RIP Pearl | Page 10 | Syracusefan.com

RIP Pearl

GoHamSU said:
It's amazing. As I've said a few times, I wasn't alive to watch him, but I do know the history and incredible influence he had. Still... All of these people not even associated with SU paying their respects is really Really awesome, and almost indicating his influence was even more than I could imagine.

You guys weren't kidding when you said how great he was for us..
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Same thought I've had all day. NBA royalty just gushing over him and paying their respects. I'm 32, I had no idea he was THIS legendary.
 
P =Personable
E= Exciting
A= Amazing
R= Respected
L= Legendary

I mourn the loss of my most highly admired athlete in my lifetime. In the pantheon of college basketball players everyone is fighting for 2nd place after Pearl. I saw Pearl play and college basketball, specifically Syracuse College Basketball became my favorite sports team and my love and interest in the game is solely a result of having seen Dwayne "Pearl" Washington do what I have never seen another player do since. He was someone who's mere presence transcended the game of Basketball. The expectation was always that something special was about to happen any time he set foot on the court. The irony of Pearl was that in spite of his flamboyant persona on the court, off the court he was a very humble and private person who had core values that were deeply rooted in "others" rather than "self". As such, people were magnetically attracted to the Pearl. His control of the ball and his ability to break down defenders with the "crossover of all crossovers" was mesmerizing. It's all there for people to see...the tapes as he weaves in and out between defenders on a seemingly impossible course to the hoop with his body twisting, turning, ducking, pausing and then surging while reaching out around the outstretched arms of the last defender and at the last nanosecond flips a perfectly spin imparted underhand shot which appears to crawl up the backboard glass and then fall through the hoop and twine while he tumbles out of bounds. He springs back up and sprints down to the other end to defend. Did I just see that? did that actually happen? Oh my... you can't guard him! Such was the Pearl. He seemed to stretch all sensibilities of what it was possible for a basketball player to do. And the crazy thing is he made it look so easy... almost like it was in slow motion.

And like that half court shot...all net... with the image of Pearl sprinting into the tunnel arms outstretched over his head ... departing prematurely after having sent the entire arena into complete pandemonium...he didn't linger to savor the victory and the moment of having been a hero... he just disappeared from our view after we had witnessed something absolutely incredible... by a man who was transcendent... more than just a great basketball player... and so it was like that today... Pearl running through the tunnel.. past the "PEARLY GATES"... and the crowd in state of awe and pandemonium...Did we just see that? did that actually happen? Yes folks, it did... and we were so so fortunate to have witnessed it.

RIP Pearl... a once in a lifetime person.
 
Flacusian said:
P =Personable
E= Exciting
A= Amazing
R= Respected
L= Legendary

I mourn the loss of my most highly admired athlete in my lifetime. In the pantheon of college basketball players everyone is fighting for 2nd place after Pearl. I saw Pearl play and college basketball, specifically Syracuse College Basketball became my favorite sports team and my love and interest in the game is solely a result of having seen Dwayne "Pearl" Washington do what I have never seen another player do since. He was someone who's mere presence transcended the game of Basketball. The expectation was always that something special was about to happen any time he set foot on the court. The irony of Pearl was that in spite of his flamboyant persona on the court, off the court he was a very humble and private person who had core values that were deeply rooted in "others" rather than "self". As such, people were magnetically attracted to the Pearl. His control of the ball and his ability to break down defenders with the "crossover of all crossovers" was mesmerizing. It's all there for people to see...the tapes as he weaves in and out between defenders on a seemingly impossible course to the hoop with his body twisting, turning, ducking, pausing and then surging while reaching out around the outstretched arms of the last defender and at the last nanosecond flips a perfectly spin imparted underhand shot which appears to crawl up the backboard glass and then fall through the hoop and twine while he tumbles out of bounds. He springs back up and sprints down to the other end to defend. Did I just see that? did that actually happen? Oh my... you can't guard him! Such was the Pearl. He seemed to stretch all sensibilities of what it was possible for a basketball player to do. And the crazy thing is he made it look so easy... almost like it was in slow motion.

And like that half court shot...all net... with the image of Pearl sprinting into the tunnel arms outstretched over his head ... departing prematurely after having sent the entire arena into complete pandemonium...he didn't linger to savor the victory and the moment of having been a hero... he just disappeared from our view after we had witnessed something absolutely incredible... by a man who was transcendent... more than just a great basketball player... and so it was like that today... Pearl running through the tunnel.. past the "PEARLY GATES"... and the crowd in state of awe and pandemonium...Did we just see that? did that actually happen? Yes folks, it did... and we were so so fortunate to have witnessed it.

RIP Pearl... a once in a lifetime person.
Expand...
It isn't just talent that causes us to "love a player. In the sport of football we have an alum who is listed among the gods but doesn't earn the emotion we speak of when it comes to Pearl and Ernie. His name is Jim Brown and I hold a great deal of respect for him as a person and player ,he doesn't hold that "(Je ne sais qua"") sic.There are others of course.The school and program MUST NOW DISPLAY a proper tribute to Pearl.
 
Jake said:
He needs to be in Springfield. People will point to his numbers, but I can't emphasize this more...Pearl was more than just the numbers in a boxscore.
Expand...
It's really hard to emphasize and quantify Pearl's impact. Being a playground Legend (capital "T") in Brooklyn ("We Go Hard") is meaningful. Pulling small-town-big university college into the national spotlight, is meaningful. Forcing hundreds of poor, sun-deprived kids from Geddes Street, to Pastimes, to Most Holy Rosary to Shonnard Street Boys Club to get out and try to emulate a basketball hero (both on and off the court). That is meaningful.
 
rstone7727 said:
Feel like a chunk of my life is gone. :(

pearl-01.jpg
Expand...

It is.
 
Here's how transcendent Pearl Washington was with a certain generation of people. When I worked in the Syracuse media, I played in a basketball game against the SU football team. I still giddily tell people that "I almost got to play basketball with Pearl Washington!"

See, Pearl was supposed to play that day on the media team as a "ringer." He ended up not being able to make it. Yet he was such a hero of mine, that the mere fact that I COULD have played on the same team as him is a story I still tell to this day. He was always larger than life.

Rest easy Pearl. The man may be gone, but the legend will never die.
 
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