Wayman Tisdale

Friday May 15th, 2009 - Lake Zurich, IL

Yesterday’s vibe of all pleasant all day has evaporated but quick. Today was exactly the opposite. The weather was drizzly and blue and so was the energy. A single day can make a big difference and I’ll be damned if I can figure out why that is. But it is. And it stinks.

It does today anyway. When it goes from bad to good it can be exhilarating and hopeful. When it goes in this direction it can spiral downward into one of those depression funks I try so hard to avoid. They usually come back though and I hope this isn’t going to be one.

What really disturbed me early was reading that Wayman Tisdale died of cancer at only 44 years of age. I never met the man in person but I did play baseball many years ago with someone who claimed to be his distant cousin so I kind of followed his career because of that. I had no reason to doubt that guy and I don’t think he would just make that fact up.

The guy I played ball with was a nice guy and I’ve always followed sports and I’d heard of Wayman Tisdale because he was in college playing basketball at that time and was just about to get drafted into the NBA. I remember we talked about who the Milwaukee Bucks were going to draft and he went off on how they should draft Tisdale over everyone else.

When I asked why he told me what a great person Tisdale was and how much everyone who ever met him liked and respected him and he said whatever team got him would be a better team on and off the court immediately. The guy was a one man fan club for Tisdale and because of that I always cheered for him throughout his NBA career. I like nice guys.

Then after he quit playing after a respectable career he started to release jazz albums for a few years. I remember hearing he was doing that and I was very impressed. It’s not easy to make it to the NBA much less have a career for more than a couple of years. It’s also a difficult thing to not only release a music album but to have one place on the charts also.

Wayman Tisdale played in the NBA for twelve years. He released eight jazz albums as well. Either one of those two things would be major achievements but to do both is down right spectacular. I have nothing but respect for the man and everyone seemed to have all positive things to say about him on every front. His legacy will be one of a total success.

Why do people like this have to die at 44? This really bothers me and further questions if there is a God looking out for us or not. Why would a guy like Wayman Tisdale have a horrible cancer death at 44 when Charles Manson is healthy and cancer free at a ripe age?

I don’t get it. Hopefully Wayman Tisdale is in a better place and that’s the place I want to go to sooner than later. I am getting older and more jaded and hearing of this really set me off today. I was very sad and still am. It doesn’t seem fair to me but life never was.

On top of that I also heard a comic friend of mine has bladder cancer. That really made today a downer all around. Why can’t life be happy and fair? On this planet it just isn’t.