Just got a little dusty in here....

Never was any good at it.

I mean, yeah, it's an OK story. And it does pack some emotion. But the way it ends, can anyone even feign to imagine some Hollywood producer would read it and say, "Yeah, we've just got to make a movie about this"? Not bloody likely.

 

Couldn't make it through the story, but the OTL segment was pretty good.

 

The story is great, except for one major item.

The glorification of a prick. Aunese's attitude toward Kristy was inexcusable.

 

I didn't get the sense that aspect of him was glorified in the least. Hell, I thought it showed him warts and all.

Shit, he was a 20-year-old. Most 20-year-olds wouldn't react a hell of a lot different.

 

I'd have to agree. I think the piece pretty much makes clear that Aunese redeemed himself in the end. I was in this position myself my senior year of high school ... my girlfriend and I lost the baby before we told anyone.

His reaction certainly isn't the way I would have handled it ... but having walked in those shoes, I'm not going to judge anyone else.

I've never been a big Bill McCartney fan, but in this case, he certainly walked the walk. Kudos to him for supporting his daughter and helping raise his grandson.

As far as the rainbow thing ... you either believe in that kind of thing, or you don't. Those of us who do believe aren't threatened by the views of those who don't.

A very nice piece all around, in my opinion.

And by the way ... there already is a movie in development:

http://www.salthemovie.com/index.html

 

I've seen other stories where Sal and Kristy's relationship didn't simply fade away - he dropped her like a hot potato and wouldn't acknowledge the kid until a blood test proved he was the father.

To make matters worse for Kristy, she went through it all over again a few years later with Shannon Clavelle, except he lived but still doesn't come around or support his child, supposedly.

Hopefully she stopped dating her father's football players after that.

 

My first thought when McCartney related the scene about Aunese saying, " I won't marry her," was, What an asshole. Not sure they glorified him in the piece, but it appears they purposely glossed over a little reality for a better story.

 

I thought that too.

"Look, this is not going to affect your position on the team, but I'd like you to establish right now whether you're going to be with her through this or whether you're not."

"Coach, I'm not going to marry her."

Sal, you didn't have to marry her. You were asked if you would stand by her.

I don't care if he was 20 or 21 or however old he was. He was a grown man, an adult. He needed to make an adult decision, and he failed.

Maybe he made up for it in some way by acknowledging the child and by apologizing to Kristy for the way things had transpired. If he did, that's great. It doesn't change that he treated her like shit.

 

Rainbows in Seattle are actually a fairly rare occurrence. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

The whole story is pretty crazy, and I always thought it was worthy of a book or a movie. Stud recruit out of SoCal, lifts Colorado, knocks up the coach's daughter, turns his back on her and her family, then gets fatal stomach cancer at age 20 and dies when his new son is just months old?

That is crazy.

I've read a lot about Sal Aunese, but Friend does a great job getting even more details about his last few years. Well done.

 

Knowing his family believed that you had to marry the girl when she's pregnant, and Bill McCartney's known religious beliefts, I figured Sal's first thought is, 'They're going to pressure me into marrying her.' So, his first reaction was, 'No, I'm not marrying her."

 

there's another thread going titled something like "why do newspapers need paper again?" for me, it's stories like this. I find it virtually impossible to read a story of this length and topical breadth online.