January 06, 2007

USC Kicker Found Dead at Bottom of Cliff.: Almost no other word on cause or if foul play involved.

posted by commander cody to football at 11:34 PM - 23 comments

The local FOX station here in Los Angeles is now reporting that foul play does not seem to be involved. He fell over 120 ft down to the bottom here in San Pedro.

posted by commander cody at 12:04 AM on January 07, 2007

A young girl I knew died in what appears to be the same manner a while back. Often hikers, or people in general, either get to close to the edge, lose their step, or, (hopefully not in this instance) suffer loss of coordination and judgement due to alcohol, etc. It's sad when any young person passes away.

posted by dyams at 07:09 AM on January 07, 2007

.

posted by wingnut4life at 10:12 AM on January 07, 2007

My condolences to his family. What a tragedy.

posted by wdminott at 11:19 AM on January 07, 2007

My condolences to his family and the entire USC community. Thanks for being such a big part of a special program, and thanks for giving me great memories.

posted by urall cloolis at 01:22 PM on January 07, 2007

this is a terrible tragedy, my condolences to his family and friends...

posted by singlen8tivedude at 02:49 PM on January 07, 2007

me and some of my friends got togeather and thought about how we wanted to die. My best friend and i chose falling. Go figure

posted by chad at 03:55 PM on January 07, 2007

I am so sorry for the family. It's always tough to lose a family member; especially such a young and talented one.

posted by ben11780 at 03:59 PM on January 07, 2007

What an asinine remark. "Our son died, but thank god he wasn't talented. It'd hurt so much more."

posted by Drood at 04:29 PM on January 07, 2007

.

posted by Joey Michaels at 04:47 PM on January 07, 2007

From What I And The People That I Know He Went Out Drinking That Night And Went For A Walk And Probably Lost His Step. I Have Walked All The Way To The Water And Trust Me It Is Steep And A Lot Of Lose Dirt And Rocks. I Know A Lot Of People Walk Down There To Drink And Think About Thing's. I Am From Pedro And Went To Pedro High With Him.

posted by Anton4040 at 05:31 PM on January 07, 2007

What an asinine remark. "Our son died, but thank god he wasn't talented. It'd hurt so much more." Easy there. I don't claim to speak for ben11780, but I think he was saying that it is especially tough to lose a young member of the family, one with so much promise and talent, than someone who has had a chance to live their life. I lost my father just about a year ago, and though it saddens me deeply, he was 89, had had a full life, and had thoroughly experienced the world. It would devastate me to a far greater degree to lose a young member of my family, say, one of my nieces or nephews, who are just starting out on the great adventure of life on this planet.

posted by tommybiden at 05:35 PM on January 07, 2007

I just read this this morning what a tragedy I wonder if he was rock climbing or something anyhow my condolences go to the USC football team and the immediate family

posted by luther70 at 06:07 PM on January 07, 2007

Please excuse me. I just feel sad for the the family of a young man, who happens to be a pretty good kicker, that plays for a very prestigious football program. It has nothing to do with it hurting more or less because he was athletically talented. As a father who nearly lost his son a few times, before my son was two years old due to being pre-mature, my heart goes out to anyone regardless of talent that loses a child.

posted by ben11780 at 06:41 PM on January 07, 2007

I grew up in that area and it's not a place you go rock climbing. The cliffs are mostly loose dirt with a few rocks or boulders, and there are some very steep dropoffs. Most people who have accidents there either just get to close to the edge and lose their footing or have the ground give way beneath them. And, of course, it is also a place where some people decide to take their own life. I sincerely hope that was not the case, and there has been nothing to indicate it was anything more than an accident. A real tragedy, I was shocked when I heard about it last night.

posted by eccsport78 at 06:57 PM on January 07, 2007

What an asinine remark. "Our son died, but thank god he wasn't talented. It'd hurt so much more." Drood- I hope I was missing something or something was edited. Otherwise you are a fucking asshole. Every young life that is lost is a shame.

posted by urall cloolis at 08:44 PM on January 07, 2007

What an asinine remark. "Our son died, but thank god he wasn't talented. It'd hurt so much more." Easy there. I don't claim to speak for ben11780, but I think he was saying that it is especially tough to lose a young member of the family, one with so much promise and talent, than someone who has had a chance to live their life. I lost my father just about a year ago, and though it saddens me deeply, he was 89, had had a full life, and had thoroughly experienced the world. It would devastate me to a far greater degree to lose a young member of my family, say, one of my nieces or nephews, who are just starting out on the great adventure of life on this planet. We're not talking the loss of a spouse, parent or sibling. There is no loss as great or painful as a child. I've worked with bereaved parents for 13 years and as some one who has buried a son, the original remark goes beyond asinine and to defend this concept in anyway is right there with it. I'm going to right it off as ignorance. You've now been educated to continue to believe this would now be stupidity. My heart felt sympathies to this young mans family.

posted by budman13 at 08:52 PM on January 07, 2007

You've now been educated to continue to believe this would now be stupidity. My heart felt sympathies to this young mans family. 'Heartfelt' is 1 word, you missed a comma, and I believe that you should have used the word 'stupid', not stupidity.

posted by tommybiden at 09:35 PM on January 07, 2007

You're right, heartfelt is one word and indeed I missed a comma. As to my usage of the word "stupidity" as opposed to "stupid" that sentence was poorly worded. Alas I was a math major. It would have made more sense for me to say, "Now that you've been educated on the subject to continue with this line of thinking would no longer be showing a certain level of ignorance where this situation is concerned but would surge into the realm of stupidity." My mistake was in hastily writing it and not proof reading the post more thoroughly. Look, people who have never lost a child have no idea what it's like. I do apologize for being so abrupt. A parent doesn't care if the child was a star or not. They only know that they have lost what was most precious to them.

posted by budman13 at 10:22 PM on January 07, 2007

After reading some of these posts, I'm willing to bet young Mr. Danelo's family would find all this back and forth over misinterpreted remarks and misspelled words pretty trivial and probably downright insulting. Big picture: A grieving mother and father lost a young and talented son, just as ben11780 said, and it is pointless to argue as to what is or isn't worse. It doesn't get any worse, just ask the families of our brave men and women in the armed services who have had their loved ones pay the ultimate price in service to our country.

posted by eccsport78 at 10:50 PM on January 07, 2007

Seems there are a lot of "worsts" and "ultimates" in this world. So much for absolutes.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:31 AM on January 08, 2007

Does it bother anyone that the second graph in the article reports his stats?

posted by Obleeze at 08:16 AM on January 08, 2007

Does it bother anyone that the second graph in the article reports his stats? I am not bothered by the report of his stats in the article. Mario Denelo was a very good kicker. I think the stats just provide some recognition for his success at USC.

posted by danjel at 01:48 PM on January 08, 2007

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