As alluded to briefly in another section...


NBC's David Bloom, 39, Dies in Iraq

Sad news, especially since it seems it wasn't related to being embedded with the troops.


Sunday, April 06, 2003

NEW YORK — NBC News correspondent David Bloom, who had been reporting on the war from the Iraqi desert, died Sunday from a blood clot, the network said.

The 39-year-old co-anchor of the weekend Today show was traveling with troops about 25 miles south of Baghdad when he suddenly collapsed, said Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for NBC News.

He was airlifted to a nearby field medical unit, where he was pronounced dead from a pulmonary embolism, Gollust said. She said his death was not combat related.

Bloom, a native of Edina, Minn., lived in the New York area with his wife, Melanie, and three daughters. He had been on assignment in Iraq for several weeks, reporting from the middle of desert sand storms and while columns of military vehicles rumbled toward Baghdad.

"You couldn't keep him away from a story," Tim Russert, the network's Washington bureau chief, said Sunday. "Whenever something was breaking, he wanted to be there."

Bloom had been the co-anchor of the weekend Today show since March 2000. On Sunday, his co-anchor Soledad O'Brien described him as "a dedicated, tenacious and talented reporter."

"He died doing what he loved, and doing what he did best," she said.

Before joining the Today show desk, Bloom was a White House correspondent for NBC. He began there in 1997, during the Clinton administration.

Former President Clinton said Sunday that Bloom's "integrity and good humor will be missed."

"David Bloom was a smart, energetic professional whose enthusiasm for the job was evident in every question he asked and every story he covered," Clinton said.

In his decade with the network, Bloom reported on major stories including presidential races, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Washington-area sniper shootings, the O.J. Simpson trial and the war in Bosnia.

Bloom attended Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and started his career as an investigative reporter for NBC-owned WTVJ in Miami in 1989. He joined NBC News in Chicago in 1993 and then reported from Los Angeles starting in 1995.

"In times like these, a journalist's contribution to his country is measured in terms of illustrious commitment and sacrifice," NBC Chairman and CEO Bob Wright said in a statement announcing Bloom's death Sunday.

"There was no one more devoted to his calling than David Bloom and for that we are both grateful and humbled," he said.

###

I know this will sound bad, but couldnt we have sent reporters/anchors/hosts over there we wouldnt miss if they were lost.

Lets say like ohhhh Jim Rome, Bill O'Reilly, Star Jones as some examples. Lets weed some people out.

OH leave Star Jones alone! She'd probably have slimmed down on that low water, U.S. military rations plan, though!

Star would be doing her Payless commercials from Baghdad.

This news made me sad. I'll miss him on Weekend Today.

She's so heavy...you can hear her breath when she talks!

No judgements, sister - but, Oprah should have a "sit-down" with you, baby.

I say: either Star has a glandular problem, or she's making big ladies look really bad... :confused:

She should care more about her health - it's not like she doesn't have the money to spend on a nutritionist and a trainer...

[ April 07, 2003, 09:20 AM: Message edited by: bluebird48234 ]

This is a lovely tribute/remembrance of David Bloom.

I too heard about David Bloom's death.

DallasUNC, You are the Man! You are right. Star Jones should have been sent over. Could you imagine her in the desert shaking sand out of those cheap Payless pumps. LOL. The physical activity there sure would have helped her shed a few pounds.

Bluebird, You are Right! Star, just like Anna Nicole, is dangerously overweight. Star needs to start eating salads and exercising. Oprah needs to sit her down for a "sistah to sistah rap session".

[ April 07, 2003, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: davidbeck ]

This is really too pathetic. I'm all for goofing on Star Jones, but this probably isn't the most appropriate thread for it.

fellas, i know you all probably will come down on me being too sensitive, believe me, thats not where im coming from at all. i just dont see how you start making fun of people based on the fact that another person passed away. is there no level of respect. think about it on a personal level, do you want someone to wish you were dead just because you annoyed them. arent we adults so we can avoid those people. ignorence wishes harm and pain on people. i thought most people here were above that. anyway sorry to go on so. good days to you all.

Good God, I have a sense of humor, but some of the posts in this thread are extremely distressing. I hope other people surfing the Internet don't come across this thread by accident and think this is representative of gay sports fans. I think the insensitive posts should be deleted.

As a sports fan, gay man, news hound, and a sensitive, caring individual, I was so sad when my partner woke me up Sunday morning after he'd turned on the TV, and told me this news. Perhaps because I'm still smarting from the loss of two family members in the past year, this type of news brings me to tears, just as do the sad accounts of civilian deaths in this war.

Since this is a sports-related forum, here's a quote from Tim Russert in MSNBC's \"Remebering David Bloom\":

“David called the desk and asked for scores of Final Four basketball, sports fan to the end,” says Russert. “Then he was going to call his wife, which he did, Melanie. He turned off his cell, got out of the Bloom-mobile and collapsed. Army medics were there immediately. They tried very hard to revive him, brought in helicopter, and they couldn’t do it. A great guy, he would have been 40 on May 22.”

Maxallen:

*I am confident of my contribution to this Board.

*I did not comment on Mr. Bloom because I did not know his work. I have seen him several times on television; but, I do not know of him well enough to comment on his life...and I could tell from the posts authored by people who knew him really cared about him.

*Nevertheless: I don't think people are going to judge a member just becuase they are off topic in one thread. One is also judged by what they DON'T say (hint, hint), and I'm SURE that you know that I would not defame Mr. Bloom by posting someething less than heartfelt.

*I still feel disappointed in Star Jones; and frankly, am quite disappointed that she was mentioned in the same thread with Mr. Bloom. Not that she is inferior as a woman/human being - but I DO know enough (about Mr. Bloom) to know that her body of work (including the way she takes of her physical body) is not compatible with a tribute to Mr. Bloom, who has, obviously had a life of excellence in reporting, much of it international.

- - - - -

I never care about what "other people" think about my posts, as I DEFINITELY care about EVERYTHING I put on this Board (yes, I'm selling myself! wink ). I am harder on myself than anyone else in this community generally, ESPECIALLY some wandering, str8 sportsfan (read: "uninvolved visitor") merely perusing this Board.

I do, though, apologize for any hurt feelings at a time like this - although I was not being inconsiderate.

- - - - -

By the way, the MSNBC story on Mr. Bloom is nice.

[ April 07, 2003, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: bluebird48234 ]

the body of work that ms jones does and mr. bloom did were not compaable. she works in he entertainment industry, he worked in hard news journalism, big difference there buddy. and maybe you should just spend a little time on what people think of you, cause ya sound like you're a little to high on your horse. i hope it doesn't buck up on ya.

mark red:

I had said that already.

I was a David Bloom fan and was saddened when I heard that he died in Iraq, that's what led me to this thread.

I did not find the tangential topic of Star Jones disturbing in the least, I'm with you Bluebird.

However, I totally disagree with the other judgmental comments from people worrying about what others (presumebly str8) would think. This site is for gay men who are sportsfans, and that includes those who use humor to deflect pain. It's been a gay survival tactic for centuries.

When I said that I don't care what others think, I meant the following:

*Some people (NOT directed to anyone in this particular thread) try to derail an argument with generalist comments picking out a word or two, or in their misreading, call the post something it is not.

*Some people seem to be uncomfortable (understandably) with the number of posts that a few members add to the site. While notice is acceptable, objection is not (what, then, is this site for?).


I do not worry about the implications of what I am writing on general principle becuase I ALWAYS check it to make sure that I am not stepping on toes.

The few times that I have made a mistake, I have apologized - promptly.

I do not think you can ask any more than that.

You seem to be taking the general criticism very personally. There were others besides you who went off on the Star Jones tangent. The point is we had a thread that started out as a tribute to David Bloom and next thing people are yammering on about how Star Jones is fat. I mean, WTF! How is that remotely relevant. It's downright rude and disrespectful. Outsports has very few rules regarding postings. One of them is to STAY ON TOPIC.

Start a thread about called Star Jones is a Cow if you'd like. You said you didn't comment on Mr. Bloom because you weren't familiar with him; then why feel the need to reply at all. It almost seems you have some sort of daily quota to meet?

As for the sheer volume of your posts, well I'll admit it puzzles me. But only because it seems odd to me that our most prolific poster over the last 6 months or so rarely, if ever, discusses anything remotely sports related. I'm not saying we should only discuss sports. I certainly don't limit myself to those forums. Some of the topics you start have a fun, quirky quality. But sometimes less is more, you know?

[ April 08, 2003, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

This thread has reached RED ALERT from the posting police... Upgraded from Orange, however homeland security has not confirmed the updated warning level.

[ April 08, 2003, 11:05 AM: Message edited by: PhillyFan ]

Where's my teddy bear? Gotta find my teddy bear...

Quick - grab the duct tape.

Duct Tape wont work for this... we need to borrow one of Sadaaaaaaaam's bunkers...

in the "hot reporters" thread I recently posted similar comments regarding the tone of some of these threads. I have been know to make off-topic comments, yet I try to preface it with "I know this is off-topic but...." Maybe I'm overstating the case, but just in case I AM going to start a thread in "about the board" so that those who care to discuss this can post there. I think this is a good way for us to refine skills of communication.
threads giving you whiplash?
http://66.241.201.96/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cg...c&f=14&t=000113

BTW: for those who care to, NBC is forwarding notes and cards of condolences to the Bloom family.

David Bloom condolences

[ April 09, 2003, 12:02 PM: Message edited by: smrobbins65 ]

I was so sad about this. I had been enjoying David's coverage, even laughing (in a nice way) at him as he stood in the desert with his goggles and wind-swept hair and rode along on his "Bloommobile". On Sunday, I tuned in to the NBC Nightly News specifically to see what they had to say, and I was glad to see Tom Brokaw there. He said some very nice words, and showed some nice pics of David and his beautiful family.

Monday night on the Nightly News, Tom thanked the 1000s of people who had sent cards and letters to NBC, saying that will come as a great condolence to his family. And then he signed off without saying another word. I think he may have been a bit choked up. I know I was.

I saw those same Tom Brokaw comments; he did seem to be very emotional about Bloom's death. I got the distinct impression that Brokaw saw himself as a bit of a mentor to Bloom.

Can we still ship hazardous material for Payless during such an alert?