Once I Was a Champion Page #12

---

all the time

'cause we'd hang out

and barbecue, drink,

and always offered,

but he never drank.

It's been said that Evan

had become sober at times,

and he could kind of...

kind of manage the drinking.

And some people were saying

that he'd even been sober

for, like, up to a year

before he died.

You know, I don't believe

that's true.

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

I caught wind of that.

But I'd also seen him sober up

a couple times,

you know what I mean,

so I don't know.

I don't know for sure.

I wasn't there.

And I hope... I hope

he was completely sober,

and, like I said,

I don't know 100%.

I said,

"it's like fighting. "

I said, "do you

train for a fight?

"Do you tell yourself

I'm not gonna do that

during when I train

for my fight?"

And he goes, "yeah, but I know

the fight's gonna end.

The fight's

gonna be over. "

I said, "okay. " I said, "well,

once you can tell yourself...

the fight's never over. "

I said,

"because that's the problem.

"For you, the drinking is a fight,

"and the fight's never gonna be over.

"You've always got to

train to keep that away. "

And he goes,

"you don't have to tell me. "

He says, "I've been doing that

for a long time. "

He goes,

"I just keep losing. "

You know, from my battles

with being a drunk,

is that, what Evan did wrong,

is he just quit drinking, okay?

He just quit drinking.

He didn't...

he didn't kind of deal

with all the pain that he was going

through and what was happening

when he was on that bender.

And a lot of people

wanted to point fingers

at Evan's relationship

splitting

or his upbringing as a child or his

career as to why he would drink.

And the fact is, there's

no single factor

that causes someone to make the

choice to become an alcoholic.

It's a very generalized

need to console oneself.

Yeah, okay, this guy

had a problem with alcohol,

and he had some demons

or whatever it was.

It didn't affect him as a

person or as a human being.

People can look

at Evan Tanner's story...

there's people

who are struggling right now

as we speak like Evan Tanner did

with alcohol.

Evan Tanner

was this incredible guy,

gifted guy, battled with alcohol,

and you see how it ends.

You see how his story ends.

And your story could end

the same way.

I believe that Evan's death could

have been avoided, and I think

that he would want

everybody to learn

from his death,

especially the younger people,

you know... always know the

consequences of what you're gonna do

and that the risks

that you're gonna take

and the people

that you're gonna affect

because, even if Evan didn't realize

how many people cared about him,

his family, friends, and even people

that didn't know him loved him.

And so he had an effect

on the whole world.

What a... you know, what

an amazing human being he was

and a lovely, kind,

stubborn, bull-headed,

grouchy, grumpy, single-minded

pain in the ass he genuinely was.

And I loved him probably more

than anybody I've ever known.

Evan had the heart of a champion,

and what defines a champion

is getting up when you're down.

You know what I mean?

It's the guy who, after he's

beaten, he stands up, rises up,

and then succeeds again.

And I think

that he had that in him.

Excuse me.

I have something to say.

Evan Tanner, you're the strongest

man I've ever fought in my life.

And congratulations

for the championship.

Evan never did any harm to

anybody, only himself, you know,

unless he was kicking the sh*t

out of somebody.

You know, when he would put

the wood to the motherf***er.

Okay.

Don't fool yourself.

Evan Tanner

was a bad motherf***er.

All right.

"Fighter. I'm not a fighter. "

Okay.

Bullshit, Evan.

Bullshit.

When I see you,

I guarantee the first thing

we're gonna do is f***ing fight.

You're gonna be like, "look at

all my philosophy bullshit now. "

Yeah.

Pop.

To me, he was like a ghost.

He came through my life, mess

it up, change it a little bit,

make me see things, and then

disappear and go... keep on going.

He really taught me

what's important in life.

It just... it's kind of

like, you know, a dream.

You know, something...

it's like a crowd is there

in your dream,

and he's kind of always there.

But I think he's probably

looking out for me.

If he was reading this story

about himself

as the character,

he'd be satisfied.

He'd appreciate this person

and their ups and downs

and still being able

to deal with it.

And, honestly, I do feel that he

would be happy with the ending.

This was...

this was on his Internet page.

"I haven't figured out

the meaning of life yet.

"I do know what gives life

meaning, though.

"It's not wealth.

It's not power.

"It's a simple thing.

"It is the trusting and truthful bond

one has "with oneself and others.

"It is the people in life

that give it meaning and depth.

"I'll always consider myself

"a fortunate and wealthy man

if I am surrounded

by good people. "

I never met a guy who would

go from one extreme to another.

You know, he never walked

that fine line.

He was either way over here,

or he was way over here.

So he's been on the bottom

of the Mountain.

He's been to the top.

Everywhere in between.

And, again,

it was an experience.

And instead of just telling

everybody the good stuff,

you know, he put the bad stuff

in there too.

Evan showed the world what he was,

and he wasn't always perfect.

But he showed 'em

he could be perfect.

One of the ultimate things

a human can learn

is kindness for their fellow

humans and understanding.

I'd like to teach those things

to my children.

"If you can count

five good friends on one hand,

I said, "I think

you're a pretty lucky man. "

I am the boy

your mother wanted

you to meet

but I am broken and torn

with halos at my feet

and with your purest light

why don't you shine

on me?

oh, I should have been

an angel

but I'm too dumb to speak

now as she gets nearer

the visions get clearer

I'm kneeling, weeping

I will hold her dear

oh, if your eyes water

you've got

your favorite number

to spin

and oh

what a crying shame

a crying shame

what we became

murdered my throat,

screaming bloody all night

hit him with a book

and how he crumbles

oh, you should have seen

how the arches tumble

they're golden no more

now I'm smiling in my blood

I'm caught in a whirlwind

I'm going to heaven

I'm standing on trial

and it's painted on canvas

an eternal testament

to how we are so animalistic

and oh

what a crying shame

a crying shame

what we became

I bowed my head

in the morning light

and said good night

I held her hand

and I, I kissed her eyes

stumbled down the stairs

hang myself on high

and I started for the town

lyin' on the front yard

and died

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes