Bill Plaschke: 'Billfish Forever!' Celebrating Andrew Ladores, the toughest Gator and a loyal friend.
LOS ANGELES — Our first conversation was about sports. Andrew was 7, I was 22, and we had just been matched in the Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring organization. He was a sickly little kid suffering from cystic fibrosis, I was a bumbling young sportswriter, and we were introduced at south Florida Christmas party where he hugged and hid behind his mother's leg. We had no chance. Then I ...
by Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times
Jun 10, 2022
4 minutes
LOS ANGELES — Our first conversation was about sports.
Andrew was 7, I was 22, and we had just been matched in the Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring organization.
He was a sickly little kid suffering from cystic fibrosis, I was a bumbling young sportswriter, and we were introduced at south Florida Christmas party where he hugged and hid behind his mother's leg.
We had no chance. Then I asked about his interests.
"I like sports," he said.
"What do you know?" I said. "So do I!"
More than four decades later, our final conversation was also about sports.
It was a recent Sunday night, an NBA playoff game was on TV, I was watching from my home in Los Angeles while Andrew
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