Twenty years ago today, Hank Gathers dunked an alley oop, walked toward midcourt, and then collapsed. Gathers, 23, died that day of a heart-muscle disorder, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Sad stuff. Loyola Marymount made an incredible NCAA tournament run to the Elite 8 a few weeks later, including a 149-115 pounding of defending champ Michigan. Pour some out for Gathers are your local watering hole tonight.
Scott Van Pelt dropped an F-bomb on Sportscenter last night heading into commercial, and then had to apologize. Tough week for that guy. [Deadspin]
Kim Yu-Na of Korea won the Gold in Figure Skating last night; Joannie Rochette of Canada, the girl who everyone was rooting for, earned bronze. [USA Today, Star] Read the rest of this entry »
Tiger Woods and Michael Jackson: "But it’s impossible to deny that fame, fortune, corporate manipulators and fathers hell bent on producing once-in-a-lifetime entertainers stripped Jackson and Woods of anything approaching normalcy when it comes to human interaction." And then there's this perspective from dean of golf writers, Dan Jenkins: "Never in my knowledge of history has any famous personality - in sports, show biz, or politics - ever fallen so far so fast. Tiger Woods is graveyard dead, as the Southern expression goes." [KC Star] (46)
Dwayne Schintzius: The former Florida Gator and NBA journeyman is fighting for his life in Tampa. Schintzius, who played eight seasons in the NBA after getting drafted in the first round in 1990, received a bone marrow transplant recently, and his condition hasn't significantly improved. Schintzius is one of the best players in Florida Gators history, but struggled with injuries in the NBA, and wound up collecting just over $5 million in the span of his career. [St. Pete Times] (21)
The league, which makes the idea of the XFL seem as if it were hatched by Harvard scholars, wants 12 cities, but that will never happen. (The league, hopefully, will never happen.) But for fun, we had a “draft.” Four teams, seven players apiece. Read the rest of this entry »
Pierre Garcon of the Colts has many relatives in Haiti. He is struggling to get in touch with them. (Yahoo)
Sam Dalembert of the 76ers is from Haiti as well. He’s trying to grapple with the earthquake, which could have killed between 100k-500k people. (Daily News)
Root for This Kid: "About 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 28, shortly after an evening study session at the Miller Learning Center, Veazey flopped his Yamaha Vizio motorscooter onto its side to avoid a car that turned in front of him at South Lumpkin and Baxter streets. He couldn't avoid another car, though, and crashed. Aside from scrapes, bruises and punctured lung, Veazey immediately knew something was terribly wrong with his lower body. He had no sensation in his legs." And just like that, the promising young baseball career of Chance Veazey, a Georgia freshman, was over. Sad story. [Online Athens] (9)
Tiger and … – gasp! – prescription drugs? (Daily Beast)
Tragic news out of Durham – the sister of Duke freshman guard Andre Dawkins died in a car accident … on the way to see Duke play St. John’s. (Big Duke Balls)
