RIP John Saunders

I'll be very glad if it turns out not to be suicide.

 

The journalist in me, even when reading that statement, still doesn't think it rules out the possibility that he took his own life. It's still quite vague.

I watched the early evening sports center with Ley and Berman. Twenty wonderful minutes on a day where they didn't have the obit all "cued up" like you do with someone had been expected to pass away for some time.

 

I think we'll all feel better if it wasn't suicide. We'll feel better, but he'll still be dead and that will still suck.

 

Why would we feel better if it wasn't suicide?

Sometimes people are done living and go out on their own terms.

 

Because it's hard to think of someone being in such a state that punching their own ticket out is the only way out. I'm 56 and the last 12 months haven't been the greatest, but didn't feel that desparate.

The people you love will always be there for you. Don't be afraid to reach out. And if you can, or are asked, be there for them.

 

Yes, depression is a lot more common than people understand. I've battled it all of my life, tried self-medicating with alcohol and weed or a long time before finally getting help from my primary physician. I've given up the self-medicating part and I'm on medication to control my depression, and while it helps immensely, there are still times when I feel overwhelmed.

Like this past weekend. I made some commitments to the coaches at my college in a meeting on Friday, then spent the whole weekend stressing over how/if I could deliver on my promises. Also, my old girlfriend from high school passed away last week after a year-long fight with cancer, so that didn't help. I couldn't really articulate what I was feeling, but my wife knew something wasn't right. She helped me get over it, and I was able to get some reinforcement on my job issue that eased my mind.

Nevertheless, it was a good reminder that depression never sleeps; it's something that if you suffer from it, you can't ever get complacent about.

 

Perhaps it's his family keeping a lid on it, I don't know. But I can't imagine ESPN letting cause of death slide if Belichick passed away suddenly.

Anyway, I loved this article. I hope her story helps a few people battling depression.

Olympian Allison Schmitt takes aim at stigma of depression

 

I guess you'd be in that sparse camp who'd say, "Suicide? Cool, glad he went out like an OG."

 

Or maybe it wouldn't change a thing: We're sad to the bones that John Saunders died.

 

Yes that's exactly what I said.

 

I was kind of having a similar thought to you yesterday. Suicide is tragic, no doubt. It's tragic if it's impulsive, in particular. But is it necessarily less tragic when someone who wants to go on living dies suddenly? Or from cancer? Or in an accident?