I’d Like To Think Chris Street Is Rolling Over In His Grave Tonight

Maybe you have read, but Iowa fans are a nice bunch of people. They wave at the sick kids, and it’s fantastic. True story, as a Buckeye fan I didn’t really mind losing to these nice people. We had just knocked off Penn State in a glorious game, and while I would have preferred my team to win, it’s life. The curb stomping was a bit much, but probably deserved in some cosmic sense.

Today, however, I was reminded of one of the sadder days of my fandom when I was a youth. Chris Street, an Iowa forward, was killed in a traffic accident. Street was one of my favorite players when he was among the living. He was a pretty good basketball player, but had heart in spades. He wouldn’t just dive for a ball, he would dive for a ball fully expecting a player that got paid to play to kick him in the face, plus the bribed refs calling it on him, and physics making the ball bounce the wrong way. It didn’t matter, he still dove for the ball. Every time.

For lack of a better word, because there isn’t one, he was a competitor.

I never met Chris Street. He is no longer among the living, so I can’t ask him personally. However, if he were, and I could, I am fairly confident that he wouldn’t be happy for an intentional miss. It wasn’t in his nature.

I like the sentiment, but this kid should have tried to make the free throw and break the record. I think that’s what Chris Street would have wanted.