RIP Princess Lacey

[Tom B.]

You may have seen some media coverage during the college postseason about Lacey Holsworth, an eight-year-old girl battling cancer who became friends with Michigan State's Adreian Payne and inspired the Spartan team throughout the year. She passed away this morning.

Link. (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2022780-lacey-holsworth-friend-of-adreian-payne-passes-away-after-battle-with-cancer?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t2#articles/2022780-lacey-holsworth-friend-of-adreian-payne-passes-away-after-battle-with-cancer)

[DevilWearsPrada]

You may have seen some media coverage during the college postseason about Lacey Holsworth, an eight-year-old girl battling cancer who became friends with Michigan State's Adreian Payne and inspired the Spartan team throughout the year. She passed away this morning.

Link. (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2022780-lacey-holsworth-friend-of-adreian-payne-passes-away-after-battle-with-cancer?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t2#articles/2022780-lacey-holsworth-friend-of-adreian-payne-passes-away-after-battle-with-cancer)

I read about Sweet Lacey online this morning. Lacey was an inspiration to the MSU Basketball team and considered Adreian Payne, her big brother. RIP Princess Lacey, you are dancing among angels.

[daveduke76]

I read about Sweet Lacey online this morning. Lacey was an inspiration to the MSU Basketball team and considered Adreian Payne, her big brother. RIP Princess Lacey, you are dancing among angels.

There is a great article on bleacher report -
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1947345-the-adreian-payne-story-how-michigan-state-star-became-the-ultimate-role-model
Adreian is quite the role model - been through a lot himself, he seems to have learned from of his own hardships so he can turn around and give to others.
Very tragic, quite the impressive little girl, RIP Lacey

[daveduke76]

There is a great article on bleacher report -
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1947345-the-adreian-payne-story-how-michigan-state-star-became-the-ultimate-role-model
Adreian is quite the role model - been through a lot himself, he seems to have learned from of his own hardships so he can turn around and give to others.
Very tragic, quite the impressive little girl, RIP Lacey

Another quote -
Asleep in blue pajamas under a pink flannel blanket, she’d undergone chemotherapy that morning and surgery in the afternoon. Groggy and disoriented from anesthetics, Lacey hadn’t opened her eyes for hours. Her parents, Matt and Heather, said she hadn’t smiled in days.

“Laaaccceeey,” Heather whispered. “Adreian is here to see you. Laaaccceey, Adreian’s here.”

After a few moments, Lacey rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. Sure enough, standing next to her bed was Payne, his 6’10” frame nearly stretching to the ceiling as he clutched the stuffed zebra he’d brought as a gift.

Grinning, Lacey extended her arms as Payne bent down to embrace the girl he calls his “little sis.”

“Superman!” she said. “You’re here.”

[eddiehaskell]

Very sad. Puts things in perspective - this one little girl means more than the outcome of any sporting event.

[NashvilleDevil]

Listening to interviews on Jack Elbing's show with Vitale and Izzo. And man, say what you will about Vitale and his broadcasting schtick but the man has such a big heart and he is truly, truly devastated by Lacey's passing. First couple of minutes of the interview and he has a tough time getting through it.

[CharlestonDave]

Adreian Payne was the reason I was rooting for MSU to win the whole thing right after Duke was eliminated.

His and her story puts everything in perspective doesn't it?

[Edouble]

His and her story puts everything in perspective doesn't it?


Very sad. Puts things in perspective - this one little girl means more than the outcome of any sporting event.

What perspective is that?

That sports aren't really all that important? Because that is certainly not what I've taken from this story.

Yeah, life is precious, fleeting, and bittersweet. But this special bond between a little 8-year-old white girl and a 6'10" grown black man, would probably not have been formed if not for sports.

The beautiful thing is that they both seemed to have taken something from this relationship. For me, the best moments in sports are allegorical for life, whether on, or in this case, off of the field. This story reminds me of just how transcendent sports can be.

[eddiehaskell]

What perspective is that?

That sports aren't really all that important? Because that is certainly not what I've taken from this story.

Yeah, life is precious, fleeting, and bittersweet. But this special bond between a little 8-year-old white girl and a 6'10" grown black man, would probably not have been formed if not for sports.

The beautiful thing is that they both seemed to have taken something from this relationship. For me, the best moments in sports are allegorical for life, whether on, or in this case, off of the field. This story reminds me of just how transcendent sports can be.From a fan's perspective, this story came about when a lot of fans are getting fanatically caught up in sport (March Madness. How's my team doing? Did they have a good year? Who's transferring or being recruited? What's the plan for next year? Etc.). When you combine this with all the other relatively trivial things we worry about and let influence our mood - that adds up to a lot of time wasted...time Lacey no longer has. I'm not saying we should never ponder trivial matters, but we all need a reality check once in a while.

For me, this story is more about Lacey than Payne. Like Lacey, there are other kids, adults and families that have done nothing to deserve the pain and sadness brought on by cancer. We may not hear their story,but they're out there. Basketball did bring Lacey to our attention, but what I take away is to cherish what matters, hug your kids/mom/dad a little harder and throw out a little more love.

[Atlanta Duke]

From a fan's perspective, this story came about when a lot of fans are getting fanatically caught up in sport (March Madness. How's my team doing? Did they have a good year? Who's transferring or being recruited? What's the plan for next year? Etc.). When you combine this with all the other relatively trivial things we worry about and let influence our mood - that adds up to a lot of time wasted...time Lacey no longer has. I'm not saying we should never ponder trivial matters, but we all need a reality check once in a while.

For me, this story is more about Lacey than Payne. Like Lacey, there are other kids, adults and families that have done nothing to deserve the pain and sadness brought on by cancer. We may not hear their story,but they're out there. Basketball did bring Lacey to our attention, but what I take away is to cherish what matters, hug your kids/mom/dad a little harder and throw out a little more love.

Which Tom Izzo was trying to get across in his speech to MSU students Wednesday night (there is a video in the link to his comments)

“Her parents told me tonight she was smiling when she died,” he said. “I’m not sure I would be that tough. I’m not sure my players would. And I’m not sure you would. So if you can take something from a bad situation and make it good — when you’re struggling, finals coming up, tough times, something going wrong at home — think how lucky you are to have what you have.

“And learn from her that you don’t have to be the biggest, the strongest to be tough. You just got to have a mentality. And mentality has no size. I know they want me to tell you to try not to shed a lot of tears over it because she got to live her last month like no people in America. And we were all part of that.”

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/tom-izzo-gives-emotional-speech-about-young-cancer-patient/

[Edouble]

From a fan's perspective, this story came about when a lot of fans are getting fanatically caught up in sport (March Madness. How's my team doing? Did they have a good year? Who's transferring or being recruited? What's the plan for next year? Etc.). When you combine this with all the other relatively trivial things we worry about and let influence our mood - that adds up to a lot of time wasted...time Lacey no longer has. I'm not saying we should never ponder trivial matters, but we all need a reality check once in a while.

For me, this story is more about Lacey than Payne. Like Lacey, there are other kids, adults and families that have done nothing to deserve the pain and sadness brought on by cancer. We may not hear their story,but they're out there. Basketball did bring Lacey to our attention, but what I take away is to cherish what matters, hug your kids/mom/dad a little harder and throw out a little more love.

I am pretty sure that it was Izzo that said that "Payne needed Lacey more than Lacey needed Payne". The reason I don't take your message of "hug your kids/mom/dad a little harder" from this story is because this isn't about a traditional kids/mom/dad relationship. It's about this big basketball player and this little girl. They both took something from this somewhat unorthodox relationship. For Lacey, it was a distraction from all of her cancer treatments. For Payne, who lost his mother and grandmother, he was able to connect with this little girl as a surrogate female family member.

The thing happened. This relationship took place. The fact that she died, while sad, is somewhat of a footnote to me. For most of us, outside of our most immediate family, people pretty much come in and out of our lives. I don't have any good, close friends left from high school. My best friend from college lives in Lithuania, so outside of Facebook that isn't much of a friendship for me anymore. My current best friend is moving to Chicago in 2015 to pursue his PhD. I know that friendship will change once the great distance is introduced between us. People come in and out of our lives, and this was one such case, one such relationship... but it never would have happened if not for sports! Payne and Lacey, had she lived, in all likelihood, would not have continued this close bond for the rest of their lives. That's just life. We're all fragile, incomplete people, and other people come in and fill those holes. Then the holes change. So, we move on and get different friends.

Anyway, it's certainly sad that she died, but I'm left feeling pretty good. Sports, for me, are kind of what they were for Lacey, which is to say they are an escape. We humans need these escapes: books, movies, the arts, sports, exercise, cooking, wine, whatever floats your boat. But when you can connect with someone else over the same escape, it can be really fulfilling. This story tells me how important sports really are. They let this little girl enjoy her last months so much more completely than if she had not had this encounter and developed this relationship. As for Payne, it's clear that Lacey was able to reach some place very deep in his heart, that was perhaps healing for him as well, in a different way.

Anyway, I do not mean to argue over this. Maybe there is a universalness to the tale whereas everyone can take something different from it. I did feel the need to say though, that this story did not make me feel that sports are trivial, but that sports and other forms of leisure are gravely important to the human experience. You never know quite what will come of them, eg this unorthodox (on paper) relationship that was so fulfilling for both persons.