As a lifelong NC State fan, and thus of college sports in general, relating to the players is ever changing. When you are a kid, the players are bigger than life, almost like super heroes. Then as you get to high school, college, and just out of college, they become contemporaries. Either they are fellow students, friends, or just someone that you feel like you can relate to. Then as you get older, I imagine they almost become like kids, and you watch them going through a stage of life that you remember fondly, and you are proud of the accomplishments that they are able to achieve.
In my life, I'm managing that transition from contemporary to "as I get older", but I still vividly remember the super hero stage. Growing up, I was never big into Spider-Man or Superman or GI Joe, and as I look back on it now it seems like the larger than life characters that I grew up with were the players at NC State. In April of 1983, I was five years old and I don't remember too much from that age, but I do remember watching the NCAA Championship game on Monday April 4th. In the basement with my family, I watched the game. My stuffed dog Benji sitting in front of the TV faithfully and superstitiously, just as he had while pulling the Pack through game after game. I don't remember the exact moment of Lorenzo Charles' "dunk heard 'round the world", but I do remember running up the stairs in celebration and stubbing my toe. My family running into the yard to cheer. I'm pretty sure that we toilet paper rolled our own yard that night. It was sheer exhilaration, and a time that I will never forget.
As time passes, it almost seems like a fairy tale, with the players and Jimmy V as the heroes. I think that's why it seemed so disconcerting to hear about the death of Lorenzo Charles yesterday. Super heroes aren't ever supposed to be defeated or pass away, and in a way for me Lorenzo Charles represented a childhood super hero.
The reality of course is that Lorenzo was a real person and my thoughts and prayers go out to Lorenzo's family and friends. They are the ones that deserve our sympathy today. By all accounts, Lorenzo was a great man, and he will be missed by many. For me personally, I never met him, but he an iconic figure from my childhood, and it's sad to hear that he is gone.
However, it is good to know that through the magic of memories and videotape, he will always be remembered. The end of the '83 championship is forever etched in my brain, and just thinking the phrase, "Whittenburg....oh it's a long way....Charles......they won it.....on the dunk" still gives me chills. As a lifelong Wolfpack fan, it's a memory of a super hero that will live forever.
