AUGUST 26, 2008
Life has been nuts so I haven't had time to write but today, as I was listing off all the things I needed to get done, I vowed to get an entry written. After all, with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team winning gold, UP starting their season, a baby elephant born at the zoo, etc, there was plenty to write about.
But then, when I stopped to check the news, everything I'd been thinking about flew right out the window when I read that former Portland Trailblazer Kevin Duckworth died last night. Ever since reading that I've just been sitting here not knowing what to do with myself. Such sad news. He was only 44.
Duck was a Blazer during the late 80s and early 90s, back when they were one of the best teams in the NBA and full of star players like Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter who were class acts on and off the court. And Duckworth fit right in in regards to talent and being a stellar guy. He was known as the "gentle giant," what with being seven feet tall and having a heart of gold, and he made a huge difference in many peoples' lives.
Duck was and always will be one of my favorite Blazers, you just couldn't help but love the guy, and his death has left me shocked and sad to the core. Thanks to my dad having season tickets, I got to see Duck play many times and it will always be the early 1990s team that I think of as quintessentially Blazers. They were everything you could want in a team and they made the city proud.
And Kevin Duckworth was part of what made that era in Blazer history so special. He was a talented man who truly cared about others and Portland will always love him for that. And while it's so sad that Duck died so young, that we lost one of the great ones way too soon, Portland will keep his memory alive and we'll always be proud to call Duck one of our own, one of our heros.
God speed, Duck. You'll always be loved.
Kevin Duckworth Tribute
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