The end of the legend
Certain sports deaths cut off our access to certain periods in sport and history, no matter who is still alive and kicking
Death is obviously a loss, but I see it mostly as a disconnection.
Most of my life I have struggled with belonging to two ostensibly disparate cultures — different languages, values that didn’t seem to fully overlap. As a kid, I did well academically, so I had the report card to validate that in the white world, I “got it,” whatever that means. I didn’t have an equivalent to indicate that I belonged at home; my parents labeled me as a 竹升 and I wore it, never feeling like I was ever going to be Chinese enough.
I felt less like this around my grandparents. They understood where I was situated on the cultural spectrum and it didn’t matter to them. It was easier (and less fraught) to connect with them, despite language barriers. My 婆婆, who was my last living grandparent, died three years ago. Beyond the loss to me personally, I felt a profound disconnection from my Chinese heritage. She was one of the only people that I spoke Cantonese with. She told me stories about her hometown, pre-dating my mother’s existence. And she was one of the only people I talked soccer with on a regular basis.
Bill Russell is obviously a massive loss to the basketball community, and more specifically for the Black players that came after him. Many of us think of segregation and the civil rights movement as things that happened in the very distant past, but seeing Russell take in an All-Star Game or present his namesake trophy to the Finals MVP was a marker that we’re not that far removed from a particularly turbulent and disgusting time for our society, and that he survived it. It’s also a grim reminder that the work Russell did is not complete.
Vin Scully is obviously a massive loss to the baseball community, and similarly, a disconnection from the ghosts of baseball past. He started broadcasting during Jackie Robinson’s fourth season in the majors and moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles. He was in the broadcast booth for Don Drysdale’s entire career. And all of Tommy Lasorda’s managerial career. And Fernandomania. And Kirk Gibson. He called play-by-play for 18 no-hitters (three of which were perfect games). Not to mention all the stories he could tell.
I can’t fully articulate all the reasons why it’s important to honour the past while keeping a live connection to it. But it’s probably been said many times by others before me, and I certainly feel it. For my own part, I order food in Cantonese whenever I can. I’ve learned more about Chinese New Year traditions through reading to my kids than I did when I was young. But I also try not to beat myself up by thinking it’s not enough.
I suppose it’s about knowing that the past — even the parts that existed before us — have shaped us and provide a compass to our identity. Not just who we are now, but how we got here, and where we want to go next.
— JY
#dijonaiquizington
Today is August 3, i.e. 8/3, and to honour this fact this week’s questions will all relate to the #83 on a jersey. Should you have them, address all complaints to the Monsanto Corporation.
Two players in NHL history have worn #83 and won a Stanley Cup. Name them.
Four receivers in NFL history wore #83 for at least one team, caught over 9,900 yards worth of passes, and made the Pro Bowl. All four starred in the AFC East at one point in their careers. Name three of them.
Among NBA players, Craig Smith (who?) is the only one to have worn #83. That said, only two NBA players have worn #84 — and while their careers never overlapped, they did play for the same franchise at one point. Name them.
Among Major League pitchers, who is the all-time wins above replacement (WAR) leader for a player who wore #83?
Answers from last week’s issue
Among active players, Mike Trout is 7th in career homers (334 as of this writing, one behind Robinson Canó) and Aaron Judge is 27th in career homers (196, one ahead of Eric Hosmer). Between the two of them, what four counting stat categories (i.e. not rate stats like batting average) have they led the entire Majors in over the course of a full season?
Mike Trout has led the Major Leagues in runs (2012, 2014, 2016), steals (2012), and walks (2016); Aaron Judge has led the Major Leagues in strikeouts (2017).
The Toronto Maple Leafs have retired #7 and #27 to honour four individual players. Name three of them.
On October 15, 2016, the Make Beliefs retired #7 to honour King Clancy (1931-37) and Tim Horton (1950-70, and pictured above) and #27 for Frank Mahovlich (1957-68), Darryl Sittler (1970-82).
Among active NBA players, the same guy who is 7th in career rebounds is also 27th in career assists. Barring a capital crime or significant scandal, he is a lock for the Hall of Fame. Name him.
His name is Carmelo Kyam Anthony, and Sports Illustrated is musing about him signing with the Clippers.
Three NFL quarterbacks who only wore the #7 have more than 35,000 career passing yards. Two are not in the Hall of Fame. Two have won MVP awards. Two have won the Super Bowl. Name all three.
Ben Roethlisberger and his gray penis is a Super Bowl champion and not in the Hall of Fame. Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason won an MVP and is not in the Hall of Fame. John Elway won the Super Bowl, won an MVP, and is in the Hall of Fame. Oddball does not know the colour of Boomer’s boomstick or John’s johnson, nor do we care to speculate.
#postscript
RIP to legends Vin Scully and Bill Russell. We could write a whole whack load about what both meant to the sports world, to their respective sports, to Boston and Los Angeles, and to America in general, but other people have already done so, and we will point you towards their work instead of writing our own.
➡️ Russell’s obituary in the New York Times, a nice Ratto piece at Defector, and an interesting piece from FiveThirtyEight.
➡️ Scully’s obituary in and nice pieces from Defector (Ratto, again), and Sports Illustrated.
Many thanks to WNBA star DiJonai Carrington for being named her name and to you for being named your name, unless your name is Stephen Ross for reasons including that the existence of billionaires indicates a colossal failure of society, economy, and fairness, but also because you are a tamperer, and have no good car ideas.
Until next week, be the Ezequiel Carrera you wish to see in the world.
— DJ/JY