multiple doctors to retire immediately. He ultimately found a doctor who would clear him to play and not long after he collapsed and died. Then his widow drug the team through a rather nasty lawsuit. I liked Reggie but the lawsuit exposed a lot of the medical info that otherwise would have remained private and made his widow look horribly greedy in the process. I can understand why he would not want to give up the game he loved but ultimately proves that we should listen to our doctors, whether they tell us to quit smoking, get some exercise, go on a diet or heaven forbid quit playing basketball.
Point taken on the Lewis death. Some people are stubborn when it comes to things they deeply care about like basketball! However, although doctors told Mourning and Shaun Elliot that it'd be dangerous to play with one kidney, they still did it and had effective careers afterwards. Granted the heart is a different story, but the point is that doctors can give analysis based on facts, but the power of the human spirit can overcome even the most improbable odds.
Agree about Reggie Lewis death. Like Bird said in his autobio, the guy chose basketball over his health and family. He is solely to blame, and his widow was just greedy. I don't know what the outcome of the lawsuit was. Bias sounded like a good guy who made one horrible decision to do drugs that night. Sounds like he hadn't really done them much in the past. I believe his family also filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against his college, holding them somewhat accountable for their son's death.
Acutually Bias by all accounts had never done hard drugs and almost certinaly had never done cocaine before. And the night he died again he did very little but aparently was one of the rare peopel who lack the enzymes necessary to break coacine down in the blood stream this resulted in a overdose induced heartatack from a very modest amount or cocaine. To blame him for not knowing his particualre alergy to cocaine is roughly the equivalent of blaming someone who is alergic to asprin or penicilin for dying when they take those drugs in in average doses.
I've always prefered to believe it was his first time but there are conflicting reports about whether he had done it before or not. I believe his roommate said they had done it together a few times but most of his family and friends believed this was his first time. However in all of the legal proceedings that came afterwards the courts determined that he had prior drug use, and let the roommate off the hook of any legal liability.
Other than cocaine being illegal, this always seemed a lot more like the kid on the team who died after being given some ephedra based stimulant or weight loss product the rest of the team used than that of some junkie od'ing.
Other than cocaine being illegal, this always seemed a lot more like the kid on the team who died after being given some ephedra based stimulant or weight loss product the rest of the team used than that of some junkie od'ing.
Regardless, Bias died because of a choice he made. An unbright one at that. That's a lot different from just being struck down. There's no "he deserved it" in it, but there is some "he made the call" to it. The difference between a passenger in an airplane that falls out of the sky, or a skydiver who's chute does not open. The one is just living life and has it taken from them, the other is intentionally taking a risk, and if it bites them in the butt, its not the same level of "that sucks". Its a choice.
Agree with amanjoy and Bricklayer. When you make bad choices, you suffer the consequences. Doesn't mean that I am not sorry that he is dead, I am very sad that this promising young man died. I wouldn't of started the thread in the first place if I didn't feel that way! However, honestly, I have less sympathy for him and others who die from doing drugs, not wearing their seat belt/helmet, etc. than I do for someone who is innocently struck down through no fault of their own.
Just my opinion - as I've always stated:
WOW ... you guys/gal - THAT'S COLD BLOODED
It almost sounds like - THEY DESERVE IT (for doing drugs, for not wearing a seatbelt, etc-etc).
I'm not trying to start an agruement here or say you're wrong/insensitive in your opinions ... just that if a mistake/excuse/personal choice had anything to do with a DEATH ...
THEY HAD IT COMING ...
Okay - I'm done with this one ... let's just hope this type of thing doesn't happen to you or anyone you are VERY CLOSE TO.
WOW ... you guys/gal - THAT'S COLD BLOODED
It almost sounds like - THEY DESERVE IT (for doing drugs, for not wearing a seatbelt, etc-etc).
I'm not trying to start an agruement here or say you're wrong/insensitive in your opinions ... just that if a mistake/excuse/personal choice had anything to do with a DEATH ...
THEY HAD IT COMING ...
Okay - I'm done with this one ... let's just hope this type of thing doesn't happen to you or anyone you are VERY CLOSE TO.
I'm with Brick:
The choice he made was very sad because he had a good upbringing too.
I feel for the family who has to live with the decision that Bias made.
Bias made a dumb choice, and suffered the consequences. Now his family is the one grieving. It's unfortunate...but I don't sympathize with him as much I do with his family.
The choice he made was very sad because he had a good upbringing too.
I feel for the family who has to live with the decision that Bias made.
Bias made a dumb choice, and suffered the consequences. Now his family is the one grieving. It's unfortunate...but I don't sympathize with him as much I do with his family.
Like I say, I subtle line there between "he deserved it" which is a rather judgemental thing almost implying you want it to happen, and on the other hand simply the recognition that he CHOSE to take a risk, and lost the gamble. The odds are obviously not remotely the same, but if somebody CHOOSES to play russian roulette, and the gun happens to go off...well, its still a pointless death, but the "victim" obviously had a hand in his/her own death in a way he/she would not if they were just walking home one night and somebody came by and randomly shot them.
So you're saying taking cocaine is equivalent to trying aspirin or penicillin... I disagree completely. Yes, he was unlucky in dying, but taking cocaine is, from what I understand, one step closer to death, or at least hell on Earth, for most people. Allergic or not, it's a horribly unwise move. Taking aspirin, on the other hand, is perfectly harmless.
I am in NO WAY advocating the use of any drugs leagal or otherwise but the truth of the matter is that some how the "legality" issues totally clouds peopels objectivity when discussing the potential risks of substance use/abuse. In 1997 7,600 Americans died from taking Asprin, over 100,000 from perscription drugs. In 1999 alchol directly killed 19,172 Americans yet 19,160 Americans died from all illeagal drugs combined.
What I am pointing out is that when peopel make judgment calls about the relitive risk and safty of substances it almost never has to do with the REALITY of the risks, just perceptions. The reality is that cocaine while a nasty and addictive drug. But it has been used by humans for thousands of years and is still used for some mediacl procedures. If Len had gottne a nose job and died on the operating table from the same alergic reaction to the topical local anistetic no one would blame him, yet given the severity of his reaction that is almost definalty what would have happend had he gotten a nose job in clinc.
Is it a smart choice to use drugs recreationaly? Before you say no the real question for most Americans is "Which Drugs?" Heroin? Oxycotton? Vicoden? Cocaine? Marajuana? Alcohol? Tobbaco? Cafine? And before you answer the question for each substance do you REALLY know the risks?
I would argue that while Len Bias had to know cocaine was was not good for him he had no reasonable reson to belive that doing a small amount, the same or less than his friends were taking, that it would kill him.
What I am pointing out is that when peopel make judgment calls about the relitive risk and safty of substances it almost never has to do with the REALITY of the risks, just perceptions. The reality is that cocaine while a nasty and addictive drug. But it has been used by humans for thousands of years and is still used for some mediacl procedures. If Len had gottne a nose job and died on the operating table from the same alergic reaction to the topical local anistetic no one would blame him, yet given the severity of his reaction that is almost definalty what would have happend had he gotten a nose job in clinc.
Is it a smart choice to use drugs recreationaly? Before you say no the real question for most Americans is "Which Drugs?" Heroin? Oxycotton? Vicoden? Cocaine? Marajuana? Alcohol? Tobbaco? Cafine? And before you answer the question for each substance do you REALLY know the risks?
I would argue that while Len Bias had to know cocaine was was not good for him he had no reasonable reson to belive that doing a small amount, the same or less than his friends were taking, that it would kill him.