R
RobHowe
Guest
Brown: Remembering Chris Street
Veteran Iowa Journalist Recalls Fallen Hawkeye Star on Anniversary
www.si.com
www.si.com
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
I believe it is eerie coincidence
A lot of eerie concidence
A lot of eerie concidence
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I think it is time for the plow driver Mr. Pence to take the initiative to meet with the Street family himself.
It may not be pleasant, but Patty said in the documentary that it would be appreciated.
Maybe it would finally lead to another level of closure. And maybe Mike could reach some level of forgiveness that he obviously hasn't reached yet. You'll never know if you don't try.
It may not be pleasant, but Patty said in the documentary that it would be appreciated.
Maybe it would finally lead to another level of closure. And maybe Mike could reach some level of forgiveness that he obviously hasn't reached yet. You'll never know if you don't try.
HaydenHawk56
Well-Known Member
Man that was hard to watch, the pain is still very raw. I was glad to see so many former players, coaches, community members contribute to the telling of Chris Street's story.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
If you haven't watched it yet, bring your hanky. It was a wonderful story and I am glad I watched it and remembered that period of time. The whole state did grieve. But man, not sure I could watch it again.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
Tough situation. Its been so long, but there are still raw feelings around this accident. I remember at the time and also when watching this now that it just seemed like a horrible accident and that there was not really fault as much as just pure tragedy. Was he speeding, did Chris pull out in front of him, were the lights in the wrong place? Maybe yes to all. Sometimes bad things just happen and there is no villain, just a sad event.
That said, I do remember the driver was vilified in some sectors, and there were some criticisms of the Streets for bringing the lawsuit. This was before social media, so it was a different type of critique, but it was still there. It makes me think of that Bartman guy and the Cubs meltdown. When someone feels unfairly demonized at that sort of an epic level, its hard to just bury the hatchet and move on completely.
I thought the driver was sincere and respectful in the interview. If he would meet with the Streets to try and finalize some closure, that would be a great gesture, but I understand if he just can't bring himself to do so. He clearly has scars over this as well.
The guy that hit them (his GF was in car too) I'd long since forgotten about. My gosh and that the Streets sued him and all that. I'd half forgotten about all that. I wasn't there but it sounds like Chris pulled out it just was what it was.. I get why he never reached out to the Streets because what would that do honestly? I don't think the Streets seemed very interested in a meeting with him or anything of the sort either. When someone is suing you over it I can see how even asking to would be a weird awkward/uncomfortable thing so I get it.
But man imagine having to be him and living with that you're whole life. Dude was just out doing his job that we all are so appreciative for and then that... All this time I never even had any of those thoughts till I saw that last night.
That was a well done piece that contextualized it from lots of angles. Hearing how when in practice Murray sat on the floor crying that destroyed me. No idea how they came out and beat the Michigan teams after that. No flipping clue. People forget that wasn't just any Michigan team either. Everything about all of it is unreal...
But man imagine having to be him and living with that you're whole life. Dude was just out doing his job that we all are so appreciative for and then that... All this time I never even had any of those thoughts till I saw that last night.
That was a well done piece that contextualized it from lots of angles. Hearing how when in practice Murray sat on the floor crying that destroyed me. No idea how they came out and beat the Michigan teams after that. No flipping clue. People forget that wasn't just any Michigan team either. Everything about all of it is unreal...
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Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Bartman came to mind to me as well. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But Jack Tatum/Darryl Stingley came to mind as well. Jack never saw Darryl, in the hospital or anywhere else (Madden claimed that Jack tried but that Jack was told Darryl was in PT and that Jack took that as a rejection) And Darryl was bitter about it. And now they're both gone.
Patty said in the documentary a visit would be appreciated. She is the mother of the deceased victim. And the mother is usually right. I can guarantee she has gone over with her husband ad nauseum all potential scenarios if Mr Pence would agree to meet.
I would guess the Street parent's age as early to mid 70's. If Mr Pence is reluctant, perhaps the university should give it a nudge. Obviously there are still strong feelings 30 years later.
But Jack Tatum/Darryl Stingley came to mind as well. Jack never saw Darryl, in the hospital or anywhere else (Madden claimed that Jack tried but that Jack was told Darryl was in PT and that Jack took that as a rejection) And Darryl was bitter about it. And now they're both gone.
Patty said in the documentary a visit would be appreciated. She is the mother of the deceased victim. And the mother is usually right. I can guarantee she has gone over with her husband ad nauseum all potential scenarios if Mr Pence would agree to meet.
I would guess the Street parent's age as early to mid 70's. If Mr Pence is reluctant, perhaps the university should give it a nudge. Obviously there are still strong feelings 30 years later.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
It's a dangerous deal when any vehicle is heading out of town. The natural inclination is to get up to highway speed. Vehicles from your left in that situation are almost always going to be accelerating as they approach, versus vehicles from the right who are slowing down.
I sometimes wonder what Acie Earl thinks. He doubled down in the documentary rhe same thing he said to Chris that night. Don't even think about missing that class and having Coach find out and discipline you.
Acie was a senior, his words carried weight. Being late to classes had cost him numerous times in his freshman and sophomore years. I wonder if that was on Street's mind as he was pulling out of the parking lot.
That was 1993. Today surveillance cameras would be all over that intersection and the truth would be borne out
This is the sort of thing to me where neither side is wrong. If Mr Pence doesn't want to meet then he's not wrong. I would think the Streets would be the ones reaching out and maybe this is their public way of doing just that. I can see why he wasn't going to take the first step. Being sued by someone and then feeling a sort of obligation to reach out is just an extremely conflicting thing. Even all these yrs later. He may not have ever known that she would have been ok with meeting. I have no idea. Now that he does that might change things. Maybe not.
Fryowa
Administrator
Some times people need to zoom out and just understand that there doesn't always have to be fault or blame. Sometimes there isn't any. Sometimes things are just tragic without blame.
Street probably tried to pull out too soon and maybe the driver speeding 7 over the limit was enough for him to not be able to stop or swerve. All of us on this board have tried to pull out onto a busy street to beat traffic, and all of us have gone 7 over the speed limit. This one just happened to be the wrong mix of timing and conditions and a tragedy happened that took one life and affected a whole bunch of other ones.
I don't fault Street's parents for lashing out with lawsuits. They lost their kid in an accident and what happens in a case like that is overwhelming grief and rage, which manifested itself in lawsuits and trying to find blame. Unless something like that has happened to someone as a parent, all of us here have no right to criticize.
Pence probably knows he could have been more careful, but so could have Chris. Pence didn't try or want to hurt anyone but he did. If what he went through with the blame and lawsuits hurt him, let him handle that hurt how he needs to.
What we, or BTN, or the U, or any other looky-loos don't need to do is force or encourage or shame him into meeting with the parents. If he chooses, it's fine. If not it's his choice. And even if he did, it should happen behind closed doors and not shared. This accident isn't about us, or a TV show, or any other kind of soap operatic theme. It's not about creating a tear jerker moment for the voyeurs.
Just honor Chris's memory, appreciate the impact he had on people who knew him, and take the situation as a tragedy that unfortunately happened.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I probably overplayed my hand when I suggested the University get involved. It's not the university's business, public a figure as Chris was, and was probably a little crass. But I own what I post.
I still think they should privately meet, and hopefully find a little more closure. How much closure I can't answer, nor is it my place to answer. But my spidey senses tell me that Patty's intuition is probably on in this case.
Fryowa
Administrator
Wasn't trying to take a shot at you or anything.
I guess what I meant was that if I were Pence and decided I'd be able to sit down and visit, it'd be a phone call and stop by their house with no fanfare, voyeurism, or even telling anyone but his parents that I was coming, and I'd hope they'd respect the situation enough to not go talking about it on TV. It's quite literally none of our business if it ever happens or not. Telling the world about the meeting would be for show only. It'd be for spectacle and that's wrong. There’s no other reason for making something like that public other than spectacle.
I think the Street's are absolutely great people and their son was too. I honestly mean that.
But let's also look at the whole situation...
How many of us don't drive a few MPH over the speed limit? We all do...every day. Every day we drive 71 on the 4 lane instead of 65. We all drive 41 or 42 in a 35. Every day.
As great as Chris's parents are, they really, REALLY castigated Pence and tried to ruin him and destroy his life. If we're all really honest with ourselves they tried to make him out to be some kind of monster. But I don't blame them because they had just lost their son to an accident and nothing could ever bring him back. They didn't have any other outlet other than to lash out. They had lawyers seeing dollar signs that helped them, too. What if Chris pulling out in a huge hurry caused an accident with a driver who wasn't speeding and killed the driver? It could have happened just as easily.
All that said, Pence dealt with people trying to ruin his life because of something we all do every day. He's obviously got heavy scars from the accident and knowing that his plow killed someone, and he's obviously got to relive it every time Chris Street comes up, and I imagine he thinks of it every day. If he doesn't want to meet with the parents, he should feel no shame about not meeting with them.
All I'm saying is there doesn't seem to be malice that's worthy of blame. And we shouldn't stick our nose in it to make a manufactured media moment.
SwirlinLingerie
Well-Known Member
My take - if I were Chris' parents and had watched it last night - would be to privately reach out to Pence. It's easy for me to say, but I'd want to do it. They experienced a horrible tragedy and nothing can bring their son back. But after watching the film, the pain Pence still feels is obvious. He didn't have an error in judgement or make a reckless decision. He was simply doing his job, was part of a horrific accident in which someone died (that in of itself is a heavy burden to carry), then was vilified and sued. He had young kids at the time, too. His mother said in other interviews that he went long periods of just staring into space after that. His life was changed too.
Again, easy for me to say this, but Mike and Patty could probably ease a ton of his pain. Send him a letter, ask if they could say hello, have a big cry together, whatever. I think it would help close at least one chapter for all of them. Life's too short.
Again, easy for me to say this, but Mike and Patty could probably ease a ton of his pain. Send him a letter, ask if they could say hello, have a big cry together, whatever. I think it would help close at least one chapter for all of them. Life's too short.
About the only thing the Streets could do to get folks upset with them I would think at this point would be if they did try to turn any reconciliation with Pence into a media thing. If they want to do it and then inform folks after the fact that it happened then great. But yeah we don't need to see any of it or have cameras in their faces for it. I don't think Pence wants that. If he even wants to at all. Like you said totally up to him and there's no way anyone should bash him either way. I couldn't imagine being in his shoes. Not for one second. Let alone 30 yrs..
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Like Hank Gathers' family, Mike and Patty probably thought a winning lottery ticket went up in flames in addition to the tragic personal loss. And like Hank's family, they either thought legal action was worth a shot or were counseled that it was. There's little doubt that Chris was on an NBA trajectory, have posted it many times.
In this case, even if they had one of those Lloyd's of London insurance policies that were in vogue then, I highly doubt it would have covered something like this.
I totally get what your saying. There is a 99.9% chance that any planned meeting would leak and become a media frenzy.
I would love to believe that people forgive if not necessarily forget. Patty said in the documentary that if the new headlight position on county road maintenance vehicles saved one life, then alleluia to that.
She knows it won't bring her son back, so that's about as much solace as she can take. It's human nature. Who knows, maybe improvements made after the Apollo 1 launch pad fire saved the Apollo 13 astronauts when their O2 tank exploded. How many potential lives have been saved byn that pain in the ass airport security?
I sadly think there will never be true closure without a (PRIVATE) meeting. And that both parties still live with too much pain.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Has to be a living hell. His kids probably had to hear all the heartless jokes going around about plowing the wrong street, etc.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
This. I think the courts might as well throw out any negligence case based on anyone driving 9 or less over the speed limit because that is the freaking de facto speed limit barring dense fog or heavy ice. Send a letter to the plaintiffs' bar telling them as much. This kid pulled out in front of a freaking snow plow, which is categorically contributory negligence by him. Case closed. That plow driver's life was ruined and he got dragged through a lot of shit. If I was that guy I'd tell the family to eat a gargantuan bag of di..., never mind. I can't imagine the nightmare that guy went through. It had to be on par with seeing one of your own kids die. Absolutely unfathomable. The family shouldn't be the least bit surprised by him not wanting to meet.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
One theory at the time was the placement of the lights on the snow plow was the major
factor
They were so elevated that they appeared to be much farther away
The lower lights were hidden by the plow itself
Might just be one of those things, no one is completely at fault
Perhaps a poor decision, while a serious snowfall was in play, to pull out on a highway
Until it was completely clear is a risky procedure
It was very difficult to watch, Chris grew up in a wonderful household, his parents filled the
house with love and provided a wholesome, enjoyable atmosphere
Chris was one of a kind, filled with love for his family, and a Hawkeye from birth
His skills on the court were over the top. He played with serious enthusiasm and NBA skill
Like most of us, I do remember the day it happened, a friend called me and told me the news
I had a difficult time letting it sink in, called a friend and told him and he said: Are you serious
I have a videotape of the game at Duke, Chris outplayed everybody on the court, Grant Hill and
everyone else
God bless him and his family
factor
They were so elevated that they appeared to be much farther away
The lower lights were hidden by the plow itself
Might just be one of those things, no one is completely at fault
Perhaps a poor decision, while a serious snowfall was in play, to pull out on a highway
Until it was completely clear is a risky procedure
It was very difficult to watch, Chris grew up in a wonderful household, his parents filled the
house with love and provided a wholesome, enjoyable atmosphere
Chris was one of a kind, filled with love for his family, and a Hawkeye from birth
His skills on the court were over the top. He played with serious enthusiasm and NBA skill
Like most of us, I do remember the day it happened, a friend called me and told me the news
I had a difficult time letting it sink in, called a friend and told him and he said: Are you serious
I have a videotape of the game at Duke, Chris outplayed everybody on the court, Grant Hill and
everyone else
God bless him and his family
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