The Press Box Kid

Since today is Thanksgiving, I’ve thought long and hard about what and why I was so thankful for this year.

I’m thankful that for the time being, I’m healthy and still have a job doing nothing more than gaining weight and playing basketball.

I’m thankful that my mother finally got out the hell hole that was North Memphis and into a home of her own where she doesn’t have to see a gang of winos in front of her house when she leaves for work.

I’m thankful I got that hot softball chick’s number on the final day of 2007-08 school year and beat a guy I never too much liked in pool the following day.

I’m thankful that God allowed my aunt to see 84 years on this earth, almost as long as the lifetime of Yankee Stadium which closed this season.

I’m thankful that Tiger basketball is back and there’s a chance the Tigers will be back in the NCAA Tournament again.

I’m thankful that none of my friends and I wound up in AA meetings from all the drinking we did Halloween weekend and that we can think clearly on our future plans.

I’m thankful that my people went out and voted and made a change in this past election. I only can hope that it can be a wake-up call for them.

And most importantly, I’m thankful because God has blessed me with so much, even though I didn’t deserve it.

When I got off the van from my trip to Texas, my professor, who also doubles as the assistant basketball coach at my school gave me a startling stat to go to sleep on.

“88 turnovers”, he said to me.

In the last three games, Crichton has turned the ball over 88 times, including a school-record 38 against Dillard in New Orleans November 13th and 30 last night in a loss against Wiley College, giving the team 88 turnovers in three games, two of which were losses.

Not something you would want to hear while you’re on your way home to see family like I am tomorrow morning.

For whatever it’s worth, when practice resumes again Friday evening, the strains of “Rocket 88″ by ike Turner won’t be in the players’ minds.

Just a half-hour ago, I read an article on Northwestern’s struggles in men’s basketball, despite the fact that Northwestern is minutes away from Chicago, hometown of Derrick Rose and any player that has been in your mind over the last 20 years.

In the more than 100 years of Northwestern basketball, the Wildcats have two Big 10 championships and a handful of NIT apperances.

Contrast that with 89 years of Memphis basketball, where they have 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, 3 Final Fours, and the number 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Strange isn’t it?

Northwestern has produced some of the best minds in the world, people like Warren Beatty, Juila Louis-Drefyus, and countless others.

Memphis’ alum list includes Penny Hardaway, Dixie Carter, Barbara Walker Hummel (I know this because the street near my old house was called Barbara Drive), and Issac Bruce.

But while one would argue why Northwestern hasn’t been able to do what Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, and even Princeton has done, here’s my opinion.

There’s no excuse.

Once upon a time, people were asking why couldn’t Rutgers win in football the same way when Greg Schiano arrived in New Brunswick.

Six years later, Rutgers’ football program heads to three straight bowl games, and have a Heisman candidate in Ray Rice.

So why can’t Northwestern do the same thing?

You figure it out.

If you follow college basketball, you know that last year, the Georgia Bulldogs went from being curious on the fate of their coach Dennis Felton, who was a prime candidate by most to get fired along with John Brady and Jeff Lebo to winning an improbable SEC Tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Of course, the magic of that year died down when the Bulldogs lost to Elite Eight participant Xavier in the first round and this year, the focus is again on Dennis Felton’s job security in Athens.

Today as yours truly hosted “Ballin For Diabetes” on the campus of Crichton College, no one could have imagined that a team, like the Georgia Bulldogs, who came close to not playing in the tournament and being disappointed, would have won today’s 3 on 3 tournament.

Had it not been for myself and my professor, who helped me on this event along with my classmates, this rags-to-riches basketball story would have never happened.

When we began to sign people up for the event, over 40 people signed up for the tournament and as the morning progressed, the number trickled down to 30 people and ten teams.

One of my friends, who ironically once shared the same Whitehaven neighborhood I lived in and played basketball with, ended up having the last team to enter in the tournament.

And after speaking with my professor and pleading from my friends, I felt that even though we had ten teams and the brackets already made, there was no way we were going to leave them out of the fun.

After placing three teams in the semis, my professor decided that there would be a play-in game to determine the last spot in the semis, pitting one of the favored teams against the 10th-seeded team, which had a couple of good friends of mine on the team.

And much like the movie “Hoosiers”, in which a heavy underdog came from out of nowhere to win the Indiana high school basketball championship, Team 10, led by Whitehaven graduate Brandon Solomon, volleyball player Rachel Walton, and Jasmin Washington won the play-in game and three more games to capture the tournament championship over junior Jeffery Garrison’s team, which had former soccer and softball standout Courtnee Steen and Cardill Jones.

In the process, we managed to only raise $26.91 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, not a whole lot but hopefully it will go a long way in finding a cure for juvenile diabetes.

But anyway, that it’s for now. I’ll be back with another post on either Saturday or Monday before I head out to Texas.

After returning home from the Big Easy on November 14th and witnessing history on the following day, I’m back again to present you the SEC Rankings for the week of November 16th.

1. Alabama (Auburn is looking to make a case on Thanksgiving Saturday to make a Bowl and seven in a row against the Tide. Problem is, this Tide squad is pretty damn good.)

2. Florida (Another SEC East title and a chance to head to the BCS when the SEC Championship Game takes place on December 6th. Florida has a cupcake and a team fighting for position in the ACC remaining on their schedule.)

3. LSU (Last year I asked Crichton graduate Grace Walker for grace when Mizzou played the Kansas Gayhawks Thanksgiving Saturday. Apparently that same grace Grace Walker brought that Saturday in Kansas City came to Baton Rouge when LSU made their historic comeback against Troy.)

4. Georgia (Narrow win against Auburn puts Dawgs in position for a chance to head to the Chik-Fil-A Bowl. Chances are, if they lose to Georgia Tech, then the Liberty Bowl will come calling. But I disgress.)

5. Ole Miss (Houston Nutt has done more with Coach O’s players than Coach O did with Coach O’s players)

6. Vanderbilt (A 26-year wait has ended in the West End. A win over Tennessee would make the 2008 Vanderbilt football season even sweeter.)

7. South Carolina (A woodshed beating was not a way to welcome Steve Spurrier back to Gainesville.)

8. Kentucky (It’s OK, UK fans, at least you guys are going to a Bowl game just like Vanderbilt.)

9. Auburn (Iron Bowl game should be a motivating factor with the Plainsmen. I mean, it’s against the #1 team in the country.)

10. Arkansas (Sense of urgency is needed for Hogs if they want to go to a Bowl game. They can start with a victory over Mississippi State.)

11. Tennessee (This week Crichton SGA President Mequitta Williams took a tour of the Knoxville campus with the Grim Reaper. Apparently, the Grim Reaper killed the Vols’ season long before they got there.)

12. Mississippi State (Didn’t this team go to a Bowl last year?)

As student assistant basketball coach, you would never think that a person like me would lose to girls in basketball, especially because of the offical title of my job.

“You watch guys play every day,” old friend Sly Watkins once said, who once played basketball here at my college said during one of my epic losses to one of my female friends in basketball.

Recently, as I move into another role as organizer of a 3 on 3 basketball tournament that will take place on Friday afternoon here at school, I began to ask some of my friends on why I managed to lose to five different girls in basketball.

“I think you’re letting them win,” one of my friends said to me on last Saturday, “You could beat those girls in basketball but you have a soft spot for them.”

Very true, but how does one go 3-for-23 from behind the arc when they’re playing a girl in Crocs?

“It’s intimidation,” another friend of mine said to me later Saturday afternoon, “You get intimidated by hot girls.”

Intimidation was never the case when I played on Super Bowl Sunday and got embarassed by two of my friends, both of whom played high school basketball.

They were just good.

A couple of weeks ago, another friend of mine, who somewhat favored Jessica Alba, and I decided to play H-O-R-S-E in the gym before I got off work.

And while it was supposed to be on paper an easy win, I managed to go cold and lose due to the fact I couldn’t hit a layup left-handed.

“You were intimidated by her looks,” said one of my closest friends afterwards.

Well if it was Jessica Alba for real, the Jessica Alba from the Dark Angel shows I remembered as a teenager, then I could easily use intimidation by looks as an excuse.

Come Friday afternoon, when our 3 on 3 tournament takes place, we will see who will get embarassed on the hardwood.

Thankfully, it won’t be me because of bad knees.

At this time last year, Tennessee and Vanderbilt were in their usual positions in football, the Vols contending for the SEC East and Vanderbilt waiting desperately for their first postseason berth in a quarter of a century.

Of course, the Vols went on to the Outback Bowl and beat Wisconsin for their first bowl win since 2005 when they beat Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl and Vanderbilt, well, was sitting again at home wondering what could have been.

On Saturday night against Kentucky, the Commodores finally exercised the demons of their horrendous football past and became the first Vanderbilt squad to be bowl eligible since 1982 when they beat Kentucky 31-24 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington.

And the other team?

After a bye week from their debacle against Wyoming on Homecoming, the Vols will meet up against the Commodores in Nashville as Vanderbilt looks to beat the Vols for the first time since 2005 when they ended a streak of futility in Neyland Stadium behind the arm of Jay Cutler.

And given how the ‘Dores need to go into their bowl game with positive momentum, this game will be the best chance for them to continue the magic carpet ride that has been their season.

Two years ago when the Cardinals won their 10th world championship, many of us in the Cardinal Nation was certain that El Hombre would win the National League MVP because of the numbers he put up in the regular season.

I mean, come on, it was a shoo-in, right?

Wrong.

That year, Phillies first baseman and St. Louis native Ryan Howard won the award despite the fact that the Phillies didn’t go to the postseason.

Which threw the whole idea of letting someone win the MVP because they went to the postseason out the window.

On Monday, Albert Pujols for the second time in his career won the National League MVP, despite the fact that the Cardinals finished fourth behind the Cubs in the National League Central and the fact that he was playing with a nerve condition that forced him to go under the knife last month and a strained calf that landed him on the DL.

With a healthy Pujols, I think the Cardinals will be back in the hunt for a shot at the postseason in 2009. Ludwick is going to be another threat in the lineup as well as a healthy Rick Ankiel patrolling centerfield at Busch Stadium. As long as we get some pitching, things should be well in the Cardinal Nation next season.

Just a minute ago here at school, I said to a friend that the last time Vanderbilt made a bowl game, I wasn’t even born yet.

The year, my friend, was 1982 when Vanderbilt made the Hall of Fame Bowl in Tampa and lost to Air Force.

Two years before I was born.

Saturday night, the Commodores did what they haven’t been able to do in recent years to become bowl-eligible, which was beat Kentucky and allow the thousands and thousands of Vandy alums to plan their vacations around a weekend in Shreveport or better than yet, Memphis where they would be welcomed with the sweet aroma of barbecue.

And that they did, beating the Wildcats 31-24 at Commonwealth Stadium, on the strength of two picks by D.J. Moore, which gives him 6 on the season and two away from the Vanderbilt record for career picks.

Most importantly, it gave the Commodores their sixth win this season and in the process, end a 26-year wait has ended for the boys from 25th Avenue South.

Somewhere, my old friend Kasi is rubbing her belly in joy.

It’s been a long time coming.

On Wednesday morning, I will leave Memphis for two days in the Big Easy, the first time I’ve been in that city since 1992 when my cousin graduated from Dillard University with a bachelor’s degree in Business.

While for the most part the trip will be basketball-related, it personally will give me a chance to experience first hand the devastation that Hurricane Katrina brought onto the city as well as a chance to see how far the city has come from those fateful days in August and September of 2005.

I’ve been told by some people who are from New Orleans as well as people who’ve been down to Louisiana that the image the media shows you isn’t really the whole story.

Come Wednesday when I head south on Interstate 55, the curiosity that I’ve had on the city after the levees broke will be nothing more than a distant memory.

Pictures will be up on Friday.