Sports At Random

John Lopez, a writer for the Houston Chronicle, wrote a very interesting piece (he basically just wrote down quotes) about the late Eddie Griffin- all from an interview with Griffin’s former coach, ex-NBA Player/Current NBA Coach/former Drug Addict, John Lucas.

I remember Eddie Griffin’s great playing days well. We entered college the same year and I saw him dominate as a Freshman at Seton Hall while I was a Freshman at Syracuse. He looked like Kevin Garnett to me, but was a better shot blocker. I knew he had some problems, but was still surprised when 3 High Schoolers and some foreign Dude named Pau Gasol were taken ahead of him. But he never lived up to my or anyone else’s high expectations.

The Medical Examiner for Griffin still hasn’t determined his cause of death- but John Lucas thinks he knows why he ignored all the warning signs and drove into a moving train. “In my mind, it was a suicide attempt.” Lucas said that Griffin suffered from Alcoholism and never could fully resist the temptation of the bottle.

Then Lucas goes on to say something that truly is crazy- he even prefaces it with “This is a crazy statement…”- so I can only assume he’s crazy. “…but when I was an addict, I didn’t want to be an average drug addict. I wanted to be the very best drug addict and alcoholic I could be. That’s the way we as athletes were raised.”

That is a troubling statement and one that, the more I think about it, the more I can find examples where it’s true. Jason Giambi once stated he tries to “play like an All-Star, party like a rock star, hammer like a porn star.” He wants to be the best Athlete, party the hardest, and be great at sex. Mediocre is not in his vocabulary (well, nowadays it is). Michael Jordan was rumored to say that he wasn’t the best golfer, but when $100,000 is on the line, he can make that 10 foot putt while you can’t. His competitiveness was legendary in everything he did.

Maybe there is something obsessive about great athletes- or potentially great ones- that make them that great. And many of these people fight to bridge that line between great athlete and great alcoholic or great drug addict or great gambler.

I still think John Lucas is crazy, though- crazy like a fox.

Maybe I’m crazy now for thinking he makes sense.