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5-at-10: Death, Weekend winners and losers and Rushmore of potential Hall of Famers gone too soon

File- This April 9, 2004, file photo shows Arnold Palmer walking across the Hogan Bridge on the 12th fairway for the final time in Masters competition during the second round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Palmer, who made golf popular for the masses with his hard-charging style, incomparable charisma and a personal touch that made him known throughout the golf world as "The King," died Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Pittsburgh. He was 87. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
File- This April 9, 2004, file photo shows Arnold Palmer walking across the Hogan Bridge on the 12th fairway for the final time in Masters competition during the second round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Palmer, who made golf popular for the masses with his hard-charging style, incomparable charisma and a personal touch that made him known throughout the golf world as "The King," died Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Pittsburgh. He was 87. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File) File- This April 9, 2004, file photo shows Arnold Palmer walking across the Hogan Bridge on the 12th fairway for the final time in Masters competition during the second round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Palmer, who made golf popular for the masses with his hard-charging style, incomparable charisma and a personal touch that made him known throughout the golf world as "The King," died Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Pittsburgh. He was 87. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

By Jay Greeson 11 min read

photo FILE – In this Monday, June 1, 2015, file photo, Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez replaces his cap after the singing of the national anthem before the start of a baseball game between the Miami Marlins and the Chicago Cubs, in Miami. The Marlins announced Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, that ace right-hander Fernandez has died. The U.S. Coast Guard says Fernandez was one of three people killed in a boat crash off Miami Beach early Sunday. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Death comes calling

This weekend was overflowing with emotion. The good, the bad. The amazing, the numbing. The I-can’t-believe-what-I-just-saw to the I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened.

It was a weekend when we remembered what makes sports great and lost precious friends who embodied that greatness, not only in sports but in life.

It was an avalanche of everything that carried three overlapping yet completely different good-byes. There was the shocking grief of Jose Fernandez’s death in a boating accident, a lost life with such exuberance and promise at the all-too-young age of 24.

There was the extended sadness coupled with the perpetual thanks for the life and legacy of Arnold Palmer, who died Sunday at 87. He was the King, and if there’s a Rushmore of athletes that transcended their sport, we’ll go Babe, Ali, MJ and Arnold Palmer. He had battled health issues for a while now, but the end is always sudden. And final. That’s the real emotion here – the finality. Yes, it sports we embrace the fun and silliness. It ain’t over until it’s over and all that stuff.