The Chris Herren film

Saw the Chris Herren film on ESPN last night and it was very well done.

Here's the PTW reaction:

Guys were a little too celebratory back then for PTW's taste -- remember, the game is the thing, you're just momentarily plugged into it ... the quote from Coach Tarkanian -- "Chris had a way of making people believe in him" -- may be heartfelt but there is also the sense that coaches w-a-n-t-e-d to believe in Herren ... Herren looked edgy and troubled -- wounded might be the best word -- way prior to his descent into drugs and alcohol ... PTW wonders if playing hoops was also a drug (or at least had a similar debilitating effect) for Herren as he even said that he never found peace playing basketball -- maybe hoops prolonged his agony and he needed it behind him before he could face his reality ... the part where Herren explained why he would shave and brush his teeth in the shower -- because he wouldn't have to look at himself -- was incredibly poignant and heartbreaking ... in a certain light, Herren's countenance seemed similar to that of Anthony Weiner, the now disgraced House of Representatives lawmaker who has his own addiction issue ... big shout-outs to Nick Van Exel and Antonio McDyess for their willingness to forsake part of their own lives in order to keep Herren on the straight and narrow ... with all the 'research' that goes into background checks and the like prior to any sports draft (and seemingly trades), why in the world would the Celtics believe bringing Herren back to Boston, without creating some sort of an internal support network, be a successful move? ... as fans, we forget there is a human wearing that uniform, one who bleeds and hurts like all of us yet we still employ the villain/hero, white hat/black hat scenario with quite often over-the-line vitriol that we would abstain from in other settings, and that's a shame