Cory Lidle 1972 - 2006

While I was at the office today, I saw that MSNBC.com was reporting some breaking news. A small aircraft had crashed into a New York City high-rise building. I immediately turned on the television to see what was going on (in this post-9/11 world, it is natural to have serious concerns when things like this happen). Details slowly filtered through to viewers. It was a small plane, not a helicopter...the building was 50-story condominium on the east side of the river...terrorism was not suspected. Everyone began to wonder and grow concerned for the people in the plane and in the building.

As I was about to leave work, news came out that the plane was registered to New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. In my mind, that meant he was on the plane and likely did not survive. By the time I got home, it had been determined that Lidle and a flight instructor were the passengers on the plane, with Lidle as the pilot. While my thoughts were always with the families of Lidle, the flight instructor and those in the building who did not survive (recent reports I have seen now say that only the passengers were killed), the new connection to the world of sports naturally brought further perspective. He was not a Yankee now, he was another person involved in a tragic accident. Everything I heard said about Lidle was that he was a true professional and a great person.

We here at Thoughts on Sports express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of both Cory Lidle and his companion in the plane.