Bulls apparently disregarded Kerr's wishes, didn't invite Van Lier to ceremony

MikeDC · Mar 4, 2009

Christ.

From what I've pieced together, Kerr wanted Norm to be there on his night.

From the Trib

On display near the coffin were pictures of Van Lier from his playing career. A huge floral arrangement sent by one of Van Lier's favorite musical groups, Chicago, adorned the room.

Van Lier died Thursday at 61.

Former Bears linebacker Doug Buffone, who teamed with Van Lier on "The Bull and the Bear Show" on WSCR-AM 670, said he was struggling with the stunning death of his longtime friend.

"You can say what you want about Michael Jordan and what a great player he was for the Bulls," Buffone said. "But nobody related to the fans of Chicago the way Norm did. They loved him. I'll really miss him."

Former Bulls Tom Boerwinkle, LaRue Martin, Bill Wennington and Bobby Wilson also attended Sunday's visitation. So did Chicago congressman Danny Davis, longtime Bulls security man John Capps and all the children of the late Johnny "Red" Kerr.

Other attendees included former Bulls Kendall Gill and Dave Corzine, as well as Van Lier's former broadcast colleagues Tom Dore, Steve Kashul, Lou Canellis, Chet Coppock, Tom Shaer, Kerry Sayers, Dyrol Joyner and Mark Schanowski. In addition, former Tribune NBA writer Sam Smith, former St. Francis teammate Sam Sloan, longtime Bulls senior vice president Irwin Mandell, Bulls stats crew member Chris Wilson, veteran clubhouse man Joe Lee and equipment manager John Ligmanowski.

....

Kerr's sister, Joan, attended Sunday's wake for Van Lier and disputed the notion that Kerr did not invite Van Lier to be part of his special ceremony Feb. 10 at the United Center.

"Red loved Norm," she said of the mix-up. "He was on Johnny's list."
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OK... mix up turns out to not quite be the right word, even if its the word the Bulls used:

A few days prior, the NW Herald reported:

Van Lier recently had not been on the best of terms with the franchise, which did not invite him to be part of Kerr’s halftime ceremony.

Bulls officials reportedly were upset by comments Van Lier made the month before to the Chicago Tribune. Van Lier said Bulls fans during his playing days were more passionate than today’s crowds.
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Which got a response from, of all people, Neil Funk:

Van Lier was there that night. He stood in the wings among the masses watching the ceremony, trying to catch a glimpse of Kerr.

"I love Johnny like a brother," Van Lier said almost tearfully as he leaned over the press table. "I should have been out there with him."

Never afraid of speaking from his heart, Van Lier would repeat himself later on Comcast SportsNet.

Neil Funk, the master of ceremonies that night, said that in the rush to move Kerr's ceremony two months earlier in order to accommodate his failing health, he was certain the exclusion of Van Lier was a simple oversight.

"It wasn't intentional," Funk said. "Norm loved Johnny and Johnny loved Norm."
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Yeah... they flew in dozens of guys from around the country, but somehow "forgot" about a guy who Kerr wanted there, and who was actually in attendence?

Fuck that.

Fastforward7 · Mar 4, 2009

Now thats just low...

bullshooter · Mar 4, 2009

I'm sure there were a lot of people Red wanted out there who weren't out there. Just because Red and Norm were buddies doesn't mean he should be out on the floor. They had 15 minutes at the halftime of a game. There's only so much you can do in that time.

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Bulls apparently disregarded Kerr's wishes, didn't invite Van Lier to ceremony

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