Tragedy of 2020
by Savannah Cress
Earlier this month, my 15-year-old lost her phone. What followed was several days of fabulously in-depth conversation during car rides. One such conversation began with my daughter declaring that, thus far, she was not impressed with 2020. When I prompted with a “how so?”,she rattled off a list of “tragedies,” ranging from the coronavirus outbreak to her current P.E. grade.
As of this writing, the coronavirus has infected more than 40,500 people in Asia alone, and has spread to over 24 different countries. China has basically shut down in an attempt to contain the virus, negatively affecting the economy from multiple angles. The World Indoor Track and Field Championships, originally slated to run from March 13 – 15 in Nanjing, China, have now been postponed an entire year, to March of 2021. That sounds like a good way to throw a wrench in one’s training plans. The illness has now infected more than 1,700 of the healthcare workers who provided care to those previously infected with coronavirus. The whole situation clearly falls into the category of “tragic.” The P.E. grade on the other hand… I suggested it may be less of a tragedy, more of an “acknowledge and accept that health class is part of P.E. so yes, you do in fact have homework in P.E. – just do it” situation. My daughter then quickly changed the subject with “and then Kobe and Gianna died.” [1] [2] [3]
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The shocking death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant definitely lands in the category of “tragedy.” The helicopter was in perfectly sound condition and the pilot was experienced, with over 8,200 hours of flight time, and he had followed protocol for piloting when the cloud coverage reduced visibility. It’s not a situation where blame can easily be placed. It’s not a situation that makes sense. It’s just a tragic accident — one that happened to involve one of the most recognizable faces in sports history. [4]
While much of Kobe’s legacy comes from his many accomplishments on the basketball court, his influence on the sports world runs much deeper. After retiring from the NBA at age 37, Bryant turned his focus to mentoring up-and-coming players both within his family and outside of it. He utilized his experience on and off the court to create books for kids. His books in The Wizenard Series are based around an inner-city basketball team, with each player having his own section of the book so that the reader experiences the storyline, the internal struggles, and the lessons learned from each player’s individual point of view. The series touches on aspects of basketball strategy, relationships between teammates, internal struggles with depression and anxiety, trusting one another, learning to find common ground, and compassionately working through differences. [7]
Just this past November, USATF and Kobe’s Granity Studios partnered in the publication of a fantasy novel, EPOCA: The Tree of Ecrof, which is based on track and field. It is another positive, inspiring book aimed at a youth audience and advocating self-confidence, dealing with emotions, overcoming adversity, rejecting stereotypes, all of which are faced by the book’s characters as they race to find their own inner magic. [8]
In addition to being a well-known athlete, entrepreneur, and author, Kobe was a husband. He was a father. I will venture to say he appeared to be an incredibly involved and loving father. Having 4 daughters, Kobe became more aware and in tune with women’s sports—in basketball and beyond. He became cognizant of gaps between guys’ and girls’ opportunities in sports and made it his mission to inspire young girls to work hard and pursue their athletic dreams. He actively sought opportunities to expose his girls to sports in which they showed interest, whether it was going to see a women’s basketball game, soccer game, volleyball—the sport didn’t matter to him, the exposure gained did. [5]
In 2018, Kobe partnered with Chad Faulkner to launch Mamba Sports Academy. This business venture brought to life Kobe’s mentality about sports training. The facility offers training for the body as well as the mind for athletes ages 2 all the way through adulthood. The specific programs are offered in a range of sports, including football, track, basketball, softball, lacrosse, volleyball and even Esports. It was through Mamba Sports Academy that Kobe coached his daughter, Gianna’s, basketball team. They had been on the way to a basketball game in Thousand Oaks, CA, when the helicopter went down. [6]
Kobe and 13-year-old Gianna were not the only lives lost. The helicopter also carried two of Gianna’s basketball teammates, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, Alyssa’s parents – John and Keri Altobelli, Peyton’s mom – Sarah Chester, as well as Christina Mauser, an assistant basketball coach for an unrelated school, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan. All nine people on board died when the helicopter crashed into the side of the hills in Calabasas, CA. [4]
This single event forced five families to deal with the unexpected loss of loved ones; five families who are now trying to process how this could have happened and what could have gone differently to prevent it from happening; five families who are experiencing the whole range of emotions that comes with tragedy and wondering how they carry on with life after a loss of this magnitude.
I cannot begin to grasp the amount of pain with which these families are dealing. No parent should have to bury a child. It is just a distorted, unnatural order of events. In addition to being in that exact position, Kobe’s wife, Vanessa, is also burying the one other human being who would have been in that difficult position alongside her.
There is a lot in this world that can be made easier with the possession of money. Things like keeping a safe roof over your families’ heads is easier; providing food, clothes, opportunities in sports, arts, and school for your kids is easier; not having to stress about money, or lack of any of the aforementioned items, is easier. Not having to say “no” to every semi-frivolous request your teenage daughter makes is easier. Getting out of sticky situations in a courtroom is easier. Avoiding L.A. traffic by taking a helicopter is certainly easier. There are enough outwardly-visible perks that come with having money to form unwritten lines in our society—lines dividing people according to socioeconomic class and income. These lines enable humans to lead drastically different lifestyles from one another, and to grow accustomed to those different lifestyles, thereby blurring the vision of, and ability to relate to, the struggles and positions faced by people on the other side of the lines.
Then there are the things in this world that remain unaffected by the amount of money one possesses. Inexplicable, unexpected tragedy knows no boundary. Pain and grief know no boundaries. No amount of money can make the pain stop or the grieving process speed up. No amount of money can “fix” the situation and bring a loved one back. Masks of idealism become transparent. It becomes easier to see those on the “other side of the line” as people, as humans, as feeling, living, breathing souls rather than perfect smiles from the tabloids. When you sink to the floor and break down on a random Tuesday night after the kids are in bed, whether you’re wiping your eyes with a Jyuni Hitoe tissue or with a square of store-brand toilet paper is irrelevant. The raw emotion behind the tears is the same.
My heart goes out to the five families directly affected by this tragic helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, as well as to anybody, anywhere, on any side of any “line,” who is dealing with any stage of grief. It’s not easy, and it hurts, but we need to allow ourselves to feel it.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/asia/china-wuhan-coronavirus-maps.html
[2]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/cloneofchina-coronavirus-outbreak-latest-updates-200213231710117.html
[3]https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/01/29/coronavirus-track-and-field-postponements-cancellations/
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/us/kobe-bryant-final-hours/index.html
[5]https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/01/28/when-kobe-bryant-brought-his-passion-girls-basketball-phoenix/4592922002/
[6] https://mambasportsacademy.com/mamba-sports-academy-statement/
[7] https://usatodayhss.com/2019/kobe-bryant-publishing-teen-book-wizenard-series
[8]https://www.usatf.org/news/2019/usatf-and-kobe-bryant%e2%80%99s-granity-studios-to-collabo
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