A very few special athletes almost seem bigger than life, so physically dominant are they and so mentally strong. That's why it's shocking when they die way too young or have to fight for their life against a killer disease.
I think of Kobe Bryant, who died at 41 in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. That took me back nearly half a century, to the New Year's Eve night when Roberto Clemente was killed in a plane crash on a mission of mercy to Nicaragua.
I think of Bill Fralic, who died at 56 in December 2018 after being ravaged by cancer. Few men were bigger or stronger when he played at Penn Hills High and Pitt, a mountain of a man if there ever was one.
I think of Dave Parker, who, at 68, is fighting a tough battle with Parkinson's, the same horrible disease that took my father, Ray, in 2004. To me, Parker always will be a giant on the ballfield, running over Mets catcher John Stearns at the plate.
Today, especially, I think of Patrick Ewing.
It was a brutal weekend for basketball. Longtime NBA coach Jerry Sloan died at 78 Friday. Longtime NCAA coach Eddie Sutton died at 84 Saturday. But the news that hit me the hardest was Ewing's announcement that he has COVID-19.
Dozens of other sports figures have tested positive and beaten the deadly virus. Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz was the first public case, his positive test essentially shutting down sports in mid-March. Denver Broncos All-Pro linebacker Vonn Miller, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton are among the others who revealed they had coronavirus.
But Patrick Ewing?
Talk about bigger than life.
I have vivid memories of seeing Ewing for the first time. I couldn't believe how big and intimidating he was. Big John Thompson brought his Georgetown team into Fitzgerald Field House to play Pitt in 1983, Pitt's first season in the Big East Conference. Pitt was a middling team at the time. Georgetown had lost to North Carolina in the national championship game a year earlier. But Pitt won, 65-63, behind 22 points and nine rebounds from Clyde Vaughan. Ewing was held to 11 points and 11 rebounds. It was one of the better wins in Pitt history and helped establish the school as a legitimate conference threat.
It quickly became clear just how phenomenal Ewing was. He was a first-team All-American in his final three seasons at Georgetown. He led his team to two more national championship games, beating Houston and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984 before being shocked by Villanova in 1985. He was the national player of the year as a senior.
The Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden always was my favorite sporting event, better than Final Fours, Super Bowls, World Series and Stanley Cup playoff games. Ewing, arguably the greatest player in Big East history, made that tournament so successful. The Georgetown-St. John's games, at a time when St. John's had Chris Mullin and Walter Berry, were sensational. So were the Georgetown-Syracuse games when Syracuse had Pearl Washington and Rafael Addison. The competition was ferocious. Of course, nobody was more ferocious than Ewing.
Ewing went on to a Hall of Fame NBA career, spending most of his 17 seasons with the New York Knicks. He has been the head coach at Georgetown the past three seasons but hasn't had nearly the success he did as a player. His teams went 15-15, 19-14 and 15-17 with one NIT appearance.
Like most people, Ewing is eager for sports to return. When that will happen is unclear. The New York Times devoted its front page Sunday to COVID-19 victims, listing names of many who died, under the headline, "U.S. DEATHS NEAR 100,000, AN INCALCUABLE LOSS." It was a powerful visual.
We all should heed Ewing's words in our rush to get back to normalcy:
"This virus is serious and should not be taken lightly. I want to encourage everyone to stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones."
