Depression/Alcoholism/Professional Athletes
The shock of hearing about the death of PGA golfer Grayson Murray, 30, is hard to handle.
On Thursday and Friday of last week, he was competing in the Charles Schwabb Invitational Tournament, as I was watching the tournament on the Golf Channel. I looked at the scores Friday night and saw that he withdrew from the tournament on Friday after 16 holes. On Saturday morning the golf world was in shock because it was announced Murray died.
Because of Murray’s history with alcoholism and depression there was much speculation as to his cause of death. On Sunday Murray’s parents announced his death was suicide.
Depression and alcoholism do not play favorites. They can bring down the rich, the famous, the geniuses, the beautiful, the kind and caring, the average Jane and Joe, the athletic, the artists, the musicians, the clergy, and the educators. It can be your friends, family members, neighbors, and fellow workers.
It is a disease that can be well disguised by its victims, who learn to be become great actors and actresses as they put on their smiling faces while in public, only to be churning inside as the depression and alcoholism wreak havoc internally.
There is no cure, there is only treatment and management. Management that requires relentless and never-ending personal strength.
Grayson Murray was an extremely talented golfer who won twice on the PGA tour, including this year’s Sony Open in January. He took ownership of his disease. He was getting treatment. He had a support system. He talked about his disease in public. He appeared to have everything he needed to succeed. Unfortunately, it was not enough.
Nearly 50% of all adults suffer with anxiety or depression. Fortunately, most are in the mild and moderate category, which can be managed through diet, exercise, and consultation with a knowledgeable primary care physician. However, for those with serious issues, this country has fallen woefully short with the amount of professional medical providers who can treat and help manage patients who suffer from severe anxiety, depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction.
I have always called depression the silent killer. It kills very slowly from the inside where it cannot be seen, until it is too late. It causes a 30-year-old professional athlete playing on national television to walk off a golf course in the middle of the competition to take his own life.
I hope Grayson Murray’s death can be a wake-up call to begin addressing the shortfalls our current health system has when it comes to the complexities of dealing with depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and drug addiction.
Please see my Video of the Day following Grayson’s victory earlier this year at the Sony Open. It is very compelling and extremely sad knowing what we know now.
Israel/Hamas
This week we received word of another catastrophe with the bombing of a displaced persons’ camp in Rafah. Reports indicated 45 people were killed, who were mostly women and children. Israel is claiming that also killed were two ranking Hamas officials who were hiding in the camp.
The death toll since the start of the war in October 2023 is over 36,000 Palestinians. Per reports from Gaza, the majority are women and children.
There does not seem to be an end in sight. Per the NY Times, Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said Wednesday that he expected Israel’s military operations in Gaza to continue through at least the end of the year, appearing to dismiss the idea that the war could come to an end after the military offensive against Hamas in Rafah.
“We expect another seven months of combat in order to shore up our achievement and realize what we define as the destruction of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military and governing capabilities,” Mr. Hanegbi said in a radio interview with Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster.
Question of the Day: What is the end game for Israel? For those Palestinians who survive in the end, won’t the anger and desperation lead to new groups of young survivors who want to seek revenge on Israel?
Former President’s Criminal Trial
The jurors’ instructions are completed, and deliberations have begun.
Per the NY Times, the former president told reporters in the hallway that, after listening to Justice Merchan’s instructions to the jury, he believes “Mother Teresa could not beat the charges.”
Now we wait. In the meantime, we will be overwhelmed with speculation about what the jury is thinking, what a short deliberation means, what a long deliberation means, etc.
Bill Walton
Bill Walton, who starred for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins before becoming a Hall of Fame center for his NBA career and one of the biggest stars in basketball broadcasting, died Monday, the league announced. Walton, who had a prolonged fight with cancer, was 71.
He was the NBA’s MVP in the 1977-78 season, a two-time champion, and a member of the league’s 50th anniversary and 75th anniversary teams. That followed a college career in which he was a two-time champion at UCLA and a three-time national player of the year.
“Bill Walton,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, “was truly one of a kind.”
My lasting memory of Walton was the 1973 NCAA title game, UCLA against Memphis, in which he shot an incredible 21 for 22 from the field and led the Bruins to another national championship. He had three baskets waived off in the game because of offensive interference when three of his shots were ruled dunks, which were not allowed at the time.
Walton who said he reached his physical prime at age 12. After that his legs continually betrayed him as they deteriorated from year to year. His chronic knee and ankle issues limited his mobility in high school, college, and the NBA. As a result, Walton became a prolific shooter, rebounder, and passer. Like Bill Russell before him, he made everyone around him better. His Portland Trailblazer team was way ahead of their time in their ability to move the ball around to find the open shooter. Although Walton was not the primary scorer, he was the guy who made it all work.
Walton was a “hippie” who happened to play basketball. In his college years, he petitioned his legendary head coach John Wooden to allow players to have facial hair. Wooden said it was not a problem as he told Walton that he would allow anyone on the team to grow facial hair. However, if they did, they would no longer be on the team. Walton reluctantly dropped his case, but he continued speak up on issues up until his death. When he was announcing a basketball game, no subject was off-limits, and it could come up any time during the game.
Angel Hernandez Retires
Thanks to You-tube, instant replay, and the strike zone box shown on all television broadcasts of baseball games, Angel Hernandez is probably the most maligned major league umpire in the history of the game.
In the last four years, I have written some critical words about Hernandez which were very deserving. My issues were usually not with his calls, but how he handled the aftermath with the player and coaches. Angel was not someone to deescalate a situation. In fact, he usually made it worse as I pointed out with an instance earlier this year in my blog. On ball that hit a Tiger player. Angel ruled it a foul ball because he thought the ball hit the bat and not the player. When replays showed the ball hit the player and not the bat, Hernandez ruled the Tiger player swung at the ball. Replays showed Hernandez never indicated the player swung and never asked the base umpire if the player swung. By saying the player swung, the play was not reviewable, and the pitch was ruled a strike. I was going nuts because Angel was making up stuff on the fly.
Statistically, Hernandez was not even close to being the worst umpire in baseball. He may not be in the top half, but he is not the bottom. Unfortunately, Hernandez had a real bad day on national television a few years back during the American League Championships Series between the Yankees and Red Sox. Hernandez was at first base, and he had three calls at first base overturned by replay in the first four innings. I remember thinking at the time that his reputation would be toast. And I was right.
From that point on, the Angel haters had a field day. You tube videos were made every time he made a questionable call. Videos were made of a series of his bad calls.
I know there is another side to Angel that most people are not aware of. I asked a colleague of mine to provide to me some of the positive words that one of Angel’s crew members has shared about Angel. Here is what my colleague sent me.
Angel is a dedicated family man and passionate about the game. He studies the rule book daily! His Cuban heritage enhanced his love of baseball. His crew members were saddened that Angel’s family stopped going to games to avoid verbal abuse! Angel is very caring and the first guy to come with encouragement on tough days. His crew rallied around Angel to protect him. He a devout Christian often seen reading Bible.
Angel worked 12 Division Series, 8 League Championship Series and 2 World Series and 3 All-Star Games. Angel was well liked by his MLB crew. He worked one no hitter as a plate umpire and that was the Tiger’s Spencer Turnball’s no hitter against Seattle a few years ago.
Angel worked his last game on May 9, and his crew is missing his presence and leadership.
Thank you, Dan, for providing the above.
I am not perfect
Last week I erroneously reported that Dr. Kim Eagle was retiring as Chairperson of Cardiology at Michigan Medicine. My announcement of Kim’s retirement was premature. As of this date, he has not made any announcement of his retirement. I am very pleased to hear this.
I apologize for my error.
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Quote of the Day: “(Angel) Hernandez did not introduce bad umpiring to baseball. His retirement is not going to be the end of it.” Adam Gretz of Yardbarker.
Orchid of the Day: Yours truly for recording my third hole-in-one last week while playing in the Crooked Tree Men’s league. Unlike my previous two, I saw this one go into the hole.
Onion of the Day: The Hamas/Israel war. Peace in the middle east is an oxymoron.
Question of the Day: Guilty or Innocent?
Video of the Day: A good investment of your time. It is very compelling. It is hard to believe he is no longer with us after taking his own life.
Grayson Murray Sunday Winners Press Conference 2024 Sony Open In Hawaii (youtube.com)