Page 29 - 1986 VES Meteor

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OCTOBER 17, 1986
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In life he was the model of superbly conditioned athlete. In death he is a painful reminder of the sometimes fatal conse· quences of drug use. As the twisted plot of the Len Bias story
unfolds, we are left with a sense of despair.
Larry Bird called his death "the cruelest thing I ever heard." His tremendous physical condi·
tion failed to prevent a fatal heart attack. His strong moral convictions seemingly gave way during a moment of weakness on his proudest day. After being ·drafted by the Boston Celtics, Bias claimed he was living in a
"dream within a dream." Forty hours later, the -dream became a nightmare as Bias lay dead, the victim of a cocaine overdose.
Now we are left with the ques· tion of how to deal with the memory of Len Bias. Should we simply dismiss his death as a tragedy and a waste, and go on remembering him as he lived, not as he died? Or should we hold Bias up as an example, using him
to show the possible conse· quences of drug abuse?
tionally known sports figure en· sured that his death would bring an avalanche of publicity. None· theless, now that he is "dead and buried, and now that the media's focus has shifted from this one player to possible improprieties at the University of Maryland, a case can be made that Bias should be allowed to rest in
peace.
In the first place, doing so
would spare Bias' friends and family the anguish of seeing his name raked over in the press every time the subject of drug abuse comes up. The media is often accused of belaboring the negative too much as it is, and condeming Bias as a drug user
caine user. Constantly linking his name with drugs will only tar· nish the image he created that of
a great athlete. It will also make the public skeptical of sports figures, and undermine the type
of hero worship that, stars such as Bias inspire, especially among children.
A final argument against mak· ing an example of Bias contends that he should be held to no higher standard than the rest of us. Simply because he was a famous athlete does not mean
that he should be used as exhibit A in any argument against drug abuse. Most of us live secure in the knowledge that whatever
vice we choose, whether it be drugs, alcohol or smoking, it will be ours alone. The public and the
apart, and should be granted the
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same privacy as our own. Unfortunately, these argu· ments are not entirely convine· ing. In the first place, they are
unrealistic. Bias was a very famous person. His death would have been big news regardless of how he died, but the fact that it was drug-induced made it a ma- jor news story.
That is really the bottom line. The combination of an all· American killed by cocaine is too
big a story to ignore or gloss over. The press has·bombarded
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us with items from the Bias case because it is newsworthy, it sells papers. In the future it can be ex· pected to continue linking Bias' name with drugs. Even if it hurts his family, his friends and those who admired him. Len Bias will be included along with the likes of Don Rogers, John Belushi, David Kennedy and the other victims of drug abuse. It is sad, but Bias may one day be remembered more for how he died than how he lived. Though unfortunate; the manner in which he died ensures that this be the ease.
Another reason Bias deserves
the superstar ensemble of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Young soon broke off from Crosby, Stills and Nash to do some solo work and be found a band called Crazy Horse. He has played with
this band since 1969.
When we arrived at the show
the stage was different than any
I had seen in the past. It was set
up as an old garage with garage
items surrounding him. There
•• were even mansJZe mice.
to be condemned is that he should be held to a higher stan- dard than the rest of ua. As a superstar athlete,~ias was in the unique position of being able to influence people who only knew him through their TV screens or their local sports pages. He was a symbol ofthe lof· ty goals that can be accomplish· ed through talent and dedica· tion. By becoming a celebrity, Bias had taken on the weighty responsibility of being admired and enulated especially by children. He had a responsibility to those who looked up to him and he failed it.
Now he is a symbol of another •
sort. He is a symbol of our weakness. He is a symbol of the volunerability that we all must endure. And by exposing this side of Bias, if even one person can be saved from the same fate, if even one deprived kid in a slum or one rich kid in a mansion can have his nightmare exchanged for a dream, then it is worth dragging Len Bias' name through the mud. Ignoring his death will serve only to render it meaningless. And then it will be
as wasted as his life.
they were v:rtraying the eon· eert t-shirt said "The Third Best Garage Band."
The first set opened up with him playing his old acoustic songs like, "Heart of Gold," a
favorite of Mr. Zimmer, along with "Hey Hey My My," Sugar Mountain," "Mr. Sol" and "After The Gold Rush." The second aet was very different, with alot of
songs from his new album. Theae tunes were a little hard for the repratation he has acquired u a mellow folk artist.
The concert was very good and also unique with the stage aet in such a odd manner. He is one of the only performers that I have
seen who has attracted such a variety of different kindl of
piewhow reintodifferentmuai· elan . I saw Deadbeada,
Fan and even 011y fan .
from Ch mlcal
The fact that Bias was a na·
By John Gibbs, VES '83
personal life
to be a
Reprinted from
eace By Jim Parrott
On Sunday, September 18, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas took six VES and two 'Randy Mac' students to
Washington for a march in sup- port of the Sanctuary Move- ment. For mo t of us, it was a ne experience and we had no
idea what to expect. For some reason, I pictured anyone who'd gather for a peace rally as a Grateful Dead type, but I was way off base. The1e protesten w rP doc:tor1, lawyen and even
Cooper
twenty sixth, Mr. Lauder took a
group of V.E.S. students to the Neil Y oung Concert. The concert
was held at George Mason University, about third minutes out of Washington, D.C. We had a pretty wild weekend consisting
of staying in Washington for the night and seeing the concert. The next day we traveled to give sup- port to our football team at Woodberry.
Neil Young was born on November 12, 1945 in Toranto, Canada. He became interested in
music at a early age after admir- ing the work of Elvis Presley. He has never had a lesson and every·
thing he knows was self taught. As he began to become good, he traveled around doing folk-rock
concerts. He soon became famous and was invited to join
,. ty mayor
touy.
- both the poor and alike had something
but also acted as if he were in a garage making noise. A man came on stage a number of times playing his neighbor. He begged Neil to stop making so much noise. But the more he bugged him, the louder Neil played. The neighbor calls the police and Neil is actually taken off stage by the
cops. Since this was the scene
A.D.A.C. ia compoa d of t n people, two teachers, Mr. Smith and Mr. Foater; four atudenta,
~ marrh b#.gan at a large h r" in th <'enter of
Wa h1ngton. Th p ople ara d into gr(JUPI ba A on
r part f'Uiar behef - in d d n pr