Immortal Words

Hotep,

My man Ed (R.I.P) used to say, “Pressure will bust a pipe.” He’d always say it in the waning minutes of a basketball or football game. If a player choked in the clutch, you could count on Ed’s signature phrase ringing in your eardrums: “Pressure will bust a pipe!” Followed by his crazy Herman Munster-like laugh. A laugh that was contagious. Breeding humor when you least expected it. Word is bond!

Ed has moved on. His bouts with hemophilia, hepatitis, sclerosis of the liver and H.I.V eventually forced him to succumb in 2002. But, as long as there’s ink in my pen and words on my tongue, his memory will live on. No doubt. Ed and I would gauge the best players by how well they responded under pressure. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Joe Montana were always the standard. These cats thrived under pressure. They raised their level of play, deflating the pressure and dictating the outcome of games. That’s what’s up.

I was watching t.v. with Ed when the towers fell on 9/11. Prior to the special report, we were debating about my beloved Sixers and his up and coming Pistons. You see, Ed was a motor-mouth from Detroit and I’m an MC from North Philly, but at that moment we were both speechless. Stranded on death row, watching thousands of people perish brought new meaning to: “Pressure will bust a pipe.” At that point, sports talk seemed immensely senseless to me. Na mean?

When the report of a third commercial flight hitting the Pentagon dashed across the screen, the last days seemed to be more reality than prophecy. Instinctively, we prayed for our families and loved ones. We couldn’t pick up a phone to call the kids. We couldn’t jump in the whip to go check on Moms. Panic grew from a seed to a mature adolescent as other prisoners started voicing their opinions about the very near future.

Some anticipated a mandatory lockdown. Others feared a mass execution of death row prisoners, but “Dr. Detroit” and I diffused the pressure. We overcame the sudden panic of 911 by acknowledging the footprints in the sand. Ya heard?

The following year, Ed’s health was rapidly fading. Watching him die before he had his day in court was added pressure that was beginning to get the best of me. But, hi voice of reason was there for me whenever I felt like I was dying on the inside. He’d explain to me what dying truly felt like. Then he’d tell me to look into his purple-shaded eyes to remind me what dying looked like. Real talk.

Ed, a.k.a “Dr. Detroit,” died in prison, but he left behind a strong sense of freedom. A solid foundation exudes an undying confidence in the face of any form of pressure. Taking the last shot, running the two-minute offense, or witnessing an American tragedy while waiting to become one. You gotta keep your head in the game people. If not, “Pressure will bust a pipe.” For sure.

Keep it 100,

MannofStat

Copyright © 2010 by Leroy Elwood Mann