I don’t follow soccer or college basketball all that closely, but I subscribed to SI for awhile. I remember this article. Thank you for posting.
RIP Grant Wahl
- Thread starter Mr. Wednesday
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I don't assume anything without proof, but the best case scenario is this is a horrible tragedy for American soccer, and there's enough doubt to investigate is there is more to it.
Whatever his cause of death, the fact we even have to wonder whether a journalist was murdered for covering human rights abuses in a country hosting one of the very few most prestigious international events in the world should be sobering.
If there is any shred of truth about foul play, FIFA has to be held responsible.
This is exactly right. If the World Cup is in any normal country, this is just a tragedy. The fact that we chose one where the conspiracy theory is plausible is unacceptable.
I highly doubt he was killed but I hope the family is allowed to do everything they want to get the needed closure. If he was killed, Grant would certainly appreciate on some level that he was able to expose FIFA and (maybe) drive change, The fact that I have to condition that sentence about change is all you need to know about FIFA.
I hope this isnt the beginning of a coverup.
Note - it may not be. But strange they made this guy take it down
I would hope so. Emotions are running high and the coincidental nature and timing sucks. Inflaming things further is counterproductive.
Grant Wahl's stories and mailbags were crucial for my soccer fandom. My favorite soccer writer, and someone who wrote from an American point of view.
My first thought was not foul play, but working while sick, aka the Jim Henson tragedy. Take care of yourselves, everyone.
My first thought was not foul play, but working while sick, aka the Jim Henson tragedy. Take care of yourselves, everyone.
His tweets today are much more measured, about the helpfulness of the US Embassy, so I think the tone last night was probably like you said about high emotions.
One thing I’ve learned about environmental public health is I would be wary about drinking the water from desalination in places like Qatar, where they don’t mix it with regular freshwater sources. Not great for the heart
That Argentina-Netherlands game finished after midnight, and was intense, probably not a great combo for someone who was sick
I’m truly shocked. He had been around forever and was only 49. He was already the elder statesman of American soccer journalism. (Not even accounting for his college basketball work, which was momentous in its own right.) What a legacy he leaves, of incisive writing and of being on the good side of history.
Who knows what eventually comes out, but that was my first thought as well.
Not only working while sick, but being in a country that might have questionable medical care. I saw reports he had already been to a hospital in the previous few days?
Could have had a ticking time bomb heart attack, big pulmonary embolism, or who knows what overlooked.
Such a sad story regardless.
Indeed. And a clarion call to these International governing bodies to stop rewarding the most flagrantly oppressive and corrupt regimes with things like the World Cup and the Olympics.
Wahl walked away from a role where he was the sort of guy assigned to do the LeBron James cover story for SI in order to exclusively focus on soccer because that's what he wanted to do. That was a ballsy move.
And as the outpouring of praise and grief showed, he had a hand in elevating soccer from a backwater, almost clandestine/weirdo obsession and bringing it to the mainstream of American sports and sport culture. That the game is more popular now is in no small part due to him. And not as a flack or fanboy either - he didn’t pull punches.
Is there any kind of primer on the bolded? Interested and curious as someone who travels a fair bit and is a regular googler of “is the water safe to drink in x?”
Thinking about the Caribbean, mostly. In the Greek isles I think they generally don’t bother and it’s bottled or bust.
A V&N thread about desalination plants and water treatment would be very interesting, but I think it would be a disservice to the original topic to do it here.
Anyway, Grant Wahl was a very nice guy in an industry known for curmudgeons, for whom the topic of their work has lost any of its magic. It hadn't lost that magic for him, and that's special. He was a bit prickly on Twitter (often blocking people for innocuously asking questions), and his recent move to substack dramatically lowered the number of people who could read most of what he wrote. But before then, he was a pioneer in sharing the game and the love of the game around the US, and for that he will rightfully be remembered.
Anyway, Grant Wahl was a very nice guy in an industry known for curmudgeons, for whom the topic of their work has lost any of its magic. It hadn't lost that magic for him, and that's special. He was a bit prickly on Twitter (often blocking people for innocuously asking questions), and his recent move to substack dramatically lowered the number of people who could read most of what he wrote. But before then, he was a pioneer in sharing the game and the love of the game around the US, and for that he will rightfully be remembered.
Ever since Twitter came into the requirements for reporting on sports, the stress level has gone up. Bob Ryan retired from The Globe, in part, because he was being asked to tweet during games he was covering. Overworked, stressed, sick are all factors in Grant’s sudden death. That combination can lead to health problems in any kind of work environment.
Pre-Twitter I can think of two Rhode Island scribes who suffered heart attacks while covering Patriots games. Ted Mulcahey, sports editor of the Pawtucket Times, died a few days after his attack in 1978. Paul Kenyon had his attack at the old Giants Stadium and was very lucky to survive as he tried to finish his game story while enduring chest pain.
And several baseball announcers have died alone in their hotel rooms, including Richie Ashburn and Don Drysdale. Harry Kalas died at his seat an hour before a Phillies game.
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This sensitive and touching SI piece deserves to be a part of Grant's legacy too:
https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/12/12/claudio-reyna-family-jack-death-giovanni-dortmund
...as does this one, which Grant told soccer blogger @_Susaeta was his favorite USMNT memory:
https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/2000/09/11/remember-the-mayhem-unusually-boisterous-crowd-support-boosted-the-us-to-a-win-over-guatemala
https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/12/12/claudio-reyna-family-jack-death-giovanni-dortmund
...as does this one, which Grant told soccer blogger @_Susaeta was his favorite USMNT memory:
https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/2000/09/11/remember-the-mayhem-unusually-boisterous-crowd-support-boosted-the-us-to-a-win-over-guatemala
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I'd never heard of these until about 2 months ago when I took my dad to the ER with severe back pain, and on the way he self diagnosed (it helps that he's a retired cardiologist). Did a lot of reading on them in the time since and it seems like Wahl is on the WAY young side for this to happen. Terrible luck most likely, terrible tragedy for sure.
edit: apparently I didnt do enough reading...my dad had an aortic dissection, which apparently is different than an aortic aneurysm.
edit: apparently I didnt do enough reading...my dad had an aortic dissection, which apparently is different than an aortic aneurysm.
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Apparently NBA Hall of Famer "Pistol Pete" Maravich died at age 40 of an undetected heart condition while playing a pickup game.
These things are lurking out there, and medical science is able to detect and help prevent an increasing number of them, but we're still a long way from catching them all.
These things are lurking out there, and medical science is able to detect and help prevent an increasing number of them, but we're still a long way from catching them all.
Really good on his family to take time from their grief to speak out and out any conspiracy theories to rest (hopefully).
His widow continues to do so, this time after the anti-vaccine goblins who tortured her after her husband’s death tried to appropriate Damar Hamlin’s situation for their own ends.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/opinion/grant-wahl-celine-gounder-vaccine.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20230109&instance_id=82203&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=34292603&segment_id=122001&user_id=3aabed577db87a33195c731355d9858b
“ This week’s “Ted Lasso” ends with a tribute. As the credits roll, the first words that appear are “In memory of Grant Wahl.””
https://www.indiewire.com/2023/04/ted-lasso-trent-crimm-grant-wahl-tribute-1234825751/amp/
https://www.indiewire.com/2023/04/ted-lasso-trent-crimm-grant-wahl-tribute-1234825751/amp/