|
|
02-08-2019, 12:38 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,784
Thanks: 1,181
Thanked 3,160 Times in 803 Posts
|
|
Remembering the Gentle Giant
February 8th is a difficult day for me every year. I still vividly remember the telephone call I received that morning informing me that Chris Daniels had died. This wasn’t possible. A young man in the best shape of his life had been taken from us.
Chris was just coming into his own as a basketball player. He was second in the NCAA in field goal percentage and had just gone toe to toe with the best player in the country and held his own. The potential career ending injury he had suffered shortly after coming to the University of Dayton was just a memory. With a diploma already in hand, a professional career was within his sights.
Those of you that are fairly new to UDPride could easily look all of that up, but what you can’t find in the record books is a description of just who this young man was. He was 6’ 10” tall but never made you feel small. He was always accommodating and went out of his was to make those around him smile. He wasn’t a star, he was your friend.
If you never got to meet Chris, you missed a lot. Just being around him made you feel better. The world is a better place for having him with us for 22 short years, but I can only imagine the good he could have brought us all if God had only given him a little more time. Please say a prayer for Chris and his family today.
Last edited by John C.; 02-08-2019 at 02:27 PM..
|
35 UDPriders Offer Mad Props to John C. For This Totally Excellent Post:
|
1in25 (02-08-2019), AC91 (02-08-2019), Bill McPeek (02-08-2019), Bonziflyer (02-08-2019), Chris R (02-08-2019), ClaytonFlyerFan (02-08-2019), CT Flyer (02-08-2019), DJ '96 (02-10-2019), Dogdaddy (02-08-2019), Donniex3Era (02-08-2019), EliteEight (02-09-2019), Flyer 79 (02-08-2019), Flyer2 (02-08-2019), foolishpride (02-08-2019), frisco flyer (02-09-2019), JimBo (02-09-2019), Justin (02-08-2019), Lifelong Flyer Fan (02-08-2019), Lowd&ProUD (02-10-2019), MikeFlyer (02-08-2019), MNFats (02-08-2019), NYCFLYER (02-09-2019), OSU Flyer (02-08-2019), Radar (02-08-2019), Ready Action (02-09-2019), Runnin' Rebel (02-08-2019), SLUFLYER (02-08-2019), steve (02-08-2019), tlangs98 (02-11-2019), TommyGola (02-08-2019), TXFlyerFan (02-08-2019), udscott (02-08-2019), upperarlingtonflyer (02-09-2019), Viperstick (02-08-2019), wes (02-08-2019) |
02-08-2019, 01:48 PM
|
|
General of the Air Force
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Shiloh, OH
Posts: 8,453
Thanks: 2,350
Thanked 5,041 Times in 2,687 Posts
|
|
Regarding his personality, I’ve mentioned in several posts my family’s experience with Chris, but it bears repeating today.
Chris did a classroom visit at my daughter’s school, St. Rita, in the Shiloh section of town. She was in either Kindergarten or 1st Grade at the time. He spoke about his experiences as both a student and a basketball player, and was genuinely kind to each of the kids in that classroom. She had grown up as a Flyer Fan (heck, she could tell you the players’ names from the Media Guide when she was 3 years old), so when she came home from school that day, she was in awe of our gentle giant. And, within a year or so after that visit, he became a giant of an angel.
Rest In Peace, Chris. You’ll always be #33, our man in the middle.
Posted via Mobile Device
|
7 UDPriders Offer Mad Props to T-Bone 84 For This Totally Excellent Post:
|
|
02-08-2019, 09:48 PM
|
Major
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 702
Thanks: 302
Thanked 330 Times in 192 Posts
|
|
My wife and I get to the games a hour early and I loved to watch Big Steve interact with all the kids there. Ball boys and girls always got a big smile, fist bump. On campus everyone new Steve and it seemed like he knew them.
Met him at a UD picnic and said your over 6’ 11” and Mikesell said he’s 6’ 13”. Really funny when my 7 year old granddaughter offered to help him with his free throw shooting cracked him up. He is sorely missed.
|
02-09-2019, 10:30 AM
|
Colonel
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,857
Thanks: 631
Thanked 894 Times in 435 Posts
|
|
Jablonski/DDN: "Antonio Daniels, younger brother of the late Flyers forward, pays tribute to Chris on Twitter"
https://www.daytondailynews.com/spor...bdhGvDKaDU44K/
|
4 UDPriders Offer Mad Props to Ready Action For This Totally Excellent Post:
|
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|