Watching MSNBC on Wednesday afternoon brought back some chilling memories of a Tuesday morning over five years ago. Airplane hits high-rise building in New York City was the line that ran along the screen. What would you think? Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. But as afternoon turned to early evening the details began to surface and the terrorism conclusion was proven wrong. Instead it was an accident. A trip that started out as as an enjoyable sightseeing mission ended in two fiery deaths. But what seperates this tragedy from most others was the occupation of one of the deceased. Cory Lidle, 34, was a major league baseball pitcher who had pitched just a few nights before for the New York Yankees. And while people die everyday in car crashes, fires and other horrible scenarios Lidle's death will stay with us for some time. And the purpose of this blog is to simply ask the question why?

Lidle's unfortunate and tragic death occured on 10/11/06 but I can go back to 8/02/79 when a Yankee captain died piloting his plane as well. He was the heart and soul of the Bombers and was considered to be in the same class as Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk. Thurman Munson never hit 50 homeruns, never knocked in 120 runs, and never won an American League MVP. But the day he died marked the first time I ever saw grown men sobbing uncontrollably. Some were diehard New York Yankee fans and some weren't. Thurman Munson was not the first 34 year old to die but you wouldn't know that from a city's reaction. Is it because pro athletes seem so strong and indestructable? Is it because he brought out the boy in all of us? The Yankees still fielded a baseball team the next day and there have been many catchers that Yankee fans have grown to love since. So I ask you why did some cry harder for Thurman than for some of their own relatives that they readily admit they loved? Why?

12/8/90....Unlike Munson, when this man was taken away from us he was part of quartet that could not be replaced. That quartet was no longer making music together but John Lennon would always be a Beattle. Murdered outside his apartment building in NYC 26 years ago I can still remember Howard Cosell's spine tingling declaration of "Lennon, dead on arrival" during a Monday Night Football game. A whole generation of music lovers continue to mourn his loss every year in Stawberry Fields. Mark David Chapman, like David Berkowitz or Jeffrey Dahmer, has become a household name. Was John Lennon the only person in the world who longed for peace? Was John Lennon the only person in the world who "imagined?" You would think so. So I ask you again. Why?

8/31/97....That was the day the world said goodbye to Princess Diana. For the next few weeks I had to ask myself more than once what was the matter with me. While you never want to see a young woman, and a mother of two, ever pass away I did not share the same  sorrow the rest of the civilized world did. Over 2 billion watched Di's funeral and I must admit that I was relatively disinterested. Maybe it's because I'm an obnoxious American that's not overly impressed with European royalty. I don't know but I do know that again people all over the globe have marked this day down as a day of remembrance. Was Princess Di the only woman to work with poor and starving 3rd World countries? Was Princess Di the only woman to show genuine concern over HIV patients around the world? I feel confident the answer is no. So I ask you again. Why?

3/05/82 John Belushi

12/18/97 Chris Farley

3/04/94 John Candy

8/16/77 Elvis Presley

5/20/89 Gilda Radner

And of course these 3 very memorable dates...

11/22/63 John F. Kennedy

7/16/99 John F. Kennedy Jr.

6/05/04 Ronald Reagan

I do not have the universal answer as to why we allow people we've never met affect us so dramatically when they die. I think it's fair to say that some of these people remind us of our own frailties and strengths. But next time you find yourself really bummed out over the loss of a celebrity ask yourself why that should bother you more than the 34 year old guy that lived on your block that just perished as well.

To all the people I mentioned in this blog....Rest In Peace and may your families garner love and strength from your memories...