I don't know Jerry Stone's background. I don't know if he had a tough childhood, what his family situation was, if he was abused in some way. But damn, wasn't there ANYONE out there -- a coach, a family friend, a relative -- who could have pulled him aside and got into his head? Knocked some frickin' sense into him? You're gonna risk throwing your whole life away to be a thug, a tough guy? You're about to start your senior year of high school. You are the star running back on a very good football team. You might end up earning a full-ride scholarship to a big-time college. It's the best time of your life. And you're gonna flush it down the toilet because some gang BS? Don't the gangbangers at least give the guys who have a chance to make it big as athletes a little leeway? Let them do their thing on the athletic field and not force them to participate the gang crap? This just pisses me off. What a waste. At least some of you other 'bangers out there have a chance to change things around before it's too late. Here's your choices. 1) die; 2) go to jail; 3) pull your head out of your rear end and make your momma proud.
4)or join the military.
Best post so far. No one else can say diddly squat against the Shadow. This guy was the best back I ever saw play at Lakewood and this goes back to 1966 when I was just 12 and saw Larry Crutchfield. And this was only after I watched two games! Servite and Poly. In the Poly CIF Semi Final game they put Jerry Stone on defense and it appeared he got hurt while making a tackle. You know that pretty much sums it up for me. You have your star running back and you put him one defense to get hurt!!! Without the Stone threat in the 2nd half Lakewood was doomed to defeat even though the defense played their hearts out. Yes the press is high on Scroggins and yes he is a gifted quarterback but Lakewood has a history of gifted players at quarterback. Stone was above that for Lakewood at tailback. He had that chance to be the best ever. Now it's gone.
And...this is the second time a tailback at Lakeood has missed out on his senior year. It's sad.
You don't think that countless coaches, administrators, teachers and parents tried to "pull him aside and knock some sense into him"? The Long Beach/Lakewood football community is full of people who try every day to do exactly that often at their own financial expense, the expense of time with their own kids and families and even at times at the expense of their own safety. You can implore, praise, tear them down and love them up, give both positive and negative consequences for actions and sometimes it still doesn't work. Your post seems to have ignored this possibility and it's insulting to those at Lakewood that try to hard every day to make a difference in the lives of kids.
I appreciate your rant Shadow but you have to KNOW what you're talking about. You have many valid points but if you read over your post then you will see that it is laced with the answers to your own questions. Of course Stone had relatives, coaches etc. that care about him but OBVIOUSLY NO ONE impressionable enough to curb his tendency to make poor choices. From the outside looking in it's easy to assume or assign a person's prospective priorities but like you said, you "don't know Jerry Stone's background, if he had a tough childhood, what his family situation was, if he was abused in some way". YES, YES and YES to all of the above. Your rant is filled with a lot of proverbial "black and white", and the life of Jerry Stone and those alike is filled with more "gray" than anything else. I'm not defending him, but it is a very sad sad situation for a 17 year old to be so lost and misguided and now in serious trouble as a result.....especially one, as you alluded to, with so much talent and ability to go places most only dream of. We should pray for this 17 year old KID and cheer for the other 100 Lakewood Lancer football student athletes that ARE doing the right things and restoring LAKEWOOD PRIDE!!!
Let's not get the cart before the horse. JS was definitely a special talent but the best ever? They still have some great athletes at LKWD and that coach has built Lakewood into a powerhouse.
Wasn't Stone supposed to be at practice during this shooting? A kid has got to get to practice to get coached, he clearly made many bad choices. As for the second tailback at LKWD to miss his senior year; it's only the first. I believe you're referring to the kid that left LKWD to attend St. John Bosco, yet ANOTHER poor choice by the player and his family. And he did play his senior year at SJB.
The potential to be the best at tailback - yes absolutley - I have seen everyone who has played there since 1966. Mike Owens still ranks number one since he was All CIF as a senior and helped the Lancers get to the title game. Others Nuez, Dixon and Crutchfield.
Ok I stand corrected on the second kid but the Press Telegram said he was academically ineligible before the start of the season. Thanks for the correction. Talk about depression on both occasions including the most current news... and Poly keeps their players in school for the most part...with that said the kids played their hearts out against Poly in the semis last year. Especially the defense.
The gang mentality is entrenched in these kids very early and they put their gang before all else including family, education and athletics. By the time they figure out what truly is important in ther lives they are already locked up or dead or on the run.I see too many kids blessed with talent that could get them out of the area and into college instead showcasing their skills in a CYA gym or rec yard waiting for their 18th birthday.Unfortunately, J stone will now be part of that disappointing and all to real byproduct of gang lifestyle.A sad sign of the times that our beautiful city is mentioned in something as deplorable and cowardly as a drive-by shooting where most of the time it is a young bystander who gets hit.
FREE J-STONE 21
ALWAYS IN OUR HEART BROO GOOD LUCK MAN :)
LOVE YOU
all i no is yall better hop off my big bro head b4 we have problem
yall neeed to chatttaaa cause like, he's prettty cooool (:
half of you dont know Jerry. You saw him play. The kid was in a gang, only people who got into Jerry's head was about playing football..nobody cared about anything else but his athletic abilities. so, when most of you put is there someone who could have got into him. Yeah maybe, but how many of those people were intimidated by Jerry when he walked around school, never talking with his fist balled and a straight face, all the time! So when you ask that question, would you walk up to Jerry and tell him what was wrong. Look at photos of him..He never has a smile.. Wuld you ever try to talk to a person like that?