Growing up in the Northwest there were not many selections in terms of professional teams. My home state of Oregon only had one team. That team was and still is the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers are a team that really has been a "community" team for the city of Portland and a source of pride for the entire state.
I have rooted for the Blazers, have always wanted them to do well, but have always been a fan of certain players in the history of the franchise. One of those players was Jerome Kersey.
Unfortunately, the franchise lost Jerome yesterday in a sudden fashion that has shocked the Portland community, his former teammates, and anybody that came into contact with Jerome Kersey. When I heard the news it shocked me as well, but saddened me on even greater level. Young athletes grow up idolizing professional athletes and I was no different.
Jerome Kersey was my favorite Blazer player, he played with a reckless abandon that struck me very quickly. I remember watching him in the Blazer Rookie Game that the franchise used to hold after the NBA Draft when the draft was seven rounds long. Kersey was selected in the second round with the 46th overall pick. I remember when they selected him, my mind was like "who is this guy? He went to what school? What are the Blazers thinking with this guy?" When I watched him in the rookie game, it was clearly evident that he had the raw talent to do well in the NBA and that he would make the team with his hustle and relentlessness. He was a tough nosed player, not afraid of playing physical, wasn't going to back down from anything or anyone. I immediately told myself to watch this guy when the regular season rolled around. I was not disappointed with Kersey.
In the end, he became an important cog on the Blazer teams that went to Conference Finals and then went to two NBA Finals. He was on the teams that had Terry Porter, Clyde Drexler, Buck Williams, and the late Kevin Duckworth. He fit in so well with that team, he created turnovers, ran down loose balls, played tough defense, and my personal favorite, got the crowd going with his thunderous dunks. He was a physical dunker.
Bill Schonley, the original announcer and the Hall of Fame of announcer for the Blazers says that after Jerome had finished a fast break with a thunderous two handed dunk, he naturally said "Mercy, mercy, Jerome Kersey..." It stuck with the fans and Schonley. I remember when I would see Jerome make a play or slam one home, in my head I was saying "Mercy, mercy..." I am almost positive that my friends were also saying the same thing when Kersey would make a play in a game.
The measure of an athlete comes when the bright lights are not on and what they do for the community. Kersey was a fixture in the Portland community since he was a player for the Blazers, when he playing for other teams, and when his playing days were over. He was working for the Blazers when he died. He was working in community relations type of roll for Portland. He would go to schools, work with kids, and promote the team. Kersey loved doing what he doing. He was always smiling, shaking peoples hands, taking pictures with everybody, and making himself extremely available to the public. He was a people person and the public was drawn to him. Jerome would not want it any other way.
My initial reaction was "What? No way. He's to young." He was young. Kersey was only 52 years old at the time of his passing. A blood clot got into his lungs from his calf after he had a routine knee surgery.
Anybody that wants to know how his teammates felt about him, go to the Blazer home page to see how Terry Porter and Bill Schonley feel about Kersey. With his passing, there is a part of my childhood that died with him. He made an indelible impression on me and showed me that it's how you treat people that matters and not what you have. It is something that I am trying to show my kids so they can pass it on when they are older. Jerome, may you find peace, and continue to thrown down thunder dunks in heaven. Mercy, mercy.... Jerome Kersey.
No comments:
Post a Comment