Prior to the Wizards-Knicks game, Rashad Mobley of Hoops Addict and myself stopped to chat with Jonathan Bender of the New York Knicks, a man on a long-shot comeback attempt. Rashad has his piece posted on Hoops Addict, mine is posted below.
Jonathan Bender broke Michael Jordan’s McDonald’s All-American game scoring record when he dropped 31 points in the 1999 game, besting his Airness by one point.
That performance was on the stage Bender needed to forgo his verbal commitment to Mississippi State University and enter the NBA draft, becoming who I believe is the first modern-day high school player to jump to the NBA after actually committing to a school. They say Kobe Bryant would have gone to Duke, but he never offered his commitment. Today, despite being called one of the 20 biggest busts in modern NBA draft history by Sports Illustrated in 2005, Bender doesn’t think twice about the choice he made over 10 years ago to follow in the prep-to-pros footsteps of those such as Kevin Garnett.
“Once I made the decision, it was made,” Bender said without hesitation from the Knicks locker room before last Saturday’s match-up against the Wizards.
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>> So Joakim Noah wants to be a rapper? Go look in a mirror kid, I bet you see Troy Hudson.
>> A Mississippi State fan powered by whiskey? Really? Who knew? I was able to catch the final 5 minutes of the Bulldogs’ win against Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl. In a 10-3 game where the only TD scored came with just under 4 minutes left, five was all that was needed. In any case, this post from Mr. Irrelevant reminded me of what I saw in those waning minutes, along with what happens when college freshmen are powered by Jack D in Tennessee.
>> There’s always some sort of mysterious time period before you can reference a tragedy in a piece of comedy. Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Blog? has a post entitled, “Unlike Sean Taylor, Sean Taylor Stuff Just Won’t Die” that made my humorous side chuckle a little. However, for those who believe a higher power was at hand, or for those who find inspiration in the fact that the Redskins beat the Cowboys by 21, Sean Taylor’s jersey number; and if this recognition brings the team together on the field for a playoff run and off the field in realizing how valuable life should be held, then I’m just fine with that. [found via yet another Big Lead Roundup]
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Chris Cooley‘s current fiancée (right) used to be a Redskins cheerleader, until she got fired for dating him. I’d say that it’s worked out well for the both of them.
I don’t like the Boston Red Sox, but I do like Jonathan Papelbon. Why? I went to college with him. Got some stories, ain’t telling them. Nice article on Papelbon in the Hattiesburg (Mississippi) American…..where we find out that his dog ate the ball from the final out in the Red Sox ’07 World Series win. Wild and crazy guy? Yes. Down to earth? Definitely.
Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite movies….and what do ya know, here’s a real-life escape story similar to the movie. Either you can’t go wrong with a name like Otis Blunt, or you must go wrong with a name like Otis Blunt. And c’mon Mr. Espinosa – haven’t you learned anything from P-Diddy? That face is atrocious!
Mississippi State’s Jamont Gordon is getting his props on ESPN.com. The Bulldogs? Well, they’re not doing so well.
Stories about how alcoholism affects people never ceases to amaze me. Former NBAer, Keon Clark (right), says that at one point, he was up to drinking a half pint of gin every day, and at times, drinking during halftime of games during his NBA career.
Some Chris Farley classics from 100% Injury Rate.
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>> A Big-Ups to Sylvester Croom of Mississippi State University. The first black head coach in Southeastern Conference football history has been named coach of the year for the SEC. He’s done a great job in turning around a struggling Mississippi State program which was left on probation after the tumultuous Jackie Sherrill era. Here is a link to a cool collection of Croom photos through the years.
>> I often ask, what would life be like without cell phones? I mean, we couldn’t imagine living without them in this day and age. What on this level is next? YouTube. Without it, I would have never been able to witness Steve Kerr, Kenny Lofton, Tom Tolbert, Jud Buechler and Sean Elliott, from the 1988 Arizona Wildcats final four team, drop rhymes like crimes.
>> Great feature in Slam Magazine by Vincent Thomas, OJ Mayo: The Papoose of basketball?
Now Vincent’s first impressions of OJ Mayo are very similar to mine. But now, he is seemingly coming around after witnessing Mayo’s shutdown of Memphis’ Derrick Rose. I guess he does have a point…but maybe the kid just has pride, which certainly does not propel him to Kobe or MJ levels of a baller who can D. So yea, maybe OJ Mayo will learn how to take over in crunch time, maybe he will learn how to share the ball with his teammates. Lotta maybes….prove it to me.
>> The Pineapple Express….God’s vagina.
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- Get Out & Vote!
Go to www.coachoftheyear.com and vote for the 2007 Liberty Mutual College Football Coach of the Year. And who is truthaboutit.net endorsing? None other than Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom. Why?
- As the first black head football coach in the SEC, Coach Croom has turned around a Mississippi State program from the very unfortunate state it was in after the departure of Jackie Sherrill.
- He has done this the right way (aka the clean way) through developing the good character of the young men in his program.
- Mississippi State, with a win over Alabama this past Saturday, became bowl eligible for the first time since 2000 — they’ve also had wins over ranked opponents this year (Auburn, Kentucky, and Alabama).
Very scary basketball moment in Israel, as found on ESPN.com’s TrueHoop. Evidently, someone tossed a bag of fireworks onto the court during a game between Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon. Considering the state of the world today, this had to be an unbelievably chilling experience for all those involved. What Henry does not mention is that former Mississippi State basketball player, Timmy Bowers, plays for Hapoel Jerusalem. Mario Austin, also a former Bulldog, used to play on the same team with Timmy. He is currently signed to play with Benetton Treviso in Italy, along with former George Washington player, Pops Mensah-Bonsu.
Interesting blog post by the Washington Post’s Marc Fisher on a study about bow-ties and the type of people who wear them. Personally, I am suspicious of a bow-tie man, veeeery suspicious. Leave them where they belong, reefs and the hair of women.
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- Hmmm…maybe Scott Skiles doesn’t love Joakim Noah. Then again, I think Noah would know about teams playing together. How many NCAA championships did Skiles win at Michigan State, much less back-2-back? None.
But really, I liked Scott Skiles the player a lot, especially when he was a Bullet. They just don’t make ‘em hard-nosed like that cat anymore…Adam Morrison would be Skiles’ antithesis. And speaking of hard-nosed..the interesting things you can find on Wikipedia. Did you know that while at Michigan State, Skiles was arrested and charged with cocaine and marijuana possession? The cocaine charge ended up being dropped, but he was later arrested, and spent 15 days in jail, for drunk driving. I suppose partying with Scotty back in the day would be akin to partying with this character from Conan O’Brien. [Damn, I wish I had a video]
- Jamont Gordon is putting Mississippi State on the radar – And no other college coach has had it tougher than Rick Stansbury. My facts could be wrong, but I think Mississippi State is the only program in the country to have three committed players go to the NBA before setting foot on campus (prior to the recent rule change): Jonathan Bender, Travis Outlaw, and Monta Ellis. But he’ll get over it.
- Don’t be like LeBron, be better than him and start yelling at your co-workers. Pronto.
- Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid speaks out on recent family problems.
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