Shine On

Brad Hubbard | 5/30/2024

I never got to meet Bill Walton. I never got to see him play. But I gotta tell ya, that guy is and was an inspiration to me and I will truly miss him. His humor, his uniqueness, his cleverness while doing color commentary. It also doesn’t surprise me in some regard that the weekend that the PAC 12 officially came to an end with Arizona winning the PAC 12 baseball tournament (the school where his son Luke went) by beating USC no less, Bill Walton passes away from this realm.

Loving, caring, thoughtful, and caring more about others than himself. Those are some of things, among others, that people are saying about Bill Walton. Honestly, when your time on this mortal coil, those are some damn great things to say about someone. We can only hope that others say the same about us.

The reason I hurt about this loss is that I wanted to be as carefree as Bill. I wanted to be as intelligent, memorable and free spirited as Bill was. We all know he had his missteps, his health issues are that of legend in the sports world but through it all he’d still be at a Dead show having the time of his life.

Side note, I was not a Grateful Dead fan growing up in the Central Valley or California. My older brother was and in some ways still is. I just felt that people were too much into the drug culture part of it vs the music. I have come around over the years in part due to Bill. A man who I never had the chance to meet. I appreciate the music, the longevity and the entrepreneurship of the band.

Yes, Bill was taken too early and he certainly left a huge mark on this world. What he, and even fucking COVID, should tell us is to live. Live man. Or as Bill would put it, SHINE ON. BEAM ON.