OT: Kobe and other Shocking Deaths

[Groz]

Of course there are personal deaths that each of us have had, but I was thinking about which public deaths have been the biggest shocking ones that had the biggest outpouring of emotion in the USA that I could think of in my lifetime.

I was only 5 when JFK was shot and killed, so I am not including him.

Of course we have learned many things and have developed medicines to keep people alive since Magic's announcement, but who in 1993 would have thought that Kobe Bryant would have died before Magic Johnson?

Thinking quickly off the top of my head and not in any order:

1. Martin Luther King
2. Robert Kennedy
3. Michael Jackson
4. Whitney Houston
5. Kobe Bryant (I am thinking that his funeral will be broadcast on national tv unless his wife wants it to be kept private).
6. Not his death, but OJ Simpson for his double murder and the chase and that amazing Friday of the Rangers parade and the Knicks finals all in the same day.

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[Joey Bags]

Dale Earnhardt Sr.

 

[MadRU]

John Lennon

 

[Groz]

John Lennon

I had forgotten Lennon, even though 2 minutes before I was writing him. Thanks

 

[kevin0214]

I had forgotten Lennon, even though 2 minutes before I was writing him. Thanks

Elvis

 

[kevin0214]

Elvis

Gandolfini

 

[Groz]

Elvis

The only thing with Elvis is that his health had been going down for some time and I don't think it was totally unexpected, but he was only 42.

 

[DHajekRC84]

Today felt just like the night Howard Cosell interrupted MNF to announce that John Lennon had just been shot and killed in NYC.

 

[Groz]

Today felt just like the night Howard Cosell interrupted MNF to announce that John Lennon had just been shot and killed in NYC.

Agree. I am pretty sure that Kobe will be on the front and back pages of the Post and Daily News tomorrow.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Princess Diana

 

[Groz]

Princess Diana

Another good one Mike.

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[Randal7]

Another good one Mike.

Best of Luck,
Groz

Knute rockne?

 

[RUnTeX]

Marshall U football team

 

[eedouble]

Thurman Munson was a big one for me. I was only 9 but a huge Yankees fan and it really hit me hard that one of my heroes died in a plane crash.

 

[GilliganIsland]

Roberto Clemente

 

[bac2therac]

Kurt Cobain

 

[rutgersguy1]

JFK Jr

 

[Duff366]

Robin Williams, Chris Cornell

 

[Groz]

Kurt Cobain

Bac, I would think that at the time of his death, more people than not, did not know who Kurt Cobain was. Maybe for you it did, but even though I knew some of the music of Nirvana, I did not think it had the same national appeal as the others that have been mentioned.

I was shopping at a Harmon Store this afternoon and a 15 year old girl in front of me was telling a woman behind the counter about Kobe's death and both knew all about him and were crying about it. I was very surprised.

Best of Luck,
Groz

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Kurt Cobain

Shocking?

 

[ClassOf02]

Bac, I would think that at the time of his death, more people than not, did not know who Kurt Cobain was. Maybe for you it did, but even though I knew some of the music of Nirvana, I did not think it had the same national appeal as the others that have been mentioned.

I was shopping at a Harmon Store this afternoon and a 15 year old girl in front of me was telling a woman behind the counter about Kobe's death and both knew all about him and were crying about it. I was very surprised.

Best of Luck,
Groz

I dunno. Kurt Cobain was a legend when I was a teenager. He was definitely not an unknown while alive.

 

[hughthompson]

You have to include JFK on your list, that was big, very big especially when your consider the government murdered the POTUS.

 

[Friend of 112]

Drazen Petrovic

 

[Terry_2426]

Roy Halladay, felt eerily similar to today.

 

[rutgersguy1]

Prince

 

[rutger80]

Thurman Munson and John Lennon top my list, both a year apart.

 

[TheB1GTerp]

Roberto Clemente

Yea I'm not sure how this was missed, he was on aid mission and died. Horrible.

 

[bac2therac]

Shocking?

yes

 

[Super tRUper]

Princess Diana and Aaliyah were notables ones for me growing up

 

[knight82]

Thurman Munson

 

[bac2therac]

Bac, I would think that at the time of his death, more people than not, did not know who Kurt Cobain was. Maybe for you it did, but even though I knew some of the music of Nirvana, I did not think it had the same national appeal as the others that have been mentioned.

I was shopping at a Harmon Store this afternoon and a 15 year old girl in front of me was telling a woman behind the counter about Kobe's death and both knew all about him and were crying about it. I was very surprised.

Best of Luck,
Groz

Cobain was an icon of alternative music in the 90s. Anyone under 30 were pretty distraught over his suicide..

 

[RU89]

Paul Walker

 

[BigEastPhil]

Len Bias was also a tragic death I remember.....

But the others that I recall as tragic in my lifetime as I am 56 years old:

- John Lennon
- Thurman Munson
-Princess Diana

I was too young to realize / live thru the assasinations of JFK; MLK and Robert Kennedy

 

[theRU]

Ayerton Senna- the whole weekend was horrendous with another driver killed in qualifying

Missed the USA part but he was a world wide icon

 

[Newbrunfus]

Roy Halladay was a more recent one but Payne Stewart stands out more to me since his golfing wardrobe made him so memorable.

 

[colbert17]

Heath Ledger
Freddie Mercury
John Denver
John Belushi
Tim Russert (a personal favorite)
Reggie Lewis.
Hank Gathers (died on the basketball court during a game)

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

I think the music and sports seem to blend together as a sort of iconic for all youth and for that reason, it reaches so many in walks of life.

And because Kobe was a part of American sports history and his status in Southern California, this one will resonate for a significant amount of time, because of the suddenness of it all.

 

[MadRU]

Guess the ones most personal to me were

John Lennon
Roberto Clemente
Pete Maravich

 

[RUSONIC]

Chris Ash and Terry Shea. I remember when both programs died suddenly.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

Chris Ash and Terry Shea. I remember when both programs died suddenly.

Stay classy!