#40

I was at work (already 5 yrs out of Iowa) and my coworker was reading the Chicago Tribune on lunch hour (we were both @ our desks), and he said, "hey man, one of your boys died last night..." and handed me the paper.
I read the account of the accident and seriously came close to lapsing in to shock. It was a horrible feeling, the likes of which I've only felt a few other times in my life.
I'd never met Chris, but like all Hawkeyes I loved him and his game. He was one of our totems. He was the consummate Hawkeye and he represented me--us--on a high level. Like we were all threads in the same fabric...Iowa fabric.
He was pure; beautiful. A young man not quite in full stride, full of enthusiasm and confidence and innocence and potential and energy and naivete.
The coverage of Chris' funeral during halftime of (I think) the Michigan game was absolutely heartbreaking. The young pallbearers, the cold, the collective shock and grief of a state, of Hawkeye Nation. Unforgettable. Tragic.
Gone Too Soon.
 
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I was in junior high and didn't learn about it until I got to school the morning after. I didn't believe my friend when he told me about accident. This was back in the day when you had to wait outside until the bell rang to get into school - I somehow convinced the teacher supervising outside to let me go into the library so I could check out the Register to confirm the news.
Today, I'm 30 years old and I still wear number 40 for my recreational basketball team. Overall, I'm a crappy player - but I think wearing "40" gives me a little more motivation to play harder and be the best I can be.
 
MoneySashHoes said:
still remember when i came downstairs the day after and my dad looked at me and shook his head and i could see the sadness in his eyes. He looked at me and said, "something really sad happened last night." One of the sadest memories i have from my childhood. RIP Chris, you are greatly missed.
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This is exactly how it happened at my house. I was a junior in high school and was in utter disbelief. I also wore #40 my senior year of high school basketball. Far and away my favorite hawkeye of all time

Did anybody else have that memorial T-shirt with a quote of Chris on it. Don't remember any specifics on it, just remember having the shirt
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Street wasn't blessed with a lot of athleticism (heard he couldn't even dunk when he came to Iowa - but that changed), but his pure heart and work ethic made him arguably the best player on the team. He was definitely the team's heart and soul. Tenacious rebounder, good FT shooter (set the school record for most consecutive makes), and could hit the 3. He always played with everything he had, and the crowd always fed on his energy. An instant crowd favorite. Most of us weren't lucky enough to know him personally, but Chris sounded like a really great person on top of it all from everything I've read.
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Actually, Chris was a great athlete. He was a QB in football, a very good pitcher in baseball and was a good track athlete. Other then football, he gave up other sports to concentrate on basketball. Some major colleges inquired about him as a QB.

As for being able to dunk. Although dunking is overated, Chris not only could dunk in high school. I witnessed it in varsity games at Indianola as early as Chris's Sophomore year.

You are correct though about Chris being a great person. For those of us lucky enough to know him, the athlete side of things was secondary for us. The amount of love he had for others was something I will never forget 17 years after his death.
 
Chris's death still tears my heart into pieces to this day. One thing that I thought was great was ISU having a player wear #40 each year to remember Chris. R.I.P. Chris
 
Amazing what it is to be a Hawkeye fan. A young man that many of us never had the priviledge to meet still impacts us in so many ways after 17 years.

Still hard to believe it has been that long, I remember so many things about that night and the following days.
 
Was turning the corner as far as becoming a legit NBA prospect. Don't think he would have been a NBA all-star, but would have been 10-12 year pro a great energy/toughness guy off the bench for a NBA team(s).

Proved that in-state recruits could be legit Div.I player. Before Street there was 8-10 year period where many in-state recruits were scrutinized and/or criticized for lacking D-1 talent. Street dispelled that myth and bunch of kids followed afterward.
 
brhawks18 said:
You are correct though about Chris being a great person. For those of us lucky enough to know him, the athlete side of things was secondary for us. The amount of love he had for others was something I will never forget 17 years after his death.
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That was great, good to hear from someone who was privledged enough to know him as a person. Makes the tradgedy even sadder, if that was possible.
 
I'll never forget the night I was laying in bed listening to 1040 WHO sometime between 9 and 10pm when Gary Barrett broke my heart with the breaking news. I was 12. I went downstairs to tell my parents but I was crying so hard they couldn't understand me and they were in disbelief themselves. It was one of the saddest moments of my life, and it was the top saddest moment of my childhood. About a week before that day, at the Iowa/Drake game in Des Moines, I met Chris Street and the entire team during the pre-pregame warm ups (except Val Barnes, he had the flu). Iowa basketball was my life as a 12 year old. It was like I lost my friend that day. It was a very tough season for me, but a season I will hold dear in my heart till the day I die.
 
My first post, I figured this would be a good subject. I was only 12 and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was playing 6th grade basketball tournaments at the time on weekends and I had my barber shave number 40 in the back of my head, god I loved watching that guy play basketball. They are replaying the game at Mich St, on big ten network today at 3 pm, just ahead of the game tonight. RIP CMS
 
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