Some Might Call It A Punt
Jan. 10th, 2006 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eggwardsYou never know just how much junk you keep around until you start trying to pull it all out and throw it in boxes. The apartment is getting trashed, just to clean it up.
With the weekend's knowledge that I would be moving, I started to see the city in a different light, as if my eyes have to take in everything now trying to remember it all. I ended up taking a couple of extra drives around, and Friday's trip to the Ripcord was interesting since I was wondering how many of those people I would see again.
It's also making me think about stories of the city, and really I sort of stumbled across a memory of a really odd story in Houston's history, one that's almost been been forgotten, mainly because the city has moved on since then, and the Houston oilers are just a vague memory to many. Newer residents to Houston don't even know about the team, and maybe that's for the best. Of course, the Texans are doing very little to make Houstonians feel we have pro football at all.
Still, this odd memory goes back to 1993, where the Oilers were actually having one of the last good seasons they would have before they became lame ducks for the next two years and finally moved in disgrace to Tennessee. Just before the season ended, there was a strange news story that caught my eye, mainly because of the cute picture of player Jeff Alm.
Jeff had been a star offensive lineman, played at Noter Dame, and was quickly becoming a stand out player, but one night he had gone and killed himself with a shotgun on a freeway on ramp. He had apparently been distracted, lost control of the car, and his passenger had been ejected from the car, and fallen off the elevated ramp that went from Loop 610 to the Southwest Freeway.
The passenger had been listed as Alm's best friend, someone from his home, and was killed when Alm's car hit the side of the ramp, and the friend, who didn't have his seatbelt on, somehow was thrown out, fell several feet, and was killed. Alm, being distraught about killing his friend called 911, and while talking to the operator pulled the trigger of the shotgun, ending his life as well.
There were rumors that didn't make it into the paper. The rumor was that the friend was actually his boyfriend and he didn't have his safety belt on because he was taking care of business. Certainly a way for someone to lose control of the car. A rumor that went even further said that one of the reasons Alm shot himself was more than just the death of his friend, but that a real-life version of an especially painful moment from The World According To Garp had taken place.
I have no idea what the actual truth was. The news reports did seem to have holes in them, but as we know about the closeted life that a few gay athletes have talked about, it might have been true, and may have been another reason for Alm to take his life rather than deal with the questions. In the end, only the police and EMT's who were at the scene really know.
I guess why the whole thing caught my eye was the idea that this hunky football player could be gay, which was appealing to this closeted boy. I know that I had a dream that I could go back to that moment and help in some sort of way - either preventing the crash (unlikely) or talking to Alm before he pulled the trigger. I know it was part lust and part compassion, but it seemed a better resolution to a life than what became of Alm in the end.
I remember that there was a ceremony for Alm by the team, and then they went back to playing football. If memory serves, they lost the remaining games of that season, but as with other things, the memory goes.
i rarely use the ramp that Alm's friend fell from, and he himself died on, but i do go by that interchange often, and every once in a while that memory resurfaces for some unknown reason.
Just another story from the Bayou City.
With the weekend's knowledge that I would be moving, I started to see the city in a different light, as if my eyes have to take in everything now trying to remember it all. I ended up taking a couple of extra drives around, and Friday's trip to the Ripcord was interesting since I was wondering how many of those people I would see again.
It's also making me think about stories of the city, and really I sort of stumbled across a memory of a really odd story in Houston's history, one that's almost been been forgotten, mainly because the city has moved on since then, and the Houston oilers are just a vague memory to many. Newer residents to Houston don't even know about the team, and maybe that's for the best. Of course, the Texans are doing very little to make Houstonians feel we have pro football at all.
Still, this odd memory goes back to 1993, where the Oilers were actually having one of the last good seasons they would have before they became lame ducks for the next two years and finally moved in disgrace to Tennessee. Just before the season ended, there was a strange news story that caught my eye, mainly because of the cute picture of player Jeff Alm.
Jeff had been a star offensive lineman, played at Noter Dame, and was quickly becoming a stand out player, but one night he had gone and killed himself with a shotgun on a freeway on ramp. He had apparently been distracted, lost control of the car, and his passenger had been ejected from the car, and fallen off the elevated ramp that went from Loop 610 to the Southwest Freeway.
The passenger had been listed as Alm's best friend, someone from his home, and was killed when Alm's car hit the side of the ramp, and the friend, who didn't have his seatbelt on, somehow was thrown out, fell several feet, and was killed. Alm, being distraught about killing his friend called 911, and while talking to the operator pulled the trigger of the shotgun, ending his life as well.
There were rumors that didn't make it into the paper. The rumor was that the friend was actually his boyfriend and he didn't have his safety belt on because he was taking care of business. Certainly a way for someone to lose control of the car. A rumor that went even further said that one of the reasons Alm shot himself was more than just the death of his friend, but that a real-life version of an especially painful moment from The World According To Garp had taken place.
I have no idea what the actual truth was. The news reports did seem to have holes in them, but as we know about the closeted life that a few gay athletes have talked about, it might have been true, and may have been another reason for Alm to take his life rather than deal with the questions. In the end, only the police and EMT's who were at the scene really know.
I guess why the whole thing caught my eye was the idea that this hunky football player could be gay, which was appealing to this closeted boy. I know that I had a dream that I could go back to that moment and help in some sort of way - either preventing the crash (unlikely) or talking to Alm before he pulled the trigger. I know it was part lust and part compassion, but it seemed a better resolution to a life than what became of Alm in the end.
I remember that there was a ceremony for Alm by the team, and then they went back to playing football. If memory serves, they lost the remaining games of that season, but as with other things, the memory goes.
i rarely use the ramp that Alm's friend fell from, and he himself died on, but i do go by that interchange often, and every once in a while that memory resurfaces for some unknown reason.
Just another story from the Bayou City.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 03:20 pm (UTC)I remember the news reports and wondering the same thing ...
no subject
Date: 2006-01-12 01:50 pm (UTC)Yes, it's terrible that athletes in team sports really can't come out due to the scared macho attitude of players. For every Billy Bean and Ezara Toulolo and Dave Kopay, you know there has to be more out there.