The hurdles of life
In 1984, I watched the Olympics and rooted for Danny Harris. I was nine years old and thought Harris was the coolest. He was an 18-year-old world class track athlete attending school at Iowa State, and doubling as a safety on the Cyclone football team.I knew he had qualified for the Olympics, and I knew his bio from the Cyclone football media guide. On a trip to LA prior to the games in '84, I distinctly remember the sense of excitement just seeing a road sign for his hometown of Perris, CA. Harris wound up taking the silver medal in the 400 hurdles, finishing behind only the great Edwin Moses. Three years later, he was the man that snapped Moses' decade long, 122 race winning streak. On the first day of my own auspicious track career, in high school, I was intent on becoming a 400 meter hurdler. It was the coolest event on the track.
Beating Moses was the beginning of the end for Harris' track career. He barely missed qualifying for the Olympics in 1988, then attempted to dull the pain of failure by freebasing cocaine. Testing positive for the drug cost him comeback attempts in '92 and '96.
This morning, a good friend of mine named Ross Peterson, without knowing I had been a big Danny Harris fan, told me about his past friendship with Harris. They had been good friends when Harris was a personal trainer in Des Moines during the '90s. Upon meeting him, Harris explained that he possessed a silver Olympic medal, and had been the man who snapped Edwin Moses' winning streak. Naturally, Ross didn't believe him. By that time, Harris was struggling to stay sober and probably didn't carry himself much like an Olympic champion. They lost touch, and Ross was shocked to find a story about Harris in this morning's paper. It's a vivid article about Harris' struggle to escape new misfortunes and some persistent demons.
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One of my favorite comedians, Mitch Hedberg, who I just saw in concert 56 days ago, may be dead. My celebrity death beeper went off this morning, and I went to the website to check the facts. Is it an April Fools gag? As of 9 o'clock tonight (central), his obit has not hit the New York Times, but it has reached the Pioneer-Press in Hedberg's hometown of St. Paul, MN. I'm not optimistic. Faking his death doesn't match his comic style, in my opinion, and the rumors of a drug overdose have a ring of resonance.
posted by CM @ 9:46 PM
2 Comments:
Goodnight Funnyman...
"I hate turtle necks. I have such a weak neck. Plus if you wear a turtle neck it's like being strangled by a really weak guy... all day. And if you wear a turtle neck and a back pack it's like a weak midget trying to bring you down."
"Alcoholism is the only disease you can get yelled at for having."
"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something."
–Mitch Hedberg
Oh man. I really regret missing his Iowa show now. It's sad. Mitch was a hilarious, unique comic.
His slacker/stoner persona is a definite contrast though from the more "manic" comics I've normally associated with dying young...Lenny Bruce, Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks, John Belushi, Chris Farley, etc.
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