"The worst thing in life is wasted talent" --Robert Deniro "A Bronx Tale"

There are not many quotes from movies as powerful as that one. But this really isn't the type of quote you really think hard about until you see it happen and unfortunatly, i got to see this happen first hand with a person from my town.

This kid was the best basketball and football player throughout middle school and half of high school. If he didnt make it to the nfl or nba, he was getting a free ride out of his talents in one of the sports. The kid was simply an all star.

About halfway through high school, i got to see one of the greatest athletes i ever met go from the top straight to the bottom. He stopped playing sports and basicly just stopped going to school. He was more or less sucked into the life of the people who surrounded him. At that point, i was like shit, this kid had it all and he really fucked it up. But not until yesterday, did it all really end for him.

I found out yesterday afternoon he was shot twice and would never be able to walk again. This year he would have finished his first year of college if he was going. Instead, he's going to be wheel chair bound for the rest of his life and will never play football or basketball forever.

A kid who should have been done with his first year at college, playing football at a school away from my shitty town, is now a nothing. I just wonder when he looks back on his life if he sees the mistakes he's made. It's not that i feel bad for him, i really feel bad for what he could have had. Stories like this just make me go back to A Bronx Tale and repeat Deniro's line because there really is nothing sadder then wasted talent.