When a player you have watched for many years apparently commits suicide in a dramatic and public way, it’s difficult to find proper words to put on paper or enter into a computer. A day later, I [...] No related posts.]]> http://www.setpieceanalysts.com/20091111/remembering-robert-enke/feed/ 0 http://www.setpieceanalysts.com/20091111/enke-personal-thoughts-on-the-tragedies-of-his-passing/ http://www.setpieceanalysts.com/20091111/enke-personal-thoughts-on-the-tragedies-of-his-passing/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:53:20 +0000 Richard Farley http://www.setpieceanalysts.com/?p=144 These thoughts were written for the final segment of the November 11, 2009 version of Inside the Six. You can hear the audio version of them through the inline player, below, or the Flash player at the right. Please email me if you feel like talking about any of your experiences or your [...] No related posts.]]> http://www.setpieceanalysts.com/20091111/enke-personal-thoughts-on-the-tragedies-of-his-passing/feed/ 2 Robert Enke These thoughts were written for the final segment of the November 11, 2009 version of Inside the Six. You can hear the audio version of them through the inline player, below, or the Flash player at the right. (http://www.setpieceanalysts.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Robert-Enke-germany-dfb-300x203.jpg)These thoughts were written for the final segment of the November 11, 2009 version of Inside the Six. You can hear the audio version of them through the inline player, below, or the Flash player at the right. Please email me if you feel like talking about any of your experiences or your have feelings on my words you would like to share. While it may be clichéd to say that an incident puts sports in perspective, a saying usually becomes a cliché when it is so true, so often, that we can't help but use it. When yesterday's news from Germany regarding Hannover and German National Team goalkeeper Robert Enke broke, football was poignantly put in perspective. The starter for Hannover 96 in the Bundesliga, Robert Enke had worked his way into contention for Germany's starting goalkeeper position for the World Cup in South Africa. At 32-years-old, he had just come into his own, having made his first appearance for Germany two years ago after playing for his country's youth teams almost a decade before. After stints with Benfica, Barcelona, and Fenerbahce, Enke's career had blossomed over the last five years after returning home to a starting goalkeeper's position in Hannover. Since Enke's return, Hannover has been consistently and strongly within the middle of the Bundesliga table despite only gaining promotion two seasons prior to his arrival. His performance was a major reason why Hannover was able to stabalize in Germany's top tier, and after the 2005 World Cup in Germany, Enke started seeing time with the national team under coach Jöachim Löew. Last season, Enke was voted best keeper in the Bundesliga. Enke was able to accomplish all this despite deep personal tragedy. In September 2006, Enke and his wife Teresa lost their two-year-old daughter, Lara, as a result of a birth defect of the heart. For anybody who has seen a parent have to deal with the untimely loss of a child, you know there may be no single thing about our existence so unfair and tragic as the loss of a life so new. The loss leaves scars that never heal, and although we can not speculate as to how Robert and Teresa dealt with Lara's passing, Teresa has confirmed that Robert had been dealing with depression. The Enkes had many pets, had become spokes people for PETA, and had adopted a child earlier this year. On Tuesday, news broke that Robert had died in what has been reported as a suicide. He is survived by his wife and new daughter, Leila. Suicide is something with which we can all empathize. I doubt anybody has gone through life without thinking about the possibility, particularly when we are younger. Clearly, some think about suicide longer and more seriously than others, and when we see somebody like Robert Enke pass away in this manner, we tend to ask questions. I think those questions are a bit arrogant. We can't know what was going through his mind, and speculating as if we can find the answer ignores that fact that we will never be able to find out. We wonder why he did it and how we could have helped if we were able to talk to him, but there are better ways to deal with these feelings than speculating on the motives of a man who had experienced a loss few of us, if we are lucky, will ever have to experience. If you are curious about Robert Enke or you want to help, talk to other people about suicide. It is a tragedy that has touched us all, even if in no greater way than moments where we have personally had to come to grips with how suicide does (or does not) fit in our life. Yet, despite this personal reflection, suicide is a taboo subject. But if you want to know how you can help if a person like Robert Enke is in your life, the best thing to do is talk about suicide before hand so that you will have a better view of what's in somebody's mind when the toughest times come. I am not a professional. Set Piece Analysts no 5:06