Death felled the sports world, tragically, over the weekend.

I sat down to write about the death of former baseball player Bill Buckner, who died at 69 after a struggle with dementia. I was going to write about how Buckner’s life and career were far more than the error he made at first base during the sixth game of the 1986 World Series; that Buckner had a stellar 20 years in the Major Leagues at the plate, on the bases and in the field before injuries slowed him down. And I was proud that most of the media covering the story concentrated much more on his accomplishments than a ball that rolled between his legs.

Then I saw two other stories far more gripping than Bill Buckner’s death, two that happened on the same day to athletic figures I had never heard of but had to keep reading.

Auburn’s veteran play-by-play radio voice Rob Bramblett and his wife, Paula, were killed in a car crash Saturday afternoon on a rural Alabama Road. The name of the 16-year-old driver of the other car has been withheld pending investigation.

You might have heard Bramblett’s voice calling the miracle 109-yard touchdown run after an Alabama field goal fell short deep in the end zone of the 2013 Iron Bowl, a call for which Bramblett earned a national sportscaster of the year award from Sports Illustrated.

The other story was equally devastating. Wisconsin assistant basketball coach Howard Moore and his 13-year-old son survived a crash in Michigan that killed Moore’s wife, 9-year-old daughter and the family dog. The 23-year-old driver of the other car also died, and toxicology reports on her body are pending, as well.

The world stood still for the Auburn and Wisconsin communities, as they would anywhere, and those who knew the Bramblett and Moore families. The Brambletts were in the prime of their lives, early 50s, and the 46-year-old Moore and his son are now left without their wife and mother, daughter and kid sister.

Vehicular deaths occur every single day in this country and around the world, but when they show up on the sports pages and websites they appear so brutally out of place.

Bill Buckner lived a good life defined by his own error. Those of four families were altered forever by unfathomable accidents.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing Out
Roy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!
UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps Up
Dean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) Star
Ben Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and Ambitions
Garrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID Debate
Clemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft Dodgers
Carolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?
What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To Carolina
UNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra Motivation
Carolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›