11 Comments
Feb 6, 2022Liked by Avinash Kunnath

I ran track for coach Hunt in the 70's and played pick up ball (badly) at Harmon. When Gene The Dream dropped in I was always told to defend him because at least I had the legs to run with him. One game he put up 40 pts on me, which was almost fun because we only played to 20. He kept saying, "It's ok. That one didn't count!" He saw me leaving Harmon a little later and just walked over and handed me a free Fruity Rudy. I didn't really know him, but I knew him well enough to say he was a really good guy.

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Thank you for sharing this with us.

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Such a senseless death of a beloved person. Thank you for sharing this remembrance.

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Feb 8, 2022·edited Feb 8, 2022

TKE Prytannis 79 and I were in the the same class at the same high school in Oakland and were the same class (75) that Gene Ransom was at Berkeley High. (And we still hang shit on each other). I remember hearing about what a star Gene was during our time in high school and when he became commit for CAL it was a big deal back then. He was a stud during his entire career at CAL and while I did not know him personally, I knew people that were friends of his and they all spoke very highly of him. It's always a tragedy when an innocent life is lost, but in this case it hits hard because he was such a great role model to the youth of Oakland and the East Bay. Such a tragedy. RIP Gene, you used to bring a lot of excitement and smiles to the Golden Bear family.

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You probably guessed but it was Wayner that I referred to...he couldn't say enough about him

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Yeah, I figured it was Wayne or maybe Pitcock.

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We were of the same era in Oakland and along with other local legends of the time (Wolf Perry, Doc Shavers) Gene was recognized as one of the best. I spoke with my best friend this morning,who played against Gene in High School and he confirmed that he was one of the best players he ever saw, which is saying a lot. RIP…such a tragedy.

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road rage is real. be careful out there people

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Road rage deaths and incidents seem like a uniquely American problem.

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It’s not just shooting or some tough guy following you off the freeway

Example: car goes in next lane and when slightly ahead, throwing things so that it hits the windshields (e.g. ice thrown out of a cup or worse)

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Feb 7, 2022·edited Feb 7, 2022

Absolutely, I think road rage is a unique American problem because so many people have cars and use them daily for long commutes, which means many people have a short fuse.

Did you see the road rage incident in Florida where the driver opens fire in his vehicle at another vehicle and it was all caught on his dashboard camera.

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