John Saunders - ESPN - RIP

Josh Krulewitz ‏@jksports
So sorry to share tragic news. Beloved colleague John Saunders (joined ESPN in 1986) has passed away. Thoughts with his loved ones

Holy shit, was he sick?

Sad. I think that leaves Bob Ley and Berman as the only ESPN guys hired before 1990.

Fuckin Berman will never die.

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:Holy shit, was he sick?

The blurb I saw (from The Hollywood Reporter) said no cause of death was given. So I'm guessing that he wasn't sick, at least not that had been made publicly known.

Real shame to hear. Played hockey at Western, IIRC. He was one of he best at ESPN. RIP.

Wow. RIP

RIP

RIP. Class act.

LooseGoose wrote:

2 black dudes??

I'm betting suicide.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:I'm betting suicide.

Note, I have no idea how he died, could be a heart attack. Could be a cold that gave him an infection, but when I googled this, there was a passage about his battle with depression.

Saunders recently co-wrote a book with John U. Bacon, Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope, about his battles with depression. It is set for release in April 2017.

According to the description of the book, Saunders “confesses his constant battle with depression and how it nearly cost him his life.” The book, “welcomes readers into the heart of his desperate struggle against depression: from insights into the illness’s root causes to the nature of modern treatments, from both a medical and cultural perspective.

Blanch32 wrote:

LooseGoose wrote:

2 black dudes??

Especially back in the 70s, that was even more rare.

DWags wrote:

Dr. Strangelove wrote:I'm betting suicide.

Note, I have no idea how he died, could be a heart attack. Could be a cold that gave him an infection, but when I googled this, there was a passage about his battle with depression.

Saunders recently co-wrote a book with John U. Bacon, Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope, about his battles with depression. It is set for release in April 2017.

According to the description of the book, Saunders “confesses his constant battle with depression and how it nearly cost him his life.” The book, “welcomes readers into the heart of his desperate struggle against depression: from insights into the illness’s root causes to the nature of modern treatments, from both a medical and cultural perspective.

Bacon about to get bacon

Sad, no matter the cause of death. Opens your eyes to the fragility of life. Just like my friend last week, we are moments away from death all the time. We should all live like it.

MiamiSpartan wrote:

Blanch32 wrote:

2 black dudes??

Especially back in the 70s, that was even more rare.

30 for 30 you have failed me!

Blanch32 wrote:

MiamiSpartan wrote:
Especially back in the 70s, that was even more rare.

30 for 30 you have failed me!

Why? Did they do one on black hockey players? And if so, did they really discuss college players?

DWags wrote:

Dr. Strangelove wrote:I'm betting suicide.

Note, I have no idea how he died, could be a heart attack. Could be a cold that gave him an infection, but when I googled this, there was a passage about his battle with depression.

Saunders recently co-wrote a book with John U. Bacon, Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope, about his battles with depression. It is set for release in April 2017.

According to the description of the book, Saunders “confesses his constant battle with depression and how it nearly cost him his life.” The book, “welcomes readers into the heart of his desperate struggle against depression: from insights into the illness’s root causes to the nature of modern treatments, from both a medical and cultural perspective.

wow. sounds like this could be pretty messed up.

MiamiSpartan wrote:

Watch Out Pylon! wrote:Holy shit, was he sick?

The blurb I saw (from The Hollywood Reporter) said no cause of death was given. So I'm guessing that he wasn't sick, at least not that had been made publicly known.

Real shame to hear. Played hockey at Western, IIRC. He was one of he best at ESPN. RIP.

According to Pete Gammens who was being interviewed by Dan Lebatard, besides being a diabetic Saunders used to joke the only person at ESPN who had been under the knife more was Mark Schlerith and he wasn't leading by much.

A number of the surgeries had been to repair hockey related injuries and Saunders had a serious fall less than 24 months ago because he also had balance issues.

61 is too young and he was a pro. Viewers never had a clue of his medical issues.

Suicide. Sounds like his health was failing and he was in a tremendous amount of pain.

where is it being reported as suicide?

Wouldn't be a surprise given his recent revelations in the book but how unfortunate for his family.

GRR Spartan wrote:where is it being reported as suicide?

Wouldn't be a surprise given his recent revelations in the book but how unfortunate for his family.

I've not seen that but I've not gone looking for it either. Sad day no matter the cause.

LooseGoose wrote:

GRR Spartan wrote:where is it being reported as suicide?

Wouldn't be a surprise given his recent revelations in the book but how unfortunate for his family.

I've not seen that but I've not gone looking for it either. Sad day no matter the cause.

Absolutely. Saunders did great work with college basketball, college basketball, NHL when ESPN had it, NBA and some NFL and he did it all without a schtick or attitude.

Lebatard said John Saunders and Tim Kurkjian were the only two on air people at ESPN who were liked and respected by everyone. Called him a steadying influence that would be missed.

MiamiSpartan wrote:

Blanch32 wrote:

30 for 30 you have failed me!

Why? Did they do one on black hockey players? And if so, did they really discuss college players?

They do all sorts of stories