Drew Sharp has died
Just saw on Twitter that Drew Sharp died this morning. Pretty crazy, he was fairly young.
Edit: Freep link warning, but it's the only site with an article up so far:
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/drew-sharp/2016/10/21/drew…
"Drew Sharp, a Detroit Free Press columnist since 1999, died this morning at his home in Bloomfield Hills. He was 56."
October 21st, 2016 at 10:10 AM ^
Maybe heart attack/stroke? Poor guy and his family. 56 is way too young.
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October 21st, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^
Are saying that he was at Michigan State's media day yesterday, and was fine. I'm sure this was a very sudden death.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
don't want to assume the worst, and I really am not trying to "speculate" about something I know nothing about, but he did seem to have kind of a depressive personality. When you literally are never positive, really about anything, even if just in a sports context, it would suggest that there was something underlying that demeanor that may have caused it. Hopefully, people just did not assume that he was just "that way" as a shtick when really there was something else going on entirely.
October 21st, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
Or he could have been jerkin with a belt around his neck and took it too far.
The world may never know.
October 21st, 2016 at 12:44 PM ^
Dude(ness)?!
October 21st, 2016 at 12:46 PM ^
We can't rule out any possibilites!
I'll see myself out.
October 21st, 2016 at 1:15 PM ^
stupid double post.
October 21st, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^
+1 David Carradine
October 21st, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^
reminds me a bit of john saunders.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:49 AM ^
Reminds me of Tom "Killer" Kowalski's death, very sudden, found him in the morning, etc. The lifestyle of a sportwriter may be unhealthy. Killer was only 51.
I'm 52 and lost my dad at 46, and it;s been 30 yrs now. However he may have acted toward others, he treated me like a prince. I suspect Drew was similar.
October 21st, 2016 at 1:20 PM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 10:10 AM ^
Way too young to pass away. Condolences to his family in this rough time.
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October 21st, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^
There's nothing like a contrarian opinion to galvanize your own.
“That was excellently observed’, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.”
― Jonathan Swift
October 21st, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^
Rest in peace Drew and condolences to his family.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^
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October 21st, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^
After reading his articles, I always wanted Michigan and our Detroit pro teams to prove him wrong. I'm really, really going to miss that. He made it fun.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:14 AM ^
Things like this scare me. I hate seeing people die at a relatively young age. A harsh reminder that life can be taken away out of the blue. RIP Drew
October 21st, 2016 at 10:16 AM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
Didn't see it posted and not sure how many are aware... but Free Press columnist and Michigan Alum has passed away at 56
R.I.P
October 21st, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^
Parents are around his age. Really gives you a hard dose of reality. Remember to tell the people you love that you love them.
RIP Drew, Prayers to the Sharp family.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^
2016, man.
And 56. It's a little bit nerve-wracking to think that I'm still awfully young (relative, you know, to most of the population) and I could be way more than halfway done.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:22 AM ^
Way too young. RIP Drew.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 11:01 AM ^
don't really see too much of that in this thread. People who are coming in with takes like that are getting destroyed and appropriately negged. I actually expected worse than this.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
There was that one that got deleted pretty quickly, and only a handful of jerks beyond that. I've made it my business to upvote every positive response in the thread if I can.
October 21st, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
In lieu of flowers I assume.
October 21st, 2016 at 3:16 PM ^
Surely several of the jerks are the OSU clowns lurking here.....
looking at you, BRIAN BARRINGER, welsher
October 21st, 2016 at 10:24 AM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^
That sucks, and is surprising. He made a career being the pain in the ass, one that I thought would go on for a much longer time than it did. May he rest in peace.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
Couldn't stand this guy or his articles and his terrible opinions, but I kinda loved not standing them. A michigan man in his own way. Kind of shocking he is gone. He will definitely be missed. Way too young to die. Rest in peace Drew.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:07 AM ^
And I really wish his family well - just lost my second brother to cancer last week and the pain was devastating to us all.
Death often makes the survivors re-evaluate what is important in life.
However, there is a weird tendency to say things that we don't really think are true when we learn about the death of someone we may not have liked in life.
Frankly most here did not have positive feelings for him and made those feelings clear in often vitriolic ways. When he was alive there was ample time to voice the admiration that is showing up on this board today and he would have seen those comments.
Now it is irrelevant to Drew what anyone says and yet people are expressing lots of positive takes. I find many of the positive comments about Drew expressed are hollow. Maybe it's the proximity to my brothers death.
I never knew Drew, and he might have been a great man. I cannot say.
His family knew him best and I hope they find comfort in the midst of their pain. I doubt they will come to this blog to find it though. In fact if I came here and saw these nice comments about my brother from people who had reviled him in life, it would likely just piss me off.
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October 21st, 2016 at 11:44 AM ^
I'm sorry to hear about your brother and for your own personal losses. I lost two very good friends this week--one was the owner of Scorekeepers who gave me first job in the service industry almost 20 years ago. So I have been examining my own feelings about life and making sure you say what you mean when you have the chance side of things as well. Take this as you will but I would urge you to accept peoples' feelings as genuine and try not to judge them on their past transgressions. Although nothing anyone says is really going to erase the pain of losing someone it surely does help to know that so many people were affected and had their emotions moved by a person. That should be at least some solace to the family, regardless of whether they were to read any of this or not. To know that their loved one touched so many people and moved their emotions is proof they had an impact on the world. The vitriol people here spewed about Drew was part of this whole hyperemotional world of fandom we live in, nothing more. It may have come off as personal at times but I doubt it ever was. I'm not in the Detroit area so I was never really all that connected to the Freep or to his articles but if people didn't care about what he had to say, they wouldn't have been reading him so regularly. I think there was always some level of respect for him knowing what he was doing was deliberate and they were simply being good fans back. If this was a retirement post, I think it would have some good wishes in it as well and thanks for a hard fought battle all these years. Just my 2 cents.
October 21st, 2016 at 1:23 PM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 3:13 PM ^
No... he wouldn't. He became his shtick. I wrote to DS once about the tone and tenor of his articles and he replied that he got clicks doing what he does; deal with it.
It's kind of a deal with devil type thing. Drew made his living being an asshat, the Freep LOVED him being an asshat, and he got popular for being an asshat. That's his legacy.
He didn't even write a positive article about Michigan's victory over Florida in Carr's last game. Not a peep. But he had no problems writing about how fat Michigan's line was going into the game.
He's using his bully pulpit to call out kids, kids, for being fat. Sorry if I don't fawn all over the "Drew's great" drivel in here.
October 22nd, 2016 at 1:52 PM ^
We can has proper grammar?
October 21st, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^
Of note is that according to his bio on the Freep website he had two open heart surgeries before the age of 8 years old. 56 is always too young, but he probably outlived some predictions for his longevity. Not that that makes it any easier for his friends and family.
RIP Drew.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^
Still stunned by this news. 56 is too damn young. Condolences to his family and may he rest in peace.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
Suddenly having flashbacks to 2011 when Tom Kowalski passed suddenly, and from what I remember that came out of nowhere as well (heart disease/failure).
Don't have anything great to add to good stuff already posted. Drew irritated the hell out of me as kid, but once I got older and realized his style was to be contrarian I actually sort of got a kick out of it. Any morning after a big game I'd have fun looking at the Freep headlines and picking which one had to be a Drew's article (too easy, but still made me laugh).
Selfishly I hate losing these local Detroit media people I grew up with. It's like the Detroit kid in me slowly fades away, and Drew has long been a part of it for better and for worse. I miss him already.
October 21st, 2016 at 11:08 AM ^
I kind of really feel where you're coming from here. Think of how much we rip on Valenti and Foster. I used to hate listening. I still do actually. But now I listen in bits and pieces just for what it is. My own amusement. And one day that will be gone. And that part of my teen/early 20's will be gone.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:35 AM ^
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October 21st, 2016 at 10:44 AM ^
I thought this was a joke when I clicked on it, he was relatively young and this came out of left field.
Sympathy and well wishes to his loved ones, RIP Mr. Sharp
October 21st, 2016 at 10:37 AM ^
October 21st, 2016 at 10:39 AM ^
Very sad to hear this news. Though I rarely agreed with Drew, he was a colleague in the sense of being in journalism (my field since 1981) and a columnist (something I still get to do despite being kicked upstairs to management). As a columnist, he succeeded in the one essential task of that particular craft: he got you to read him. Prayers and condolences to his family, friends and co-workers.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:40 AM ^
Always think of him as the beat writer for the Pistons in the Bad Boy glory days. He did a great job covering that team. Back when print was one of your main conduits to information depth and behind the scenes stuff. There weren't hour long pre games on TV or any of that.
He was not a talented or intellectually honest columnist. But he was provocative.
He was a talented beat writer who used to work extremely hard covering the Pistons and an important part of the media scene for sports fans in Michigan.
Feel bad for his family and friends.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:40 AM ^
cocker spaniel named seamus. Thats awesome.
October 21st, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^
RIP
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October 21st, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^
Gone too young. Positive vibes to his wife and family in this tough time. RIP to a fellow Michigan Man.