To an Athlete Dying Young

[general35]

A great article by Bill Simmons about the death of LA high school running back Jamiel Shaw..my favorite quote from the piece..

Normally in these situations, the speaker feels obligated to editorialize against gang violence ("We gotta band together; we gotta stop killing each other"), and everything sounds great until you remember later that it's a pipe dream. Jamiel Sr. took a more realistic approach, making the astute point that "sometimes people are in gangs for the wrong reason, but it's the right reason for them."

Which is precisely why a community has no chance of snuffing out these gangs, no matter how much money is raised and how many people get involved. There will always be reasons for people to join a gang, just like there will always be reasons for us to stop them. The commitment has to come from the top. Almost always, it does not.
The Link

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

my favorite poem. krusty quoted it before faking his death.


as for joining a gang for "the right reason for them" ... give me a break.

 

[bozo_casanova]

Bill Simmons normally does good work, but that was a hell of a column.

It's funny, but he's the only person at ESPN who can get away with writing a Ralph Wiley column. Not that Bill Simmons is the late Ralph Wiley, but at his best he can do some of what Ralph Wiley could do.

 

[campies16]

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[swc.lives.on]

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[gardere_owns_OU]

awful story.. prayers to his family.

why do gangs have to be so violent. why can't they just be chums who hang out and have a good time like normal ******* people?

 

[general35]

that 18th street gang are some bad dudes. they make the old crips and bloods look like missionary mormons....i think they are part of the border drug cartels and are spread now all over the country. our border security has done so well..bravo..