ESPN feature on Len Bias

[kah]

Fabulous writing.

[Lippa]

This still makes me wince.

[El Establishment 1]

Something about this story is so intruiging.

[Bleacher Creature]

Wow, 1986 was indeed quite the year of tears.

The crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January.

Len Bias on June 19.

My father on July 12.

[kah]

Every once in a while, ESPN raises its game.

[Jeffro]

Cocaine's a hell of a drug. Blech.

[davhaf]

Cocaine's a hell of a drug. Blech.

So sayeth Rick James.....bitch.

[bombay]

Bias was a great player, and his death combined with Bird's injuries destroyed the Celtic's future. It was also the true beginning of the War On Drugs. Which might not have been such a bad thing had it focused purely on that hell on earth, cocaine.

[Bleacher Creature]

Lest we forget the sudden death of Reggie Lewis seven years later. Man, the Celts mat well have 22 titles right now hadn't these tragedies occured.

[007]

Every once in a while, ESPN raises its game.

Their e-Ticket series is one of the few things that I enjoy reading on a consistent basis from them...

Powerful piece...

[Schwahalala]

I've written extensively on Len Bias and Hank Gathers and how there deaths were not related but everyone thought so because of the mountain of press Bias's death got.
It was like every Black athlete a live was using Cocaine. It really was a joke how overcovered this was.

Bias got more press than John Belushi - David Kennedy - and any other coked up celebrity.

[slow groove]

Great stuff. Thanx, Kah.

[Schwahalala]

I wrote about this in the late 80's and early 90's - its amazing how long it takes some people to see the obvious.

"In our haste to address what had been framed as America's most pressing problem, in our haste to atone for the sins of Leonard Bias, we took it too far. That is now widely acknowledged by both Democrats and Republicans and borne out in studies by advocacy groups like The Sentencing Project and Families Against Mandatory Minimums. The racial disparity, the targeting of black neighborhoods, the overcrowding of prisons with low-level drug offenders rather than major traffickers, and the outright absurdity of what happened to Derrick Curry and thousands like him, has prompted the introduction of seven bills between the House and Senate -- sponsored by conservatives, such as Orrin Hatch of Utah, and liberals, such as Charles Rangel of New York -- to amend the laws passed in 1986."

[Schwahalala]

Kah - 20 years ago after the death of Hank Gathers - I looked into this and did my research. Bias had become a cause for celebration in the anti-drug world. They used his name to get all kinds of dumb laws passed that her poor people.
The key phrase was no longer anti-drug - it was anti-crime. Tough on drugs really meant tough on Blacks since the laws were written to affect the Black community disportionatly.

I am so sick by this -
I literally sent 50 page packages to NBC - CBS -ABC -Sports Illustrated advising them of the over coverage of Bias death. Specifically when Gathers died how they linked his death and Bias despite them being polar opposites.

Even then I noted the crime angle and the laws that were passed.

Doesn't make me happy I was right at all.

[backstop]

How was it overcovered? And if it was, are you saying there was some sort of malevolent intent behind it?