MY RESPONSE TO “TEARS OF A CLOWN” COMMENTARY
- 05/18/2007 (1:21:42 pm)
- Adam Crites
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Georgiann -I thought I would send you a copy of an email I sent to the writer of the commentary you posted titled "Tears Of A Clown"
Adam Crites
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Mr. Ettkin -
Your recent commentary on pro-wrestling (in which you interview Roddy Piper) cites a number of wrestlers who have died young or before 45 and then, as most media sources do, attempts to link all of these deaths to drug or steroid use in wrestling.
This broad panting brush unfortunately overlooks that some names did in fact not die from drugs and sullies their names and hurts their families for people to assume that they did.
On your list, here are 4 mistakes alone =
Junkyard Dog, 45 - His death was due to car accident where he fell asleep at wheel of his car while driving home from his daughters college graduation. Neither drugs or alcohol were a factor in his death. JYD had in fact been retired from active in-ring competition for several years.
Adrian Adonis, 34 - His death was also from a car accident involving sunlight and a moose. Again, drugs and alcohol were not a factor in the accident.
Andre The Giant, 46 - Andre suffered from acromegaly, or "giantism," an endocrinological disorder. He was never expected to live beyond his early 20's due to this condition. Although Andre was known to consume large amount of alcohol, this was not a factor in his death. He died from a heart attack due to his disorder and been ill for quite some time (knees, back).
Owen Hart, 33 - This is perhaps the most grievous mistake of your wide brush. Owen infamously died following a failed stunt at the Kemper Arena in St.Louis, MO. He had been a loving father and husband and no one has ever reported him as using drugs or being a drunk.
There have also been a number of wrestlers over the years who have died in the ring from botched moves that had nothing to do with illegal substances and fall under the heading of "bad things sometimes just happen."
While I do not deny that drugs, steroids and alcohol have lead to far to many Wrestlers dying well before their time, it is not always a factor. To lump them all together only distracts from the true problem that is out there and must be addressed. If promoters won't, then perhaps the government should step in.
However, as I said at the beginning of my e-mail to you, to try list them all under one heading as "drug user" only serves to hurt the families of those men & women who lead good clean lives and deserve to be remembered as such.
Adam Crites
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