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| September 9,1990-January 12, 2016 |
Well playas...Andrew Smith did an OUTSTANDING job in his short 25 years of establishin' his brand! There was more self-definition, transparency, authenticity and accountability in his life than most people would have in a full 80 years. On Tuesday he lost his battle with cancer and I would like to send my deepest condolences to his family, friends and the entire Butler community.
Last week I made one of the biggest mistakes in my life by accusin' his former coach, Brad Stevens, of seekin' attention by not coachin' his team against the Bulls when he stopped to see him. As I stated in my apology in the joint entitled "Ownin' It." I thought that it was odd that they didn't just say that Stevens wasn't with the team for personal reasons like they would normally do. I didn't realize how grave the situation was because I hadn't been keepin' up with the situation and I felt terrible for commentin' when I wasn't properly informed.
Let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! Andrew lived for 25 years and the most important piece of his legacy is the dash between the his birth day and the day of his death. It's the dash that counts. It about what he did and how much of an impact he made durin' that dash that makes him the person that everyone will miss. His dash was powerful because of the outpourin' of love that he's receivin' and the respect that boyz are givin' him while he was still alive.
I'm inspired by Andrew's dash to be a more self-defined, transparent, authentic and accountable than ever before! Matt Mullenweg once said, "When there's no one you can point to, or when something goes wrong, it's your fault - that level of responsibility and accountability is pretty interesting." Well that's me right now. Why? Because of it's the right thing to do and Andrew is the example that we should all strive to be like.
In just a few days, he's impacted my life more than any one has ever done before and because of that I'm thankful to him. I've been takin' darts and ridicule that I very much deserved because I didn't do my homework as a journalist. However, I realize that God only made one perfect human being and that's Jesus.
I won't allow that one mistake to define me because I know that God has used flawed human beings that have made mistakes to do great things. Noah was a drunk, Moses was a murderer with a speech impediment and Abraham was an adulterer. I know that I can't be as great as those people were but I aspire to make my dash half as great as Andrew's because of his self-definition, transparency and authenticity. I know that God is proud of him today and he's smilin' down from heaven on all of us.
So many times in life we ask the question, "Why me?" Well...why not me? Romans 5:3-5 says, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
Andrew's impact is much bigger than his dash today and I'm thankful for that. The old timers would always say, "You never know how your life will impact someone else's so make the most of it." Well Andrew did just that because even though I didn't know him. I'll never forget the impact he's made on me and how he's inspired me to be a better father, husband, friend and journalist as a result of this situation! Thanks bruh! See you on the other side!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Spit: verb - to say
Holla At Ya Boy!
JayGravesReport
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