Former Michigan star Tractor Traylor found dead

So, NewMexHawk.

Your parents never taught you that if you can't say something nice about someone you shouldn't say anything at all, I guess. I have followed Big Ten basketball closely since Iowa went to the Final Four and I can tell you that is not how I remember him. I remember him as that dude named Tractor Traylor that was pretty heavy for a basketball player but kind of interesting to watch because he did have some ability and it was an oddity to see it from someone that big. Zack Randolph is a better version of him in terms of his ability as a player.

But back to you, NewMexHawk. What is it in someone that sees another person has died and then you feel the need to rush to the HawkeyeNation message board and post that his legacy will be that he was a cheater? I mean, it's not like he was an evil person and justice was served in his death. I am always amazed when people talk about how much better the values are in Iowa compared to other parts of the country, and then I see something like your post and I have to disagree, at least until someone shows me something that makes me think idiotic comments like yours are the exception and not the rule.
 
I was shown a pair of his shoes, size 22. The only bigger feet in the NBA was Shag at 23.
 
Its not a secret that the guy was involved in his cousins drug ring in Detroit. He was busted for money laundering or something like that a few years back and I think he even spent some time in Fed prison over tax evasion.

It sucks when anyone dies but its pretty easy to connect the dots between drugs and heart attack.
 
Re: So, NewMexHawk.

Thawki said:
Your parents never taught you that if you can't say something nice about someone you shouldn't say anything at all, I guess. I have followed Big Ten basketball closely since Iowa went to the Final Four and I can tell you that is not how I remember him. I remember him as that dude named Tractor Traylor that was pretty heavy for a basketball player but kind of interesting to watch because he did have some ability and it was an oddity to see it from someone that big. Zack Randolph is a better version of him in terms of his ability as a player.

But back to you, NewMexHawk. What is it in someone that sees another person has died and then you feel the need to rush to the HawkeyeNation message board and post that his legacy will be that he was a cheater? I mean, it's not like he was an evil person and justice was served in his death. I am always amazed when people talk about how much better the values are in Iowa compared to other parts of the country, and then I see something like your post and I have to disagree, at least until someone shows me something that makes me think idiotic comments like yours are the exception and not the rule.
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Agreed. NewMexHawk could not be more wrong. Tractor Traylor will not be known for his college career. He will be known for two things, being convicted of laundering drug money for his cousin and for being traded for Dirk Nowitzki. How dare NewMexHawk besmirch his legacy.
 
I got to agree with Thawki. I will remember him as a physical freak, who had some special skills on the court. I used to enjoy watching him hoop.
He had his demons, and his faults. But that isn't what I remember him for. If NewMexHawk wants to remember his faults, fine.
What will you be remembered for?
 
What is most sad is that today, players are bigger and stronger than ever, but at what cost? Unfortunately, elite athletes will go through more of this in year to come.
 
cibula11 said:
What is most sad is that today, players are bigger and stronger than ever, but at what cost? Unfortunately, elite athletes will go through more of this in year to come.
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Traylor was hardly an "elite" athlete, and he had previous heart problems. I don't see a trend brewing.
 
I think about guys with similar games, similar talents like Zach Randolph and Demarcus Cousins. After nearly a decade Randolph has finally grown up and matured off the court and Cousins is now at where Randolph was at 8 or 9 years ago. I guess what I am getting at is some guys eventually figure it out while others do not.
 
trj said:
I think about guys with similar games, similar talents like Zach Randolph and Demarcus Cousins. After nearly a decade Randolph has finally grown up and matured off the court and Cousins is now at where Randolph was at 8 or 9 years ago. I guess what I am getting at is some guys eventually figure it out while others do not.
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DeMarcus Cousins is just immature. Zach Randolph was involved with some serious ****. No one has ever said anything like the quote below about Cousins.

"I just don't want the day to come where I pick up that paper and it says [Zach] shot someone, or that he was shot. Every day that goes by that I don't see that, I feel good."
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
DeMarcus Cousins is just immature. Zach Randolph was involved with some serious ****. No one has ever said anything like the quote below about Cousins.

"I just don't want the day to come where I pick up that paper and it says [Zach] shot someone, or that he was shot. Every day that goes by that I don't see that, I feel good."
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Fair enough. I guess Randolph was immature and involved in some serious feces. Point being is every indication leads you to believe that Randolph has turned his life around. The question is will Cousins grow up in time to maximize his talents on the court and more importantly become a better person off of it.
 
Why do these threads get off on a tangent?

Anyway, this is a sad story, no matter what...34 years old, 34, too young.

Nobody in this world is perfect, no matter what, period.

His history with having the aorta surgery was just the beginning, anything can happen from there, anything. Kids/athletes pass away everyday that don't know they even have an issue. True story: kid that my wife and I coached passed away, college volleyball senior in the best shape of her life. An unknown virus caused her heart to stop, figure that one out. This is sad story, if the autopsy shows he had something in his system...it makes it that much more sad to me.
How I remember Traylor is a kid that played hard, there were times at Michigan you knew he was spent, but he didn't stop competing. Traylor earned the #3 seed in the NCAA when he carried them to the Big Ten title. I didn't follow him in the NBA due to the NBA being so bad at that time.
Now is not the time to point out someone else's faults when they have passed away, what is the point? "What goes around comes around," it was always something that I said, but didn't believe until recently. Look in the mirror and think is it worth what you are going to say about someone who has passed away. To this day the our player that passed is still called a "favorite" by people that she was better than, why hang on to that hatred?
 
This is where I get confused;

While alive very few people would have a kind word to say about the kid. Now that he's dead there seems to be this almost requirement that we honor his legacy as something that it wasn't.

Nobody is perfect but we seem to honor those that were much less than perfect more than we honor those that lived a seemingly meaningless life. Those seemingly meaningless, boring people that didn't get caught up in drugs or the hype of fame and lived a fairly simple life impact others in a much more positive fashion.

The Tractor Traylors and Miyu Uehara's of the world get their names posted all over the internet for being ****** bags while the Wilma Burgers and Irene Harts of the world receive a blip in a local paper. FYI - Wilma and Irene died last week too. I didn't know them and according to the local paper nobody apparently cares.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
This is where I get confused;

While alive very few people would have a kind word to say about the kid. Now that he's dead there seems to be this almost requirement that we honor his legacy as something that it wasn't.

Nobody is perfect but we seem to honor those that were much less than perfect more than we honor those that lived a seemingly meaningless life. Those seemingly meaningless, boring people that didn't get caught up in drugs or the hype of fame and lived a fairly simple life impact others in a much more positive fashion.

The Tractor Traylors and Miyu Uehara's of the world get their names posted all over the internet for being ****** bags while the Wilma Burgers and Irene Harts of the world receive a blip in a local paper. FYI - Wilma and Irene died last week too. I didn't know them and according to the local paper nobody apparently cares.
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I agree with some of what you say. What I do not get is why people feel the need to trash a guy that just died. I am in no way saying anyone should honor him, or sing false praises. I do not see why anyone says anything, if it is only to trash him. To each their own I guess...
 
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