Arpan Bajaj

I keep it 49 #49ers #MUFC #GSW #SFGiants #SJSharks #MI

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

Every single day of my life I am reminded of the greatest thing a Professor (and former Nobel Laureate) told me:

Think about how dumb the average person is, 50% of the world is statistically dumber than that.

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

#MUFC WORLDWIDE

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

Ngl the aldon smith news got me really fucked up.

[Nate Duncan @NateDuncanNBA]

Those of you who listen to me regularly know I'm not one to use this term lightly, but has an NBA team ever choked worse over a full series than the Spurs this year? Maybe the Lakers in '84? I don't know enough about all those Philly and Lakers teams in the 60s to say.

[Noah Furtado @_noahfurtado]

Exclusive reporting with @mgafni: A comprehensive timeline of the day Aldon Smith died, as told by the people who were with him in his final hours.

https://t.co/7IwhDCLzSR

[Natalie @FalcoNat38]

ooh i’m zohran mamdani. my wife is hot. my favorite soccer team won the league for the first time in 22 years. my favorite basketball team won the championship for the first time in 53 years. fuck you man.

[Adam Ryan 🤝 @AdamRy_n]

Aldon Smith passed away this weekend. Most people are talking about his incredible ability, potential, and performance as a football player.

Even though that is all true. He was so much more than that. He was a great friend and his kindness changed my life forever.

I met Aldon our freshman year at Mizzou. He was redshirted and relatively unknown as an athlete. His giveaway was the biggest hands you'll ever see and his ability to dunk at 250lbs, but his size in many ways didn't match his personality. He was relatively quiet and in most scenarios would try to shrink into the room vs stand out in it.

Over the course of the next year, we became close. We were very different people, from different places, but we both connected on the feeling of being a bit lost in the beginnings of adulthood. That year, I never really thought about him as a football player. He was just this gentle giant who loved to play video games and talk about life.

His sophmore year he broke the single season sack record at Mizzou, became an All American, and his life changed forever.

He became a celebrity on campus. He became a household name in Missouri. He became a top NFL draft prospect.

I remember how crazy his life became, and how quickly. ESPN doing interviews. Fancy cars being "loaned" to him. And people everywhere inserting themselves into his life.

Despite the craziness, my friend was always a text away.

My junior of college, I decided to take my first stab at entrepreneurship. I wanted to launch a chapter of Camp Kesem.

Kesem is a summer camp for children whose parents have been affected by cancer. The camp would be totally free and be a chance for a kid to experience the magic of being a kid again. As a son of a breast cancer survivor the idea of being able to create this camp in Missouri meant the world to me.

The Livestrong Foundation was hosting a nation wide contest to win $10,000 as seed capital to get started. To win, you had to have the most votes.

I tried really freaking hard to win that competition. I was going up against some really influential people at huge schools. As a somewhat awkward kid in Columbia, MO I had no chance.

So I asked my friend Aldon for a favor. I asked him if he would help me out and promote the link to vote.

He did more than just posting about Kesem on Facebook, skyrocketing us into the top place in the country. He kept supporting me the next 3 years while I was working on building Kesem.

He showed up to have fun with the kids. He helped me fundraise. He helped me get Kesem to become an official organization sponsored by the NFLPA so he could publicly endorse us as as a player.

Since then Torry Holt, Larry Fitzegerald, and many others have supported Kesem. But Aldon was the first.

Kesem led me to move to Austin to work for the Livestrong Foundation. Kesem is how I met my wife. Kesem gave me the confidence to start Workweek and continue the path of building something from scratch.

But in reality, Aldon enabled all those things.

Throughout the years we had many amazing memories together. Having my wife and I vacation to his house in San Jose. Going to New Orleans for the Super Bowl and seeing his entire family make the trip. Meeting his son and watching him be a dad. The hilarious night we met Derek Jeter. Having the most intellectual conversations about life while playing Call of Duty.

I also saw him struggle. There's no doubt he was a complicated person. Truthfully, I don't know if he ever really figured out who he wanted to be. I know just because your'e 6'4, 250lbs, and get 5.5 sacks in a single NFL game doesn't necessarily mean you want to be a football player. No matter the reasons, he made many bad decisions in his life. Some of those mistakes made it hard for me to stay as close as we'd once been.

One day, not too long ago, I just decided to text him. It had been years since we really chatted. I just wanted to say thank you for all that he had done for me and that I was sorry I wasn't there for him more through his struggles. We FaceTimed after that, and it was like the old days all over again.

Aldon was more than the headlines, the mistakes. He was a generous, gentle soul, a kid at heart, someone who was endlessly curious about life... all in the body of a world class NFL player, bearing the weight of professional pressure and personal circumstances that most of us can't even imagine.

People are complex. People who make bad decisions can also do great things. A person can be hated by almost everyone and, yet, there are people in that person's life who still love them deeply.

I learned many of these lesson due to Aldon, and I'll carry them with me forever.

Rest in peace, Aldon. You won't be forgotten.

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

So mamdani the greatest mayor in 53 years in NYC right ?

[Nai @_Nai_Roy]

They only lost was when orange man was in the building. That evil was too powerful

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

Man so happy for knicks fans

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

Spurs assholes get so puckered late in games. They know they gomna choke

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

RIP, one of the most incredible talents ive ever seen play the game. Condolences to his whole family. Hopefully he is at peace now.

[Nick Wagoner @nwagoner]

Former #49ers pass rusher Aldon Smith died this morning in Northern California.

He was 36.

Statement from team:

“We are devastated by the sudden and tragic passing of Aldon Smith. Aldon’s undeniable talent and sheer dominance on the field were on display from the moment he joined our organization, having recorded one of the best rookie seasons the National Football
League has seen. Beyond his excellence as a player, Aldon will be remembered for his infectious smile that lit up every room he walked into. Our entire organization sends its deepest condolences to the Smith family and all who knew and loved Aldon.”

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

@INDlVlDUALIST Yea. Absolutley the biggest slam againt the youth soccer system here

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

i think you gotta bring off adams and balo now

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

@INDlVlDUALIST Yea lol. I knew all their pathways mostly when I made the comment

[Stu Holden @stuholden]

This 4th goal was just beautiful. In my head it was a lot of passes… turns out it was a LOT. Just incredible composure and confidence to keep it moving and then finish it with a bang.

Pochettino ball 🔥 Reyna exclamation point‼️

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

This proved to be incredibly true last night.

And b/c of the incredible team performance, its only gonna get worse. Now those same filthy casuals think their experts on the game b/c they've watched 90 mins. Of soccer in 4 years.

Sigh

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

The amount of mfers who havent watch soccer for one second in 4 years, who gonna be on the TL tomorrow, its gonna be annoying af

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

Woke up today and last night wasnt a dream. Holy shit.

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

WHAT A FUCKING WAY TO OPEN A HOME WORLD CUP. LETS KEEP MARCHING ON BOYS #USMNT

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

‼️‼️‼️‼️

[Matt Jones @KySportsRadio]

Thank goodness for Birthright citizenship

4-1

[Arpan Bajaj @RPun]

With how dirty Paraguay got near the end, this was absolutley the right call from Potch #USMNT

[Ben Jacobs @JacobsBen]

🚨 Christian Pulisic got a kick to the back of his leg and was taken off as a precaution at half-time. “It’s nothing. I was taken off as a precaution.”

[Tom Bogert @tombogert]

🇺🇸 Mauricio Pochettino tells FOX that Christian Pulisic got a kick in the calf and started to feel tight:

“We didn't want to take any risks.”

Pulisic adds he was "subbed off as a precaution."