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ABM · 12-12-2004, 06:33 AM

Wow, I was unaware of this....

From: York Sunday News

Quote:

There was a time when John Gabriel didn’t know if he was going to live.....

Gabriel remembers flashes of the October day.

He remembers getting stung by the wasps in his yard and feeling woozy, then like he was about to faint. He walked from the yard to the street out front. He remembers seeing a man in a truck and asking for help.

He thinks he mumbled the words, “Winter Park Hospital.”

He doesn’t really remember anything else.

He knows this all happened on a Sunday. And that he woke up on a Tuesday.

He knows that he nearly died.

Could it really be happening? Didn’t he already suffer through a life-shaking event in March, when he was demoted after eight years as Orlando’s general manager? He had been with the team since its inception in 1989.

And yet he was dropped to team adviser and regional scout, the team wanting a new direction.

Just before this season, he was hired by Portland Trail Blazers’ general manager John Nash, a longtime friend. He now scouts for the Blazers but still lives in Orlando.

Suddenly, he was back at the bottom rungs he knew all those years ago.

Unsure steps, indeed.

For the first time in 20-some years, nobody needed him for the NBA Draft.

“I was hurting. And even today, still,” he said. “It’ll take a while. It’s still tough to walk into the arena.”......

**Talkhard** · 12-12-2004, 08:10 AM

Great story. I made a post several weeks ago commenting on the surprising fact that John Gabriel was our scout, after having been General Manager for one of the flashiest franchises in the league. It's been a hard fall for Gabriel, but his story reminds us all that life is a blessing, and to be thankful for each day. Things like fancy job titles are not so important once you get things in perspective.

dkap · 12-12-2004, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Things like fancy job titles are not so important once you get things in perspective.

Yeah, bees suck.

I've been stung 6 times in the past year by ridiculously aggressive yellow jackets in the yard (3 nests bombed and still catching upwards of 100 a day in traps), and the reaction gets worse each time...

Maybe Gabriel can come down to Salem and scout ... for nests.

Dan

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