RIP Fab Melo.

[Cowtown]

To an Athlete Dying Young

By A. E. Housman

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears.

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl’s.

RIP, Fab.

 

[tee1222]

The sequence 0:26 into it. 3 blocks in one possession just plain ruins an opponent's thought to get points in the paint for the rest of the game.

Intimidation at its finest.

 

[two3zone]

Some of us wrote things without personal attacks. We seemed to touch people and those thoughts are gone. I wrote something in the wee hours of the morning and poured my heart out, only to have my post deleted. I didn't save what I wrote and it's gone. It's upsetting that so many beautiful posts were deleted just because of the ugly ones. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal, of course. I should've saved my post. I'm so touched by the response to it. It was not easy to write.

EDIT: Is it possible for an admin to retrieve certain posts from the thread? Maybe post them here? The positive ones?

I'm so sad for so many reasons.

Most importantly, I wish the de Melo family well and I hope Fab is in a better place.

It was an amazing post and I think there were a bunch of other great ones in the thread.

Not sure why everyone is penalized for ones actions.

 

[Trueblue25]

It's unfortunate that we live in a world where the spotlight often shines brightest on the negatives of individual college athletes. College is a transition in life, the sense of consequence is not yet fully developed and often the most gifted kids are the ones burning the most under the magnifying glass.

He may have made some mistakes, but no one deserves to die this young or at all. RIP Fab. I know, for me at least, it was always a pleasure watching you play.

 

[AZOrange]

RIP Fab. No player improved as much in one year than Fab. EVER. His NBA career was shockingly short because I think he had the talent. But those that knew him knew how much he missed home. Godspeed Fab into the next life.

Pouring one out!

 

[TheGov3304]

RIP Fab. Nothing but respect coming at a young age to a different country and giving it your all to realize your dream. Heaven received a brilliant rim protecter and a kind spirit. Much too young, forever Orange

 

[schmidty73]

RIP big fella. You played the middle of the zone like it was meant to be played. Only wish we could have seen you for longer in Orange (or even Celtic green).

 

[llandz]

Kudos to someone who put a lot of work into setting up this blended thread. I do hope there will be something such as a moment of silence before tomorrow's game and maybe some sort of other recognition, such as the players wearing a patch with his number on it. Somewhere some one had suggested instead of black that it be done in the colors of Brazil. That would be nice for the few remaining games.

 

[orangehomer]

i'm not sure if thread is more like a phoenix, or more like the ironborn

"what is dead may never die"

 

[MSOrange]

iommi your post is back! Glad because it was a must read.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I do hope there will be something such as a moment of silence before tomorrow's game and maybe some sort of other recognition, such as the players wearing a patch with his number on it. Somewhere some one had suggested instead of black that it be done in the colors of Brazil. That would be nice for the few remaining games.

I believe there was a moment of silence during the Women's game today.

 

[two3zone]

Couple of NBA highlights.

 

[AZOrange]

Horrible news. Anytime I saw Fab around campus, I always yelled out "FABRICIO!" and always got a very accented 'whats up man' with a smile. A joyous human being who left us far too early.

The joyous part is understated. He could even get JB to smile 30 seconds after pulling him.

 

[pfister1]

I'll always remember the awesome transition from his freshman to sophomore year, just amazing defensive presence after being largely unable to stay on the court as a frosh.

While I didn't know him, my two kids got the chance to meet him at a game and he was nothing but accommodating. Seemed like a truly good natured kid.

We ask a lot of these kids when we annoint them as superstars and expect them to be role models. They are expected to always make the right moves and avoid missteps that adults old enough to be their parents often can't.

RIP FAB

 

[Moontan]

I'm very sad. My first thought now is SU/ the team should do three things: before Louisville Monday: a moment of silence, a Fab highlight reel (not sure which be done first but should be done!) and then we should absolutely wear a "51" patch on our uni's for the rest of the season. Instead of black, maybe we could make it in the colors of the Brazilian flag. Fab would like that I think.

One or two would be great.
He fought hard on the court, helping lead SU to its best regular season.
The fact that SU tried to help him in one way instead of another shouldn't be held against him.

Was he perfect? No. Am I? No. Is any of us? No!

He brought pleasure to a lot of Syracuse fans that year. In fact, JAB, and us ,wish that we'd have 2nd year Melo guarding the basket every year since then.

RIP

 

[JoeySimz]

 

[Marsh01]

Regardless of what impact he had on the sanctions with the NCAA he seemed like a good kid and played his ass off when he was here. RIP and its embarrassing for anyone to post negative things about him. Seems like the whole world is a negative place these days.

 

[elimunelson]

i can't keep track of the pulled threads on fab but who from the university will be representing the basketball team at his funeral? Is Boeheim missing any time to attend? Did Bernie recruit him? I'm just curious because it would be nice for the university to have some representation in Brzil for this since.

 

[runningorange]

I am taking this loss hard and it has been on my mind a lot since I heard the news Saturday night.

I have been a Syracuse fan my whole life (growing up in Western NY) but I didn't truly start following all aspects of the program (including recruiting) until 2009 / 2010. Fab Melo was one if the first big-time recruits I remember following. I learned all about him (largely from lurking on this board) and remember feeling very excited that he committed to us over Louisville (sometime in August 2009??? I believe). I have since followed along on many subsequent recruiting sagas (Noel, Battle, Thompson, Green, White III, etc) but Fab Melo was probably the first I followed the whole way through and so having him commit felt especially special.

He was the anchor of what might have been the greatest Syracuse team of all time. I, like many, loved that 2011-2012 team. When you watch all the post game press conferences, player interviews, Scoop and Kris show, read every blog, read this message board, stream the exhibition games, etc as I did (and many on this board also do)... I felt a personal connection to players and coaches who I never but felt like I knew. Reports such as Donna D and Mike Waters helped foster such a connection with their access to the players and the personal information they provided. I felt that connection with Fab, and many other players on that 2012 team. I remember feeling like I got punched in the stomach when fab got suspended the first time. I remember the joyous thread on this board when an insider informed us he would be back for the St. Johns game at the garden. I remember the Seton Hall game, the winning dunk @UConn, sweeping Louisville, the 360 dunk @Nova, going 17-1 and dominating the BE like few other teams ever have (winning the conference by 3 games), and bulldozing so many other teams that never even had a chance. That team (with Fab) plays UK for a national championship and has a real shot to win.

Fab was a big part of a team that I felt a strong personal connection to, and I will always be thankful to him for that. I watched Fab beat UConn in the Big East Tournament when my son was born. My son is now 4 (about to be 5) and just went to his first game @Pitt on Saturday. Fab wearing Orange seems like only yesterday. RIP and thanks for the memories. He is a part of the Orange family.

 

[Newhouser]

Sad when we lose anyone this young, especially "one of our own" as has been mentioned here. As much as I enjoyed Fab on the court, I think he represents everything I despise about college athletics off the court. The young man was clearly in need of some extra help to survive academically in college, the young man obviously was immature off the court and as mentioned earlier was no saint. I know a number of people who dealt with Fab off the court and there description of, and memory of Fab, would be different than us the fans. Bottom line is in big time college athletic the "student athlete" doesn't often get the chance to mature and grow, and sadly most of these athletes adopt to the pampered and privileged aspect of their life on campus as a high profile athlete faster than they do adopting a more mature mindset. Fab made his choices off the court (including embracing the entitlement), but like a lot of kids attending school today, I'm not sure he was provided the proper guidance and support that he needed at that stage of his life. I think it is incumbent upon the adults to keep things in perspective and I think the NCAA and the colleges forget that.

 

[Jeremy L.]

I think that this has hit hard for more people because of the younger community. Obviously the loss of Pearl was tragic and hit everybody, but as a 25 year old I never saw Pearl play. Fab is the first player that I've watched myself and we've lost way too soon. Still can't believe the big fella is gone.

 

[tee1222]

Seems like the whole world is a negative place these days.

Word.

 

[MSOrange]

I think that this has hit hard for more people because of the younger community. Obviously the loss of Pearl was tragic and hit everybody, but as a 25 year old I never saw Pearl play. Fab is the first player that I've watched myself and we've lost way too soon. Still can't believe the big fella is gone.

That's a good point I hadn't thought of. We all can definitely relate to this one.

 

[hungrychuck]

Not normally a fan of Bud Poliquin, but I thought this was well put in his column today. Maybe a bit of perspective for some of us. RIP Fab.

"Imagine yourself starting to learn Portuguese in, say, August of 2014 ... and then enrolling this week at, oh, Universidade de Brasilia where your classes will be taught by fast-talking professors who will not be speaking English ... while simultaneously committing to a sport whose nuances are still fairly new to you and will command 30ish hours of your week, every week ... and doing all of that while continuing to absorb all that comes with adapting to a foreign culture."

 

[OrangeXtreme]