Nonetheless, the house and their persons were searched. Rose, per usual, had no drugs or paraphernalia on him. Ditto for three of the other boys, including Frederick Hogan, the owner of the house he inherited from his recently deceased mother. The police were about to come up empty. Later a full search would also net a marijuana plant growing in the corner of the house. In an instructive moment, Rose and his three innocent buddies were also ensnared in the police dragnet.
In yet another instructive moment, Rose was the only boy to walk away from the scene. The others left in handcuffs. Because of his talents on the court, Rose was treated with discretion, something rarely afforded urban teens.
His ticket never made it to the district courthouse. It would effectively disappear. Loitering in a crackhouse ran the headlines. The overwhelming presumption of guilt seemed like inertia.
The University responded swiftly with a press conference the same day. I am not in trouble with the law. By the end of the Crack Era, drug users, particularly crack users were viewed by many as non-citizens, less than human. Jalen Rose was not a drug user. He was a citizen. Drug User? Absolutely no. College students at the University of Illinois had other ideas.
Only students like Rose had to confront the Drug War as a suspected criminal and drug user. Just Say No! Part of me that was hurt. In one of the better performances of his college career, Rose finished with a game-high 23 points and 8 rebounds.
Honestly speaking, I have no excuse for not updating my blog lately with all the current news going on in sports, particularly Basketball.
From the Celtics finally bringing a title back to city of Boston after a 22 year hiatus at the top, or the Shaq 'freestyle' in which he fired shots at his former teammate Kobe Bryant, and also the resurgence of the U. A Mens Basketball team as a dominate force in the Olympics. So from this day forward I vow to update my blog daily with all the current news in Basketball and everything in between worth the read.
Wednesday, June 18, BreathTaking. The impact MJ has on the game of basketball and even sports in general is extremely undeniable. Many great players before him may have more accomplishments on the court such as championships, Bill Russell, but his pop culture influence is what set him apart from the rest. The lanky 6'6 shooting guard with funky basketball shoes graced the covers of every magazine and newspaper article in the late 80's and the media coverage of MJ just blossomed into the 90's.
Year after year Jordan fans would wait to see what new pair of shoes MJ would reveal during all star weekend. His impact reached new heights when the Air Jordan 4 was referenced in the critically acclaimed movie "Do The Right Thing", when one of the antagonist of the movie scuffed a pair of another character's brand new pair of Air Jordan sneakers.
Twenty three pairs and years later his name will always be tied to the next up and coming swingman with the ability to jump out the gym. In , the NBA draft was filled with plenty of future all stars worthy of the 'Baby Jordan' title such as Allen Iverson and Ray Allen, but only one had the potential to live up to the legendary guard.
The seventeen year old shooting guard was drafted 13th overall to the a city where happy endings are written daily and sold daily, 'Los Angeles'. Paired with Shaquille O'neal for the early years of his career the duo went onto to win 3 consecutive championships, leaving Bryant with a void early in his career. The void can only be fulfilled by winning a championship with out the help of a future hall of fame center. With the departure of Shaq at the end of the season, the 25 year old Bryant was left to attempt the impossible in becoming the next generations MJ.
In his first season experiment in becoming Michael, the Lakers missed the playoffs for the first time in almost 10 years, not exactly Jordan like. The season marked the beginning of his second attempt to fill the 'void'.
As a whole the team had an 11 game improvement from the previous year but was still knocked out of the playoffs by Pacific Division rival, Phoenix Suns. This season also marked a few more glimpses of his Jordan like comparisons with an 81 point performance against the Toronto Raptors. In , Byrant was selected to his 9th consecutive all star appearance and his second All Star Game MVP,but was once again departed from the playoff via phoenix Suns in the first round.
On May 30th , just a few days removed from a year ago, Bryant confirmed he wanted to be traded from the Lakers on the Stephen A. Smith radio show, expressing his anger with the Lakers management and timid strides towards a championship. Just three hours after creating shock waves throughout the sporting news world, Bryant went on to explain his re-consideration to stay with the team after a healthy conversation with Coach Phil Jackson.
Bryant's decision to stay with the team may have put him right back into the driver seat towards his Jordan like career. Only two months into the regular season, Kobe went on to become the youngest player to ever reach 20, career points, which was just one of his few accomplishments this season.
Kobe also went onto to start in his 10th consecutive all star, and was named the leagues MVP. Even if Kobe goes on to win his fourth title, his career will never reach the peak left by Michael Jordan because of his lack of personality off the court. Kids in the playground will never scream out Kobe's name as they attempt to make the game winning shot. The jersey number '24' will never be recognized internationally as the greatest number for a basketball player.
His sneakers will never make grown men wait on line to get a pair. His sneaker will never be the reason a young man is in heaven due to violence. Most of all, Kobe wll never reach the peak of MJ's greatness because he simply doesn't want to. Friday, May 30, 92' Dream Team. The United States Of America olympic basketball team is arguably the greatest sports team in the history of team sports. Unlike the previous olympic teams, the appeal and amazing charisma displayed on the court was secondary to the mass appeal and acknowledgment the team received off the court.
The 'Dream Team' served as more than just a dominant team, but also the bridge that helped introduce the world outside of the U. S to the game of basketball.
Although the margin of victories was an astonishing 44 point average, some opponents would try to capture the moments of defending Jordan, Bird and Magic on camera through fanatic fans. The team went on to capture the gold by beating all 8 opponents with the final game being the closest with an easy 32 point victory. Off the court, 'The Dream Team' sent the city of Barcelona into pandemonium similar to the Beatles in the 60's.
USA Coach Chuck Daly described the pandemonium as "Traveling with the 'Dream Team' was like traveling with 12 rock stars, thats the only thing i can compare it to". Simple moments such eating at the local city resturant to making appearances at the other events during the olympics were captured. Paparazzi Queen, Lindsey Lohan would be jealous with the amount of coverage the 'Dream Team' received. In true celebrity form the team stayed in a high class hotel, along with police escorted arrivals to the game site and media coverage during simple walk through practices.
This summer the Olympic Basketball team headline by Kobe Bryant and Lebron James will attempt to replicate the greatness of the greatest team ever assembled.
Although players are not on the same level as the 92' team, the coverage may help build an argument in their favor, from their political stance on the upcoming election to the relief efforts in China.
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