UP IN THE LIGHTS

Idealism can be fatal.

There’s your cynanide-laced shot of realty for the day.

Bobby Decatur, starting things off with a bang! As will we, policing this thread with a club. Don’t make us use it.

Tip of the hat as well to former Texas fullback and Iraq veteran Ahmard Hall. First you blocked insurgent forces during the occupation, then you blocked insurgent Trojans for one of the most transcendent players of our life time. 100 4th of July shooters to you, sir.

100 hand salutes to Mr. Tillman.

Well done, Orson.

Thanks for this post

Bobby Decatur-
 You’re missing two things…empathy and an i.

Pat Tillman: All American Badass.

That seems like the right touch, O.

well played

but, you should be expecting a sanction from the NFL any day now.

Classy, Orson. As Sam Elliot said in Lebowski, “I like your style, dude”

I’d like to take a small moment to thank the guys at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy.

Thanks for all you do guys. I hope you stomp Notre Dame.

I was hoping he would get to write a book,
“From Special Teams to Special Forces”….you can use that title if you like….
Bobby Decatur is right, the real estate market is poison right now.

Regardless of political affiliation or beliefs, never forget the heroes and the people who died that day. A truly sad day in our history no matter how you slice it.

Home of the Brave Cont’d Dept:

Pat Tillman’s brother Kevin also enlisted and put country ahead of sport.

NEVER FORGET !

And a lack of idealism can be fatal for a society.

Bra-vo!

I am looking at the lights and wiping tears from my eyes. Thanks for everything that you have done Pat and all the others. Now its time to get back to football. The tears are for both the memories and the fact that I follow an ACC team.

Would it be wrong to point out that everything is fatal?

Idealism may be fatal, but not everyone is satisfied with waiting for the cold embrace of death while wandering through life without a purpose.

As always, nice work Orson. Thanks for making this blog a way to talk about the few things that are bigger than football without getting into politics and the who’s right and who’s wrong… don’t kill babies… Obama hates women… Bush is a loser… blah blah blah blah…

thank you Orson…

for helping me to rededicate myself to my hobby… of finding ways to help our enemies go to their final destination in greater numbers with less effort or danger to our armed forces

you may have seen my work on TV – google SWORDS remote weapon platform – it’s not all me, but a piece of me is in there

Today we are all Sun Devils

Well put, sir.

We have a strict no-politics policy at MiamiHawkTalk, but we take a moment each September 11th to pay tribute to our four alumni who died in the terrorist attacks that day.

http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/

It seems Mr. Tillman lived his life doing what he felt he had to do, and giving it his best effort. I salute his dedication, his tenacity and his example.

Tillman was told he was too small to play linebacker in the Pac-10.
He was told he had to redshirt at ASU.
He was told he couldn’t play in the NFL.

He just went about his merry proving all of those folks wrong, all while racking up a 3.87 GPA and a summa cum laude business degree in 3.5 years. That and the conference POY he earned in 1997, and award that now bears his name.

It should be noted that fellow Sun Devil and former NFL defensive tackle Jeremy Staat also enlisted in the Marines, luckily with less tragic results.

Matt Conley’s story is worth sharing today.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=conley

@ 23

Say hello to the wife for me…

Big Jon,
He was also told that no one would give up a multi-million dollar contract to go make 17k a year as an Army Ranger, but Pat didn’t listen to the people who told him what he couldn’t do.

Tillman was from the Old Guard, those that realize what is important in life, and when it is necessary to defend it and freedom. It was all too common during WWII, but unfortunately, it seems to have all but disappeared in these times.

I hope that Tillman’s example inspires people for decades to come.

Pat Tillman is my hero, and it’s not because of how he died, but how he lived.

I wish I could be that bold, take such risks and live so fully.

Gary Smith’s SI piece about him is one of the greatest stories I’ve ever read.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1108561/index.htm

In a day and age where we spend so much of our energy focusing on tearing people down, finding the negative and glorifying the bizarre, it’s refreshing to be reminded with the example of someone like Pat Tillman that there are, in fact, people out there who support their fellow man, who focus on the positive and exemplify the things that are good about humanity.

Thank you, Orson, for sharing. And thank you, especially, to those who make sacrifcies every day, who miss their families so as to make it possible for us to enjoy our Saturdays of college football. And for those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice upholding the ideal that the world is better when its people are free….there aren’t enough words. God bless you.

so i’m going to recite a joke i heard. i don’t think it’s in bad taste, and is the only 9/11 joke i like. if i offend, my apologies in advance. if it makes it any better, my brother just got back from iraq, safe and sound, thank goodness

Knock, Knock

Who’s there?

9/11

9/11 who?

YOU SAID YOU’D NEVER FORGET!!!!

Dammit, man. I’m boarding a plane to Phoenix on Wednesday, trying to get my hate on for Arizona State. And then you have to throw this in my face…

From one who served then to those who serve now:

Godspeed and all safe home. We owe our freedom and liberty to these men and women in uniform. 9/11 is not just the twin towers, but the Pentagon as well.

Lest we forget.

I was at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan just weeks after Tillman was killed in country. Talk about it hitting home there.

It was amazing to see them open the Tillman building there just under a year later, and it was quite the special occasion. I believe Warrick Dunn and a couple other players flew over to commemorate it.

Great post – I’d also like to honor Iraq War veteran and current Cal defensive end, Rulon Davis.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/11/SPGQOKGFJF1.DTL

thanks for the reminder. Pat was a great person in addition to being an outstanding football player. The outstanding fighting men and women who serve us in this time of war need to remain in our prayers. God bless you all.

poor pat tillman…he was indeed a badass. and how about the rescheduled UF/UT game on that fateful weekend that will we never forget? … nightmare.

Requiescat in pace.

Pat Tillman was a bad man. But if you’ve never read it, read Rick Reilley’s SI column from the week or so after he was killed. It’ll make you sob.

Also, the only thing that’ll bring tears to my eyes faster than the 21 gun salute performed in front of Tillman Hall (Clemson U.) this morning is a missing-man flyover.

I love military scools, if only because they make me thankful for the people that are willing to put themselves on the line in a way that I can’t fathom…

Well said # 30. Thank you for expressing so eloquently the things I think but seldom say.

@23-
I know everyone is allowed to memorialize and remember in their own ways, but holy shit-
“Today we are all Sun Devils?”
wow. you should really have your fingers torn off for typing that sentiment.

pat tillman was the shit. walk on, turned starter, turned all Pac-10, turned undrafted free agent, turned special teams role palyer, tunrnd starter, turned all pro NFL Defensive Back, turned Green Berret, turned noam chomsky reader and iraq war critic…. what a brilliant and amazing man pat tillman turned out to be. smart as shit and would knock you on your fucking ass, then help you up.

there’s an even called Pats Run check it out and donate bitches… http://www.patsrun.com/