Basketball

I’m about to embark on a 10-day trip back home to Virginia, which means keeping up with the Seattle Mariners will be as difficult as if they were playing on Mars. No ESPN highlights, no box scores in the paper, no asking anyone about last night’s game, no nothing.

Sure, there’s the Internet for all that information, but I truly believe my parents’ computer is powered by a small rodent, making easy access to late-game action almost impossible, and me mostly out of the loop for one of the most important stretches of the season.

The news in Cleveland has fans going crazy right now!

The Cleveland Cavaliers have just traded for Shaquille O'Neal!

Across the street from Quicken Loans Arena is Progressive Field, and the home of the Cleveland Indians, and there is a completely different story, but one that Indians fans are all too familiar with.

The Indians are in the midst of losing seven out of their last eight games for a record of 30 wins and 43 losses. They are also 11 games out of first place and own the worst record in the American League.

In 1984 when I was 13-years old, my shoe size finally caught up with my age. To say I was clumsy was an understatement. I could barely drive to the basket for a layup without tripping over my own feet. Even walking on the sidewalk was a challenge as I struggled to adapt to my body that had sprouted up over the summer.

In one championship weekend, Phil Jackson won his tenth title (as an NBA coach), Kobe his fourth, and Sidney Crosby his first.  

When tragedy strikes the world of sports, it always leaves an everlasting imprint in our lives.

No matter if we cheered the player, booed the player or hated the player, we always respected the player.

This slide show is so we never forget the guys we rooted for, the ones that could have been so great... but were stolen from us early in life. Never take for granted what you have, no matter how small or big it is, just be happy that we got to open our eyes today.

Here is a list of players that left our world tragically way before it was there time to go.