it was cool to see a consolidated, linear and candid look but i think anyone who's followed his career closely could have written for him. very sad that a guy with so many talents and such a positive presence got dragged under a lot of stuff that was just out of his hands. then he started fucking up and that just pulled him down deeper.

i met lamar a handful of times and know guys who worked with him all the time. great guy by all accounts. but yeah i figured he started using in his 20s. he was pretty shot out by his 30s. crazy how some guys can maintain a pretty high level while doing lots of drugs. lawrence taylor was the ultimate. there are definitely a lot of guys in every sport though, though there are also a lot who flame out prematurely despite being great players.


as for your question, i could have broken a pretty big story that eventually came out about an nhl player and substance abuse. the big thing that made it come to light was a border patrol investigation and obviously that hadn't happened when i had the information. i had no interest in doing it even though there was some upshot to it.

this is a guy's livelihood and also his freedom at stake given the drug laws we have in most of the world. i've definitely gotten wind of guys with drug or drinking problems in other situations, too. i think it's a cheap story to write, personally, and i am guessing that is the general consensus because there are people way more connected than me that must know of these and other instances. there were some pretty big-name players with known issues and they never really made it to the public. i think a lot of times people get the idea when a young guy with a low salary and lots of potential gets traded. i would say when you see that there is a good chance substance abuse is involved, and often it comes out later somehow.

there was a story about the NHL and cocaine a couple years ago but it didn't seem to have much legs. obviously some guys in the league do it and like the nfl prescription painkiller abuse was a thing. i do see teams veering away from that as much as possible and veering away from ambien and other sleeping pills. they turn that over to a nutritionist now, giving the guys extra zinc, magnesium, selenium, etc to get better sleep naturally.

And you will know MY JACKET IS GOLD when I lay my vengeance upon thee.