CHICAGO - Those who’ve found ultra success in life, regardless of their chosen field, often share a commonality.
It’s lonely at the top.
But for the few who have fallen from grace, there is a grim discovery that the bottom is a lonelier, colder place.
READ DILG seeks hazing raps vs Baldwin, others for Ateneo deaths
And that’s where resigned Ateneo men’s basketball head coach Tab Baldwin is right now.
Since the June 8 drowning deaths of Blue Eagles players Divine Adili and Rene Baterbonia, Baldwin has not been the same.
BENT AND ALMOST BROKEN.
Like rain in July, sleep is intermittent while the appetite to eat, focus, or do anything else meaningful had all vanished.
Which is why the once-imposing figure carried a noticeable weight loss on Monday when videos of him at the Labor Department made the media rounds.
“My struggles are nothing compared to the pain the families of Divine and Rene are suffering,” Baldwin told me in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
“I don’t want any pity. I just wish this tragedy did not happen.” he added.
Still muzzled by his lawyers due to a potential upcoming trial, Tab can’t comment on the case.
And rightly so.
While all of us have an opinion on the issue, each fueled by his or her own biases, the court of law has the final say.
LET DUE PROCESS TAKE ITS COURSE.
Our justice system, not social media, is the ultimate arbiter when it comes to where and to whom the axe of accountability must fall.
So hold off on your quick judgement.
Coach Tab is alive. but in so many ways his life is over.
He lost his job, his reputation, his employability. And when you’re 68 years of age, the way back, if it’s even remotely possible, is a steep climb.
You don’t have to pity the man, but you don’t have to be cruel, either.
In a polarizing event under an acrimonious environment, spewing hate is easy, convenient
Try kindness, instead. It’s actually good for the soul.
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