20 Years Ago Today.....

More important than sergeant Pepper Teaching the Band to Play...

Len Bias died. I was fortunate enough to see Lenny Bias play in person once. As a senior (I was a Freshman), he brought his Maryland team into Cameron Indoor Stadium, and proceeded to score 41 points (Duke still one, 75-67 as I recall) in one of the greatest individual performances I have ever seen. He is one of the two best college basketball players that I have seen in my lifetime (along with Johnny Dawkins, who also played in that game).

It is my opinion, and I know I am not the only one to think this, that Lenny Bias would have gone down as one of the Top 10 players ever to play the game, if not the best. That's right, he may have been the best ever. He may even have been able to help the NBA avoid some of the things I hate about it; that is how magical this guy was as a player.

Bias had been picked two days earlier by the Celtics with the second pick in the draft. Most people do not remember, but I will never forget, the 76ers pulled off two draft day trades that day, the summary of which was Jeff Ruland (who played a total of 5 games for the 76ers) and Roy Hinson for the 1st pick in the draft, which the 76ers owned, and with which Cleveland used to take Brad Daugherty. I cannot help but wonder if the 76ers used that 1st pick and took Bias, is it possible that he would have been in Philly that night instead of at home ingesting the cocaine that killed him? Of course, we will never know, although just the thought does show you how every seemingly unrelated decision can affect your life in a major, monumental way.

The clip below, which my buddy Kalinock, a huge Maryland fan, sent me several months back, shows a montage of Lenny's life and untimely death. For those who saw him play, it will remind you of the magic that was Len Bias. For those who were too young to remember, this video will not do much to show the magic of how great he truly was, but is worth watching anyway, for the dunks over North Carolina alone!

Continue to rest in Peace Len.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsE0Th50SII

A couple other notes:

• I will be on the radio again tomorrow at some point during the 7:00 am et hour. Sorry for the lack of specifics. Anyway, if you want to try to listen live, here is the link: http://www.wccpfm.com/; if you want to catch the replay, we are still working no figuring out how to get the clips up on the blog (and still trying to get last week's up!). The best way to catch it is to tune in live.
• The NBA game was actually exciting last night. I even tuned in after Entourage to catch the end of the game. However, one of the biggest problem for the league is that they start their games so late, that nobody can stay up until the end on the East Coast. I fell asleep and missed a good ending. How do you bring the casual fan in and make them a bigger fan?
• The U.S. Open was riveting yesterday. It was heartbreaking for Mickelson. I do not even particularly like Lefty, and I felt horrible watching him implode on 18.