In reality, the super-talented are very often isolated in lonely towers of high expectation and punishingly hard work. Worst, they are starved of the true intimacy we need before we reveal our real pain to others. No amount of material comfort can protect people from the lethal effects of loneliness.

Big talent and lavish reward may look invincible from the outside. Whether they’re on the sporting field, in the performing arts or corporate life, most of those with talent and reward will tell you that when the chips are down, it’s still one hell of a solitary ride.

Until very recently – they had absolutely nothing.

yeah why doesn’t Enke just hang himself, slit his wrist, ingest poison, blow his head off with a shotgun

That’s a far more selfless way for suicide

I’m quite sure most of the people who were inconvenience by this suicide were thinking about their own sense of mortality instead of blaming Enke

I’m quite sure most of those people who were late or couldn’t make their appointment would get some understanding from their boss/girlfriend/wife/children etc.

Yes it is selfish but there’s point being bitter and angry about it

But you’re right, this isn’t the place to discuss the AFL’s cover-up policy.

But I mean if you were delayed in picking up relatives at the airport, well then I can only empathise with your horrible plight you poor dear chap.

Maybe because of my cousin but I @!&%$% cannot find the right word … but enjoy nay respect nay appreciate nay all those …but when an artist in a song crosses that line and speaks of an warns of normally unspeakable things.. here are some songs that just come to mind.

Elton John ……. Song for Guy

REM…………… Everybody Hurts

Five for Fighting .. Superman

Gary Jules …. Mad World … imo pulls at the heart the most …

Melaine … Rugby Tuesday … heaps of other including the stones have done this song … but Melaine does the best version..

J.D. Souther … Your only Lonely

And then the songs about dependence but classic songs crying out for help..

Pink Floyd……. Comfortably Numb

Enya ……. May it be ( AHHhh what a voice)

John English or Metallica …. Turn the Page.

Heaps more I am sure

You must become apoplectic when a plane or late is delayed or 3 to 4 hours late due to the weather.
Why can’t you accept that somethings are out of you control. That’s what the essence of life is.

Just like what happened to the train driver. Everyone feels sympathy for him and everyone hopes he copes with whats happened to him. Humans have a wonderful ability in the main to endure and to overcome tradgedies. There are millions of examples of this. This is what makes us what we are.

There is no point getting angry about a tragic circumstance.

Lastly, I don’t think most of the roar readers are over-sensitive, they just have different insight and perspective

You come across as sort of Nietzchean Ubermensch.Is this what you strive for??

Well, if thats your gig, good for you.

But it ain’t mine.

He was similar to Andreas Koepke, Kahn`s predecessor as Germany`s no.1. Koepke played for Eintracht Frankfurt, conceded more goals than any other goalkeeper in the Bundesliga and got relegated with his club in 1995/96. But he was still called up as Germany`s goalkeeper at the following European Championship. He won the Euro with Germany, became “goalkeeper of the tournament”,” Best European Goalkeeper” and the “World`s best goalkeeper” in 1996. Kahn could not dislodge him either and only became Germany`s No.1 after Koepke stepped down in 1998.

It doesn`t matter which club you are playing for. It`s the individual quality that counts. And as the favorite to become Germany`s no.1 he held the most prestigious position in German sports. Hence, his suicide has come as a huge shock that went right into the heart of German society. Of course his tragic life and death and the fact that he was well liked across Germany are another reason for the intensive media coverage.

But I’ve been quite annoyed by the selfishness of people throwing themselves in front of trains before – I missed picking up relatives from the airport, they stood in a foreign place for 4 hours, totally confused and I couldn’t contact them because the trains weren’t going after someone decided they needed to kill themselves this way – and this is no exception.

Yes he was depressed and that is a terrible illness and he was obviously suicidal but we are to “accept” that his last act was to go and ruin someone elses life? Perhaps none of the oh-so sensitive Roar crowd cares about this but something like this holds up traffic for hours, what of all the people who were late to their anniversary dinners, missed 3-4 hours of a girlfriends birthday, how do you think this delay has affected their lives? These aren’t “inconveniences”, they are just unnecessary to put on the rest of society.

How do all of the well-wishers think that the train driver is holding up? He just killed a man, it wasn’t his fault but he was the one sitting at the front of the train, he saw the whole thing and yet everyone is writing the nice obituaries about Enke, not about how selfish peoples actions can be.

Now we know he was very sick, a kind of sickness we can not understand. In his last letter he said that he will leave this world, so no one will ever heard that he is sick !!??
He was out of this world in his last few hours. He hoped, when he is gone, no one knows what is happened to him.

I was at the place where was hit by the train, he walked straight and looked at the train …. It was raining, and fresh ….. Than it was over for him. – He is saved …. That’s what he thought … but its not over for the train driver, not for his so lovely wife, not for his adopted child, not for his thousand of fans and kids, who called him an idol.

At the end it’s a tragedy, and I am afraid that many will follow him.
He is still the nice guy for me, ever, but he made a bad mistake. Not only for his self …but for many other people.

Andre Krueger from Hanover.

Kahn was only so good in Munich because he is Kahn, to expect someone to come in and fill his shoes with the three amigos constantly hounding their own players in the press is a ridiculous situation but one that exists at Bayern and will until those three amigos leave, then finally the club will come good again.

He played for Hannover for gods sakes, yes he might have had a short spell in Barcelona and Mourinho admired him in his time at Benfica but he wasn’t some star whose exploits on the field touched millions, he was a name who stood in goal for a small club, a public name only because he managed a few caps for Germany when they couldn’t find a natural successor to The Titan Kahn, not a national hero, not a name that anyone would have remembered 2 years after his retirement, “just another footballer” and yes his death is unfortunate but all these people “feeling sorry” are just talking crap.

Sober article and it is something we should never take for granted … a younger cousin of mine hated school and left school at 15 and went to work on a farm…

He came back from the farm and appeared to be fine at 18 he killed himself and left a note that the farmer had molested him… the police got involved very messy nothing could be proven … but over 20 years ago my cousin had deep depression and shame…. no one in the broader family does not feel guilty but he hid it so well and he just wanted to be excepted…

Everyone should be aware of it…

in my line of work, i’ve had to counsel a young lad who was a promising footballer, and went through all the above. drugs, women etc. had an addictive personality as well as anxiety issues but the money and fame didn’t help. got in strife with his team and was dropped, turned to crime. not good. fortunately he’s now on the mend and is hoping to get back into professional football. it’s an all-too common story, and so many of them will go unrecognised. for every enke who struggles with these issues at the top level, how many couldabeens are there who never made it and suffer from depression?

good article, jesse.

I’ll put a call out for all Roarers who are growing Mo’s this November and aim to list them somewhere so we can drive some donations.

Apart from the obvious candidate – Spiro – is anyone else on this thread participating in Movember?

There are definitely lessons here that can be applied across the whole of the Australian sporting landscape, and beyond.