Where were you 20 years ago?

[atxhawk]

Since it seems to be about the time I started to notice the message rolling across the screen on KCRG 20 years ago I'll post up where I was.

I was on the phone talking to my girlfriend at the time when I started to notice the messages scroll across the TV. I told her I had to go watch the news because something was going on and I would call her back later. I couldn't believe it when the lead story came on they gave the news. An immediate flood of emotions came over me. Shock, disbelief, sadness, anger, you name it. I couldn't believe it. I was mad at myself. I was mad at life.

I was two weeks out of ACL reconstruction and feeling fear, anxiety, and a little sorry for myself trying to figure out how I was going to get around campus the next day, especially with the weather we were having. Then the news hit. I was angry at myself for feeling the way I did. How could I feel sorry for myself when this just happened? Chris had so much going for him and now he was gone. WTF?

The rest of the night is kind of hazy.

The next morning it seemed like a good portion of the students were in the same kind of haze. I remember seeing Kenyon Murray in my first class and he just looked spent, physically and emotionally. It was all most of us could talk about that day.

Rest in Peace Chris. You may have only been on the earth for a short time, but the world is still a better place because of you.

 

[sioux34]

I was in North Dakota. My father (an Iowa letterman) called me the next morning with the bad news.

 

[hawk4life73]

Freshman year, partying that night in Burge. Party ended when a couple of guys on our floor came back fairly early because they closed down the Airliner when the news spread. I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

Marine stationed in California. I was watching ESPN (Kentucky versus Alabama) with my buddy who was huge Kentucky fan on ESPN that Tuesday Night when it was announced.

No cell phones in those days when I arrived at home my wife said you need to call your dad and we all know why.

He has had season tickets for both Basketball and Football since 1986.

 

[briney11]

I was in 10th grade at Indianola at the time. I had just come home and was changing when my mom started hollering at me and told me the news. I remember just watching the news stunned. We had a pretty good snow storm that night and school ended up being cancelled the next day which seemed fitting. His funeral was right next to our house and they showed our flag flying at half mast on cnn. I never got to meet him, but I remember seeing him in the library (the jr high and sr high used to be in the same building) a lot and got to see him play in high school. I actually almost got hit by a car one time chasing a ball into the road. I look up, and there is Chris Street and Paul Lusk.

 

[NEIChawk]

I was living in Denver, Co, married with 3 kids. I just remember getting a call from my dad and giving me the bad news. I was also in the process of interviewing for a job in Charles City (which I got, so we moved back in April of '93). Watching the videos of "40" Forever has given me time to reflect on what a great person Chris was....big smile, great big heart, just a great lover of life. He will always be in my heart and will always be one the great Hawkeye ambassadors to the great game of basketball. I loved his energy and his thoughtfulness towards others, a great role model for those that have young sons and daughters. The eery thing about Chris that I just realized was he and I were born on 2/2, albeit, I was born in 1962, Chris was born 10 years later.....Great Hawkeye, truly one of the best...

 

[Hawkfromnorwalk]

I was 12 going on 13. I don't remember specifics but I do remember it happening. My wife has always been a huge sports fan and she remembers making a scrapbook about it.

 

[BillikenHawkeye]

I was ten years old and my mother heard the report on the radio the next morning when she got up and quickly rushed into my room, woke me up, and told me what happened. I didn't want to believe it. I turned my radio on, and sure enough it was true and I started sobbing into my pillow.

It was probably one of the worst days of my young life to that point. My favorite basketball player died and Bill Clinton was inaugurated President

 

[mmills88]

I was a junior at Simpson. My best friend and roommate was Chad Street, Chris's cousin. There were only two Streets in the Indianola phone book at that time, Chad and Mike Street, so people had a 50/50 chance of calling the right house. Over the course of the next couple days, I had the privilege of answering and taking messages from people all over the country. Most from people who had never met him, or had met him for just a brief amount of time. His affect on people was unbelievable.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

A couple years out of IOWA, I was on the road for business...in my hotel room. I saw the scroll come across the screen and within minutes, my phone started ringing with calls from my college buddies. (actually, there were cell phones in 1993, just not a widely used as today)

 

[jacknicholson]

Marine stationed in California. I was watching ESPN (Kentucky versus Alabama) with my buddy who was huge Kentucky fan on ESPN that Tuesday Night when it was announced.

No cell phones in those days when I arrived at home my wife said you need to call your dad and we all know why.

He has had season tickets for both Basketball and Football since 1986.

I was at home watching a basketball game, might have been the same game when my ex called with the tragic news. It was shocking, almost unbelievable. He had so much personality and was loved by all Hawk fans......

 

[linus19]

I was a student at DePaul University in Chicago at time. I was watching the local news and they mentioned Iowa's game against I don't remember who was postponed due to the accident the night before. The night before?! Yeah, it was prior to the internet, so I didn't learn about it right away.

 

[PCHawk]

I was in high school when it happened. I always slept with the radio on and it was the 1st thing I heard when I woke up in the morning. I was still out of it from just waking up and even tho deep down I knew I heard it right, I was still trying to convince myself it was a certain unnamed other Hawkeye player. I know that's horrible but I couldn't help but hope it.

 

[Scorpio79]

I was 27 at the time. Didn't hear the news til the next morning. I was at work at Castle Metals in Franklin Park, illannoy. The dude I worked across from said something to the effect of, "hey, sorry about your boy dying" (the "your boy" was appropriate because I was always talking up CMS40 and the Hawk hoopsters), and I immediately reached for my newspaper (Chicago Trib) and there was the initial story. I read it through a haze of tears and that was pretty much it for me. I felt like someone hit me simultaneously in the heart and skull with a baseball bat.

 

[Hawkeye0en12]

I was 27 at the time. Didn't hear the news til the next morning. I was at work at Castle Metals in Franklin Park, illannoy. The dude I worked across from said something to the effect of, "hey, sorry about your boy dying" (the "your boy" was appropriate because I was always talking up CMS40 and the Hawk hoopsters), and I immediately reached for my newspaper (Chicago Trib) and there was the initial story. I read it through a haze of tears and that was pretty much it for me. I felt like someone hit me simultaneously in the heart and skull with a baseball bat.

 

[GhostofBTT]

Yikes. When is your victory party at CF?

 

[SPGroth]

I had just moved to St. Louis for my first job after graduating from Iowa. Was watching the local news down there adn they led with the Chris Street news. Called my girlfriend living in Iowa City and the news was just starting to break up there.