 Scott DochtermanI'm originally from Burlington, and I'm a 1997 Western Illinois University graduate. I've worked in Burlington, Muscatine, Fort Dodge and [...] |
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Where were you when Chris Street died?
It was a moment that stopped you in your tracks.
On Jan. 19, 1993, Iowa basketball player Chris Street died after suffering fatal wounds in a traffic accident. He was 20 years old.
Chris Street
“If you lived it at the time, you understand it,” said Mike Street, Chris’ father. “I’ve had many people come up to me and say, ‘I remember where I was, exactly what I doing, when he died.’
“At my age it was JFK. You remember it. It was shocking. For people in Iowa, it was that JFK moment.”
I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out about Street’s death. I was a 19-year-old freshman at Southeastern Community College living in my hometown of Burlington. I was shooting pool with high school friends Chip Gardiner and Chad Wood at a little pizza pub/bar called The Town House.
I wasn’t playing that game (unfortunately) and the music was blaring. The pub had a little color television in the corner above the bar. I looked up and saw the intro to ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and sat down. The first segment showed Chris Street.
The television sound was off and back then there was no bottom crawl. We had no cell phones. Chad asked why was Street on TV. I just said, “I wonder if he died.” There really was no other reason I could think of at that time because we knew Iowa didn’t play that night.
After I went home a few hours later, Chad called and told me that Chris Street had died in a car accident. Several thoughts flooded my mind. I lived briefly in Indianola, and my father still lives there. I watched Street and his high school teammate Bruce Overton tear up my high school team in a Class 4A substate basketball final. Mostly my thoughts then mirror my thoughts 20 years later: what a shame.
If you’re old enough to remember where you were the night Chris Street died, send your thoughts, and we’ll post them here as comments.
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It was a Tuesday night and the weather forecast was ominous, calling for freezing rain, snow, low temps and high winds. Two friends of mine were meeting me at Micky’s in downtown Iowa City for Conglomeration Night. As we entered the eatery around 7:00 PM, we heard the wail of sirens as they emptied out of the nearby ICPD and ICFD. We all agreed it must be a major incident, due to the number of vehicles heading north.
As we settled into our seats for dinner, we talked about the recent Hawkeye game the previous Saturday at Duke. It was on national TV, which was still a big deal 20 years ago. Several friends had rented a party room at the Highlander Inn to watch the big game together. At dinner that Tuesday night, we were in unison in our strong dislike for Duke guard Bobby Hurley, who in frustration had thrown a ball directly into the torso of Chris Street as he ferociously defended the inbounds pass fronting the Iowa press after a made basket. Chris went after him and had to be restrained. Hurley responded by blowing him a kiss.
After dinner, we each headed home around 8:30 PM. That’s when I got a call from a family member who worked for the Iowa City Press Citizen, who informed me of the tragic accident. To say I was dumbfounded is an understatement. First came denial, then disbelief, followed by profound sadness that still resonates to this day.
As a season ticket holder since 1977, I’ve attended virtually every home game and felt a certain bond w/each Hawkeye player. Nobody got a home crowd revved up like Chris Street, and nobody has since.
The game against Wisconsin this Saturday will bring back lots of memories, unfortunately more bitter than sweet. My hope is that the current Hawkeye squad can channel some of the energy generated by the outpouring of emotion that will surely emanate inside CHA and vanquish the cheeseheads from Madison to honor the memory of our lost hero.
I was on active duty in Mississippi. I learned about it the next morning when I was reading the Biloxi paper in my kitchen and was just about to fold it up and leave the house to report for my duty shift when I saw a small blurb at the bottom of the inside front page. Three lines long. That was it. I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. My sister still lived in Iowa City and sent me the articles from the Gazette and the Press Citizen. 20 years. Man!
I was a junior in high school. I don’t remember where I was the night that he died, but being a Cyclone fan, I remember that Fred “The Mayor” Hoiberg wore his #40 for the rest of the season. HawkeyeSports.com has a really nice interview with Coach Hoiberg about that night and the impact the gesture had on Chris’ family. Worth a read.
http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121212aab.html
I was a freshman in high school, reading Shakespere at the time. My aunt who worked at the iowa city press-citizen at the time heard about the accident on the police scanner and called us. Chris had come to a basketball camp I attended at Iowa Menonite School in the summer of 1992 and spoke to the small group of us about his faith and competing. Making an impression for sure. He told us one of his fears was to be “postered” i.e. being the guy in the basketball poster getting dunked on by the superstar.
This week has reminded me how much things have changed since then. Every hawkeye game was on tv back then. The state watched. Allowing college athletes to inspire us one or two nights a week.
To this day, I cannot look at a snow plow without thinking of Chris Street. May his spirit continue to inspire current and future hawks. On Iowa!