Today is the 15th anniversary of the death of one of my heroes

[GreenDoberman]

One of the great's died March 4, 1990 when Eric "Hank" Gathers died after collapsing on the court during a WCC Tournament game.

This was an event that forever changed my life.

11pm on ESPN Classic-Sportscenter Flashback "The Death of Hank Gathers"

The tears will be flowing at Green Doberman-villa tonight, no doubt.

 

[Journeyman]

We mentioned this earlier GD, its hard to believe its been so long...his NBA career would have been just about over or over...what a terrible shame....thanks for the TV alert, will definitely tune in....

I still can remember Chris Myers giving the awful news...very sad.

 

[WorldNumberOne]

funny how you should mention this .

i just got back from seeing " Be Cool " . good movie.. pretty funny.

their is a scene with cedric the entertainer and his posse. they are all wearing throwback jerseys .

one guy has a # 24 Gathers jersey on.. how ironic the movie opening today.

 

[GreenDoberman]

WNO.

Gathers wore #44.

I will never forget that.

I remember going to school the next day in a complete daze.

I remember giving a speech on Hank and the "System" in speech class and the whole class was silent for like 3 minutes afterwards until the bell rang.

 

[Journeyman]

I don't see this coming up on ESPN Classic here, is this tonight?

 

[GreenDoberman]

Yes Journey, check the schedule. They showed part of the LMU-LaSalle game this morning. My TiVo says its on at 11 and 2am. Don't know if that is the same times on the East Coast.

 

[RobFunk]

i think i was a junior in high school when this happened

i had a friend who was a huge michigan fan, and i remember shortly after hank died they beat they crap out of michigan in the big dance as a big underdog and he was so mad he said if hank didnt die michigan would have won

i kept teasing him everytime i saw him id say "hey what happened to michigan!, all them threes! hank gathers!" he kept getting mad it was great

he was also the first to point out to me that hank was the first to lead the nation in both scoring and rebounding at the same time. truly an amazing feet, leaving us to wonder what could have been

the left handed bo kimble free throw is really just a snipet to me, when i think of hank gathers.

i can think of so much stuff, that usa today report on the cheesy made for tv movie, the maroon layola jerseys the hopes of beating unlv, the speculation of what caused hanks death, his moms reaction quoted in the paper. a lot comes to mind

 

[Journeyman]

Remember his good friend the L Train played for Lasalle...

I don't see it here...maybe just a left coast thing..hope not.

 

[GreenDoberman]

Rob Funk,

He was actually the 2nd to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding.

"The X Man" Xavier McDaniel did it at Wichita State first.

One other has done it since, Kurt Thomas at TCU.

 

[winkyduck]

this one REALLY hurt and hit close to home


even though it was (is) my dad's b-day i was at KTLA-TV Channel 5 in LA working that night in the sports department - the SAME one where Bo and Hank interned. we all got to meet the 2 A LOT and they were cooler than cool guys!

the game was NOT on TV but we had a guy at the game taping it as well as monitoring it.

we get a call during the game saying "Hank is down"

we were all worried but knew Hank would pull thru. he might never play again - but he would pull thru.

our guy calls back about 10-15 minutes later saying words to the effect of "Hank's in big trouble."

NOW we start to worry about more than Hank getting thru this since we are told some other things about this situation.

eventually we are told HANK IS DEAD! the ENTIRE sports department and news room turns into zombies! hank was loved by EVERYONE there.

for those who saw the special - you will see someone named Ed Arnold interviewed. he was the sportscaster at KTLA at the time and was REALLY close with hank. when we got word hank had died - ed was in the next room over - a conference room - speaking to some HS kids about the industry and all.

we got Ed out of there and i don't recall who told him - but someone did and as expected - Ed broke down upon hearing this. Ed is white and Hank is black but they loved each other like Father and Son.

somehow Ed regained his composure and went back to speaking with the kids.

it later came time for the 10P news and we led off with hank's death and so much more.

one thing i will NEVER forget is Ed interviewed Hank the previous day after the game. Hank was a notoriously AWFUL FT shooter and had airballed one that game - and Ed razzed him about it. hank joked back saying "I was tired" and that's why he missed the FT. hank was probably having fun with Ed but it was surreal seeing it.

i don't know how we did the show that day - but we did.

afterwards we were still all like zombies - not really believing what happened actually happened and to this day i'm still not sure i believe it.

hank was not related to me in any manner at all - but when he died i felt like i lost a brother - the pain was that deep.

hank may be gone - but for ANYONE who ever crossed paths with him - he will NEVER be forgotten!

 

[GreenDoberman]

exactly Winky, nice tribute.


Anyone that knew Hank never had a bad word to say about him. Remarkable considering the area of his upbringing.