"The dream is over."
December 8, 1980, was already over in most of the world when I was watching the last quarter of a boring football game on the TV in my bedroom. I was 26 at the time, still living at home with my parents. The last few moments of the game, though, would become probably my most memorable football memory ever. That moment took place 30 years ago tonight, right about now...
I think it's likely that this is how many if not most guys of my generation learned of John Lennon's death - hearing Howard Cosell announce it on Monday Night Football...
The news hit me like a ton of bricks. John Lennon? Murdered, assassinated? How? Why? Our family didn't have cable TV with its new CNN, so I had to go on my car radio to hear details, which were still sketchy at the time. Later on, I turned on Nightline to see the first real national TV news coverage of the event...
I was numb for days afterward. On December 14, Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, called for ten minutes of silence worldwide. I followed the coverage on TV and simultaneously on the radio. It was supposed to be ten minutes of silence, but what I heard more than anything were the sounds of people crying, all over the world, and I couldn't hold back any longer myself. I sobbed uncontrollably - the first time I could ever remember crying over the death of a celebrity. Then, when the ten minutes were over, our radio station started playing "#9 Dream," and I sobbed again - not only for the loss of Lennon, but also for the symbolic end of my own youth...
Click to viewI think it's likely that this is how many if not most guys of my generation learned of John Lennon's death - hearing Howard Cosell announce it on Monday Night Football...
The news hit me like a ton of bricks. John Lennon? Murdered, assassinated? How? Why? Our family didn't have cable TV with its new CNN, so I had to go on my car radio to hear details, which were still sketchy at the time. Later on, I turned on Nightline to see the first real national TV news coverage of the event...
I was numb for days afterward. On December 14, Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, called for ten minutes of silence worldwide. I followed the coverage on TV and simultaneously on the radio. It was supposed to be ten minutes of silence, but what I heard more than anything were the sounds of people crying, all over the world, and I couldn't hold back any longer myself. I sobbed uncontrollably - the first time I could ever remember crying over the death of a celebrity. Then, when the ten minutes were over, our radio station started playing "#9 Dream," and I sobbed again - not only for the loss of Lennon, but also for the symbolic end of my own youth...