Brown: Remembering Chris Street

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.
Honestly, North, I have not watched this story. Just not ready for the experience. Too raw, even after all this time. I can still see JBO missing a free throw out of respect for Chris. And the “Kris” named after Chris, playing for the hawks. Maybe down the road…
 
For us of a certain age & time, we can say exactly where we were, who we were with, etc. when the news broke. Much like my 84 yr old mom talks about when JFK was killed. I remember we had a moment of silence the next night before a high school game in east central Iowa.
 
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.
This is how I would have liked the documentary to end. I had already choked back tears three or four times at that point. No other tearjerkers were necessary.

The dream recap by Chris’s mother was a sad way to end it.
 
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.
Lottery ticket? No
 
Lottery ticket? No
Lottery pick? Decent chance.

I've often compared Chris to Ryan Bowen, and Bowen had a nice NBA career. Chris would have made eight figures with a nice six to eight year Bowen, Frank Kaminsky type career. And maybe another six to eight overseas if he chose to do so.
 
The story was well done. I was crushed emotionally when it happened and being an Iowa guy and grad definitely hurts again watching this show allover. I think I went through one towel. It was a terrible tragedy and I feel for all. I wear my 40 forever shirt allover the country and well before this show came out.. have been countlessly.approached by strangers to ask about or share a story regarding Chris most often these have been random people from Iowa who felt the same pain at this given time in history.
 
Has to be a living hell. His kids probably had to hear all the heartless jokes going around about plowing the wrong street, etc.

Lottery pick? Decent chance.

I've often compared Chris to Ryan Bowen, and Bowen had a nice NBA career. Chris would have made eight figures with a nice six to eight year Bowen, Frank Kaminsky type career. And maybe another six to eight overseas if he chose to do so.
Ryan Bowen with a jump shot is a pretty good comparison. Also a little similar to Nick Collison.

I sort of wonder if Iowa had gone to like an Elite 8 or so, Street had been a first round pick and had a nice NBA career underway, would the Kansas exodus have happened for the three Iowa guys?
 
I couldn't even make it through the trailer that was aired. I will watch the Documentary eventually. I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when that news hit. Truly devastating news! So sad..
 
Didn't he get hit on his side of the car? It this was a situation where the driver was speeding, he'd have to be going WAY over the limit to change a non accident into a fatal one hitting the driver door side of the car.

Say you are pulling out into a gap big enough to not get hit if that person is driving the speed limit. How much faster would the plow have to be driving to have to lock up his breaks to avoid hitting you? Maybe 10-15 over? How much faster would be have to be driving to end up rear ending you? Maybe 20-30 over? Now how much faster would he have to be driving to hit you before you even got turned all the way onto the road, hitting you on the driver's side? I'd guess well over 30 miles per hour faster.

It's possible Chris tried pulling out and spun out in the snow and drifted onto the road. In that situation, a driver driving the speed limit wouldn't be able to do a thing if the timing was right. It's also possible Chris just completely forgot to look. That happens sometimes, especially with young drivers. It's also possible the driver speeding might have changed a fatal crash into a situation where Chris lived but was messed up bad. What's not possible is the speed of the vehicle was the difference between Chris safely pulling out, and him getting hit in the driver's door.

If I'm wrong and he got hit from behind, then everything I said is irrelevant. I've always heard he got hit on driver's side tho. Feel free to correct me it thats wrong.
 
Blaming the plow driver is wrong. The sad truth is Chris pulled out in front of an oncoming vehicle in bad weather...when you should err on the side of caution. It was an unfortunate accident. I remember exactly where I was and which one of my buddies I called.
 
Didn't he get hit on his side of the car? It this was a situation where the driver was speeding, he'd have to be going WAY over the limit to change a non accident into a fatal one hitting the driver door side of the car.

Say you are pulling out into a gap big enough to not get hit if that person is driving the speed limit. How much faster would the plow have to be driving to have to lock up his breaks to avoid hitting you? Maybe 10-15 over? How much faster would be have to be driving to end up rear ending you? Maybe 20-30 over? Now how much faster would he have to be driving to hit you before you even got turned all the way onto the road, hitting you on the driver's side? I'd guess well over 30 miles per hour faster.

It's possible Chris tried pulling out and spun out in the snow and drifted onto the road. In that situation, a driver driving the speed limit wouldn't be able to do a thing if the timing was right. It's also possible Chris just completely forgot to look. That happens sometimes, especially with young drivers. It's also possible the driver speeding might have changed a fatal crash into a situation where Chris lived but was messed up bad. What's not possible is the speed of the vehicle was the difference between Chris safely pulling out, and him getting hit in the driver's door.

If I'm wrong and he got hit from behind, then everything I said is irrelevant. I've always heard he got hit on driver's side tho. Feel free to correct me it thats wrong.
Car accidents are freaky. The picture of the scene isn't really revealing. 17 years ago I was on the interstate about an hour from home. I knew about the construction zone. A semi pulling a yacht was trying to merge into heavy traffic. The site was mesmerizing. I knew about the construction so slowed down. Lots of drivers didn't which caused a chain reaction major spin out. I easily got stopped but cars spun out of control around me. A semi was closing in on me and I thought he wouldn't get stopped but he did. A State Police car was in the outside lane. A car slammed into the car just in front of the State Police in the outside lane (I was in the inside lane). The driver was going 80 miles an hour when he hit the back of the car carrying a 50 yo mom and her 14 yo daughter. No skid marks. Most of the damage was in the rear of the car. Mom walked away. The daughter was instantly killed as the roof frame crumpled just above her and struck her head. The officer went straight to his trunk and pulled out a body bag.

Mom walked away from getting hit at 80 and the daughter was killed from damage away from the impact. I knew them both and went to church with them. This was a Friday and on the previous Sunday, the mom got up at church and expressed how thankful she was for her daughter. The officer locked the mom in the patrol car as she was out of her mind. At the hospital, the mom was in a daze. Mom was never the same and has no memory of me being there.

Accidents are that. Human error mostly done not deliberately. The mom and daughter were both within inches of death. Death came to one.

The guy who hit them was older and passed me earlier at a high rate of speed, almost clipping my car. He got off at an exit and must have soon came back on.
 
Ever wonder what inspired runaway truck ramps on highways? A 1985 accident in Arizona involving a family from Cuba City Wisconsin went a long way towards it. Driving in a construction zone on the I-17 decline south of Flagstaff the semi behind them overheated and lost its breaks. The family vehicle was crushed between two semis, killing all six members.
 
I can't remember if it was the late 90's or the early 2000's but they did put up traffic lights at that intersection.

If that accident happened today we would know exactly what occurred. I am sure all Johnson County Secondary Road vehicles have cameras or some sort of artificial intelligence in their cabs. We would know exactly how fast Pence was going and exactly when Chris pulled out in front of him.
 

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