Feels Like Home Again

I feel that I must tell you that I can relate somewhat to what the Cleveland fan is feeling in anticipation of the return of Lebron James Thursday Night in Cleveland. As I have said before I was fortunate enough to live in an NBA town for 5 years. Most people would be happy going second overall in the NBA draft.




In 1999 Steve Francis was not when he was drafted by the then Vancouver Grizzlies. He did come to town but was later traded to the Houston Rockets. When the Rockets visited town later that year I convinced my friend James 'Buck Henry' Clare to go to the game with me. I really forget what happened in the game but in Dan Russel's Sports Talk that night he took a call from a fan. The fan was determined to give Stevie Francis an earful and he even came early. If I recall Francis eventually got into a dialogue with his heckler and told him something to the effect of that the main reason he did not savor coming to Vancouver was that he felt he was a natural "1". That's point guard in basketball speak. The Griz already had Mike Bibby and playing shooting guard would be unnatural to him (Francis) . This is an 11 year old memory so if it's not entirely true just take it for what it's worth. Still if you want my opinion why I don't like LeBron and it's not even the Decision, make sure you listen to this.



A second thing happened in sports this week that reminds me of the NBA era in Vancouver. Much has been made about Cardinals QB Derek Anderson laughing on the bench in front of a national prime time audience while his team trailed 18 points. Below I include both the video of the laugh plus Anderson's tirade when he could no longer deny that he was indeed laughing.


Similar situation in Vancouver 11 years ago. Goes to show you that winning a championship with Duke does not guarantee NBA success, Cherokee Parks averaged 3.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 56 games with Vancouver during the 1999 season.He was not even good enough to average double digits on a bad team. Yet he too was caught yucking it up on the bench in a loss.

Nothing really philosophical today folks, except that it's deja vu all over again.




Ed


http://www.mediafire.com/?umkfybaa4s56bl9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgS10PXt7dw laugh


http://www.nba.com/playerfile/cherokee_parks/bio.html

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1210/Feels_Like_Home_Again_ (Original blog)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jErsW7rgHBs&feature=related (press conference)




http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/2001/07/04/sayitaintso_grizzlies/