UNC forward Jackie Manuel will miss the remainder of the NBA Chicago pre-draft camp after fracturing the fifth metatarsal of his left foot on Tuesday.Over his career Jackie really grew on me. The fact that he couldn't catch, shoot or dribble didn't so much matter his junior and senior seasons because Roy Williams had him concentrate on things like defense, rebounding and running the floor on the fast break. And he was really good once he focused on those things. He also seemed like a solid guy (I mean, the guy 'built-a-bear' for his fiance for crimony's sake). I hope some team does take a chance on him with a second round pick. I don't really follow the NBA, but who knows, he could be a George Lynch-type player with none of the offense (how scary is that) but maybe a little better defensively. And if the NBA doesn't pan out, it's good to see that Jackie is willing to go to Europe and play. Hey, it worked out for one of my all-time favorite Tarheel players.
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Manuel, who had been projected as a possible second-round pick for the June 28 NBA Draft, said if the injury meant he couldn't play in the NBA, he would gladly play overseas.
...And this is kind of cool:
Electronic Arts announced today that Raymond Felton, point guard for the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Champion, North Carolina Tar Heels, will serve as cover athlete and spokesman for NCAA March Madness 06, scheduled to be released this fall under the EA SPORTS brand.And since Raymond's already won a national championship, there's no curse to worry ourselves with. Good stuff.
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OK, I know I say this a lot, but this time I really mean it. This might be the funniest thing I've ever seen. I read plenty of stuff that makes me chuckle, but after seeing this letter I laughed out loud on at least three different occasions. Here's the back story, which may or may not be true (quick note: the link above will give you an explanation of the letter, along with its transcription; you can actually view the handwritten version -- and this is definitely worth any trouble -- through a link about halfway down the page):
A airline passenger is stuck in the seat immediately opposite the lavatory in the back of the plane and he becomes so disgusted with his proximity to the crapper that he uses the flight to write a very serious, yet unbelievably hilarious letter to the airlines beseeching them to eliminate his seat from all future flights. And in addition to getting to read phrases like, "pornographic jigsaw puzzle" and "stink-shield" the writer also provides handy (and informative) illustrations. This is top-notch stuff.
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I've been planning for a while to talk about the Steelers, but it seems like other stuff keeps coming up. I'm guessing part of that has to do with the fact that Pittsburgh's in the middle of perhaps the most boring time of year for the NFL, and also because you never run out of material when you Kevin Millar's in the picture. Anyway, I'll have some stuff next week about a couple of articles (good and bad) I've come across recently.
Also, my buddy Des is going to the Tyson - Random White Dude Sure to Get Knocked Out fight, so maybe he'll give us a report of what that was like -- unless, of course, Tyson eats him (and yes, I know, Tysons fighting some guy named McBride, but does it even matter?).
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And finally ...
Yesterday I mentioned that The Network tried to swindle me out of a few bucks. Dave had a few thoughts of his own about how bad ESPN has become. I got a laugh out of the title for his rant: Extortion, Swindle And Prevarication Network. Nice.
