A sad commentary on the state of society.

Did anyone else have to google "purple drank"?

#3
Anyone that doesn't listen to rap music.

/listening to promethazine enthusiast Lil' Wayne right now

Very sad news :( I wish the very best and hope the family is doing ok.

Totally random fact: I always signed Kiel onto my team in Madden in 08....

Very sad, but I can't feel sorry.
What a stupid.

Sad, only insomuch, that premature death is sad.

Friends had tried to keep Kiel from driving home from the party, Hayward said, and witnesses told police he appeared to be driving in the wrong direction when he crashed.

The hard truth is many who will never know are lucky Kiel killed only himself.

I'm not a hard moralist that will argue Kiel deserved his death. We all make stupid decisions. Make enough or be on the wrong side of probability and you'll never a chance to make another. Kiel's death is a tragedy for those who loved him, his family, and those who tried to help him. For them, I wish whatever can, if only for a second, break the monotony of grief.

But, am I the only one that finds it deeply angering that the death of the famous is held up as more important or more tragic than the thousands that die, each day, anonymous?

But, am I the only one that finds it deeply angering that the death of the famous is held up as more important or more tragic than the thousands that die, each day, anonymous?
:: John Morgan — 7/6/2008 @ 2:40 pm
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No one here is saying that his death is more tragic than the death of mr. anonymous.
You don't seem to understand the difference between 'mention worthy' and 'important'.
According to what you say, we should make a press release for either everyone's death - or for no one's.

Theo,
I think John M's point was more about the media than about any individual's death. Logically, we only hear about the famous or significant ones, and so they seem to be bigger and more imprtant than the death of the random guy down the street.

I think everyone knows they're not, but the fact that we hear about them, sometimes over and over, makes them seem more significant than they are in the greater scheme of things.

That make sense?

If we're being told as a cautionary tale, as your post at #5 indicates, then great. There is some value for society. If we're being told because it's somehow significant or important... well gosh, it doesn't feel important to a large swath of society, so why are we hearing about it? (I am not criticizing FO here, but the media in general; it IS after all football related, but only marginally for a non-Charger fan who'd never heard of him.)

Do you guys read your local newspapers or watch local news? They don't ignore it when Mr. Anonymous dies... this article caught my attention from my local rag and I actually paid it more attention than Mr. Kiel's passing.

Train hits car, kills teen...

Noteworthy due to the young age and the picture.

Also, this article is one of the leads in LA times and no doubt the identities will come to light and be reported on with a little more.

The only difference between Mr. Anonymous and Mr. Kiel is that Mr. Kiel is already familiar to us... but that's why we notice when a young athlete passes... because we already had heard of them. It's kind've a catch-22... its not that the media draws more attention, its that more people notice because he was known.

I've noted the deaths of plenty of un-famous people in the past month; a young man dying of cancer, a girl found dead at the side of the road, someone dumped off by the emergency room to die, other random person shot during New Years Eve party, some guy shot up by Inglewood police... but I couldn't tell your their names since I didn't know them previously. Other people killed in car accidents including some teenagers in Malibu. None of these people famous, which is why I don't remember their names, but their deaths were most certainly newsworthy, at least in my locality.

It's only true that Mr. Kiel's death goes beyond San Diego because he was known outside of San Diego, had a past in Texas and travelled all over the country and was on TV in many regions on Saturday's and Sunday's for most of his life. So its true he is known over a larger area, but it doesn't mean his death got any more special coverage.

Sorry for the rambling post, but some people actually do take notice of anonymous people passing, they are just... anonymous.

Someone associated with the NFL probably dies every day how do we pick?

Do we get posts for them all?

I think one of the reasons this was chosen over some other ex-NFL'er is that Kiel wasn't in his 50+ age range, and then the circumstances that led to his death.

re: 10
Yeah, they all should be posted.

Bruce "Big Balls" Barnes died last night, you might remember him from the practice squad of the 1993 Miami Dolphins, He was a 4th string Fullback and would later play back up running back in the XFL for the NJ/NY Hitmen. The cause of death was apparently a drug overdose.

re #12

Say it aint so!

B Double was one of my favorites. He and his giant testes were taken from us too soon.