Editor’s note: This story by former Register columnist Marc Hansen originally ran on Thursday, Jan. 21, 1993, two days after Iowa Hawkeyes basketball star Chris Street died in a car crash in Iowa City.Chris Street was like family. That’s what makes this so hard.Before he died on Highway 1 a few weeks shy of his 21st birthday, Street was more than just one of the best players on a nationally ranked University of Iowa basketball team. As if that wasn’t tragedy enough.To play for the Hawkeyes is to share your precious college years with an entire state framed in black and gold.It may sound like a carefree ride, but it’s an awesome responsibility, especially for one so young. Street made it look easy. He made it look more like a privilege than an obligation.We have no major-league sports teams in Iowa. Our professional athletes are the minor-league baseball players who slip briefly through our lives on their way to fame or obscurity.The Hawkeyes and Cyclones are our major-league athletes....
