I am hard-presssed to think of anything good that could possibly come from the heart-wrenching saga of three children run down by carjackers in the Tioga section of Philadelphia.
Two men now face charges in connection with this heinous act, in which they carjacked an SUV from a realtor, then careened down a road at a high rate of speed before blowing a tire and slamming into a family that was selling fruit for their church at an intersection.
Three young kids were killed. Their mother remains in the hospital.
It was while announcing that third-degree murder charges as well as a slew of other offenses were being filed against the two that District Attorney Seth Williams offered something of a silver lining to his tragedy.
The family has been struggling with money issues to bury the children.
That's when a very familiar name stepped up.
We spend a lot of time mocking athletes in this town. We are tough on them when then fail. We're even rougher when it appears they are not giving their best effort. And we can be merciless when they don't care.
Charles Barkley always cared. Yes, he took some heat for some things he did, including a bar altercation in which he tossed a heckler through a window, and an unfortunate in-game incident in which he spit on a little girl instead of the opposing player he was targeting. All of that was part of Barkley's passion, and we loved him for it. That passion has not eroded since he hung up his sneakers.
The former Sixers great and NBA Hall-of-Famer has indicated he wants to pay for the funeral for the three kids killed in the carjacking tragedy.
Barkley now works as an analyst after finishing his great career in Phoenix. But he has always held the place where he first shot to stardom close to his heart.
Charles Barkley will always be Philly.
He also will always be something else: A class act.
Comments