The Final Report Is In

and it's as I feared.

The coroner announced today that Christopher Bowman had alcohol, prescription drugs, and a few illegal drugs in his system when he died. Of course, they're also blaming his weight on it, but I'm not so sure. He'd actually lost some weight in the last few years, and while he was nowhere near his top physical condtion, he wasn't 400 pounds either.

And of course, the yutz's who feel the need to make rude commentary on the articles are out in full force: "One less drug addict to worry about. Who's next?". Truly sad commentary on the current state of affairs.

It's a shame that Chris was such a tortured individual, and it's more of a shame that he'll be remembered more for this than his wide array of accomplishments and contributions to the world of Men's Competitive Figure Skating.

So in my small way, I'd like to try and keep his positive accomplishments alive. If you're a fan, you'll recognize both of these programs as some of his finest. If not, take a second to watch, and honor the memory of someone who left us way too soon.

As I scoured for this clip, someone left a comment - a stretch of lyrics from an old favorite song that I'm going to post here because I can't say it any better myself:

"You were there in the turnstiles with the wind at your heels
You stretched for the stars, and you know how it feels
To reach too high, too far, too soon...I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon."
-The Waterboys, "The Whole of the Moon"


Rest in peace, Christopher. I truly hope you've found what you were looking for.