News you might have missed: Dick Hoyt passes away, Sister Jean heads to the NCAA tournament, Vanessa Bryant is naming names and Monica Lewinsky’s quick wit.
Dick Hoyt passes away – You may not recognize his name, but I’ll bet you recognize his story. Dick was the dad who inspired thousands – maybe millions – of people as he pushed his son, Rick, in a wheelchair in more than 1000 races. In 1992, they completed a run-and-bike across the US – 3735 miles in 45 days. Rick, who was born with cerebral palsy and is a quadripalgeic, told his dad that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5 miles, coming in next to last. That night, Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not disabled.” Rick was once asked, if he could give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to sit in the chair and I would push him for once.” Dick passed away in his sleep at age 80. (Team Hoyt, CNN, People, Washington Post)
101-year-old good luck charm – Sister Jean, the enthusiastic chaplain at Loyola, will head to Indianapolic to cheer on her team. She has been vaccinated against COVID-19 and will be one of an extremely limited in-person crowd. She promised not to run on the court, or otherwise cause a disturbance. During the team’s 2018 tournament run, which featured last-second victories and various upsets, Sister Jean garnered national media coverage for her sharp wit and steadfast cheering of the team. She even helped the team cut down the nets as they went to the Final Four. (Yahoo News, The Hill, Chicago Tribune)
Naming names – Vanessa Bryant took to social media to name the deputies who took photos of the crash site where her husband and daughter were killed – including the bodies of the victims – and then shared those photos. An amended complaint filed in US District Court alleges that Deputy Joey Cruz “boasted that he had worked at the scene of the accident where Kobe Bryant had died” and showed photos of the crash site to a bartender and a bar patron on January 28, 2020, two days after the crash. He and three others shared photos within the LA County Sheriff’s office, and, as noted, to people outside the office. Sounds a lot like former U of U officer Miguel Deras saving and sharing photos of Lauren McCluskey. (People, CNN)
Presented without comment
not playing. https://t.co/5ONapMpd1Q
— Monica Lewinsky (she/her) (@MonicaLewinsky) March 16, 2021
