The Game
Is bigger than it's players and owners!

"Youth is wasted on the young"

The above quote was attributed to writer George Bernard Shaw. I've never read Shaw's explanation for the quote however I think I have an idea; it's possible it's his view of youthful stupidity! I'll provide you an example on my view, I'm reading an article on Celtic great Bill Russell and two respondents sent in emails on the story. Not only are both crude attempts at humor the punctuation and grammar are lacking as well, I copied both letters exactly as written. "Heard of Bill Russell, but have no idea what he looks like. Maybe he needs to shown more..." "You arent missing much. His skill set in his prime wouldnt even land him on the bench for the clippers now....." Surely no one with a history of the game would make such asinine statements.

Mizzzzzzzzzzzou!

Coach Frank Haith's staff has recruited another one. Rivals 3-star rated Negus Webster-Chan has given his verbal commitment to Mizzou for 2012. Chan is a 6-6 175 pound small forward/shooting guard from Scarborough, Ontario Canada. Chan is currently enrolled at Huntington Prep in Huntington West Virginia. Huntington Prep the same school that produced O.J. Mayo, Bill Walker and several others. Webster-Chan becomes the fifth verbal commitment for 2012. Haith and staff have provided proof to Mizzou fans they can recruit, that is unless the incoming crop of players has been paid. Don't panic I'm only joking!

I missed this one
John Wall is one of the fastest players up and down the court I've witnessed in recent years, he has blazing speed end to end. I was so impressed prior to the season I pronounced Wall Rookie of the Year however I forgot about the Clippers Blake Griffin. Although drafted in 2009 Griffin missed the entire season with an injury. Griffin's spectacular dunks prove to be a nightly feature on Sportscenter. This 6-10 250 pound power forward averaged 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds a game on a really bad 32-50 Clippers team. Maybe Griffin might be one player the Clippers manage to retain, the Clipps have a history of losing good players. Past history they lose a talented player through a dumb trade or simply allow them to leave through free-agency.

Kansas City Kings

This is ancient history, I decided to research Kings draft choices from 1972-1985 the Kansas City years. I came across many names I'd forgotten and others I asked the question "why in the world did they draft _____! Scouting and drafting players requires athletic talent, skill, and the scout's ability to see the future development of the player. We cannot fully measure a players work ethic or their heart, the final key is a bold front office. Excuses aside the Kansas City edition of the Kings missed and missed and missed in their draft choices. There was some success but unfortunately there were more misses than hits. Give you an example in the 1981 draft the Kings chose 6-10 235 pound Steve Johnson with the 7th pick, Johnson had a 10-year career with 11.7 points and a modest 5.5 rebounds a game. Rolando Blackman picked 9th played the same number of years with an 18.0 points per game average and was a 4X NBA All-Star. Ever heard of Ennis Whatley, how about Clyde Drexler? The Kings drafted Whatley with the 13th pick in 1983, the Blazers picked Drexler with the 14th pick Drexler was a perennial All-Star and elected to the Hall of Fame.

Ol Skool

During the summer I wrote a story on Kansas City and it's historical connection to the NAIA Basketball Tournament. Travis "Machine Gun" Grant of Kentucky State was one of those players who added to the legend of NAIA basketball and it's tournament. March of 2011 Grant was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame and the honor was long over due. You might have thought Pete Maravich was the all-time top scoring machine---wrong it was Grant. This 6-7 forward walked off the court his senior year racking up 4,045 points during his tenure. No freshman adjustment was required he averaged 26.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game his first year. He compiled those numbers shooting a cool 61.9% from the floor. George "Iceman" Gervin says he held Grant to 18 points in the first half of their championship match, in the second half Grant exploded for 50 points totaling 68 for the game. Grant was to be the Lakers first pick in the 1972 draft for a number of reasons he was never able to repeat his collegiate exploits in the NBA or ABA. After five seasons he left the game and went on to become a highly respected teacher, coach and administrator for the next 29 years. (a portion from playnaia.org, John McCarthy, January 21, 2011)

 "I told him, 'Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care." - Frank Layden, Utah Jazz president, on a former player