Inspirational Basketball Story

Autistic High School Senior Jason McElwain at Greece Athena High School in Rochester, N.Y.  McElwain was added to the roster so he could be given a jersey and sit the bench the last game of the season.  The coach Jim Johnson hoped the situation would even enable him to get McElwain onto the floor a little playing time. McElwain got the chance to go in, when Greece Athena went up double-digits. And, in his first action of the year, McElwain missed his first two shots, but then sank six three-pointers and another shot, for a total of 20 points in three minutes. "My first shot was an air ball (missing the hoop), by a lot, then I missed a lay-up," McElwain recalls. "As the first shot went in, and then the second shot, as soon as that went in, I just started to catch fire." "I've had a lot of thrills in coaching," Johnson says. "I've coached a lot of wonderful kids. But I've never experienced such a thrill." The crowd went nuts has McElwain had a terrific game. "I felt like a celebrity!" he beamed. "This is the first moment Jason has ever succeeded (and could be) proud of himself," reflects Debbie McElwain. "I look at autism as the Berlin Wall, and he cracked it." His teammates were filled with joy to see him so happy. "He's a cool kid," says guard Levar Goff. "You just get to know him, get used to being around him. A couple of weeks ago, he missed practice because he was sick. You feel different when he's not around. He brings humor and life to the team."


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/autistic-teens-hoop-dreams-come-true/

Homosexuality in Basketball

"Jason Collins, who became the first openly gay athlete in North America's four recognized major team sports when he played for the NBA's Brooklyn Nets last season, announced Wednesday his retirement from the league."  Collins made his retirement announcement in Sports Illustrated, the same way he revealed his sexuality in 2013.  Collins received a lot of support from his teammates who didn't mind him being gay.  "Collins also singled out Nets guard Deron Williams for the support that Williams gave Collins before he came out in the Sports Illustrated article.  "He reached out to me and it was incredibly supportive," Collins said."  Collins has seemed to handle the situation quite well, "Playing 13 years in the league, people will slap different labels on you," Collins said. "First and foremost, I always want my legacy to be known as a great teammate, someone who always sacrificed for the team. Whether it be on the offensive end, setting screens, de-cleating people. I love when that happens. And then on the defensive end, being physical out there and making sure the opponent knows when they get into the paint that there would be a consequence."  After retiring Collins now advocates for the LGBT organizations, and still stay involved in basketball.

Deflate Gate Reaction

Deflate Gate led to the suspension of Tom Brady for 4 games, the Patriots losing its 2016 first round pick and its 2017 forth round pick, and the Patriots being fined $1 million.  "The punishment comes after last week's release of a report by attorney Ted Wells, who was hired by the league to investigate the incident.  The investigation was initiated to determine what was behind the Patriots' use of underinflated footballs during January's AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots beat the Colts en route to a Super Bowl XLIX victory."  It was found that Brady was aware of the footballs being deflated.  Brady would not turn over his text messages and emails to investigators to prove himself innocent.  I believe this is why he was considered guilty.   But, Brady's agent, Don Yee disagreed, "the discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis."  "In my opinion, this outcome was predetermined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever," Yee said in a statement. "There is no evidence that Tom directed footballs be set at pressures below the allowable limits."  Which to some extent those statements are correct because there is no proof that Brady had any connection to the deflation of the footballs, just him not giving proof and information.  Brady will most likely appeal this decision and probably get his suspension down to 2 games or get his suspension removed completely.


http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/11/us/nfl-deflategate-response/

Reaction of League of Denial

After watching the League of Denial, I feel a little disgusted. The evidence is there that football causes Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).  CTE is a form of encephalopathy that is a progressive degenerative disease, which can currently only be definitively diagnosed postmortem, in individuals with a history of multiple concussions and other forms of head injury.  Because of this disease players get mentally ill and do not act themselves.  A lot of times players who have this disease get suicidal thoughts and some even commit suicide.  CTE is extremely serious and the NFL is ignoring it completely just to keep making money.  Obviously the NFL does not want to be responsible for the deaths of players but they will do whatever it takes to keep the sport going and keep making money. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist and neuropathologist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania found CTE in the brains of Mike Webster,Terry Long, Andre Waters, Justin Strzelczyk and Tom McHale.  Omalu also tried to get Junior Seau's brain to run test on it but the NFL called Junior Seau's son and told him not to give the brain to Omalu and made up rumors about him.  I think the NFL should stop trying to hide CTE and find a safer way to play the sport America loves.

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2013/10/league_of_denial_dan_engber_and_stefan_fatsis_debate_the_frontline_documentary.html

Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest in basketball would be the gambling of Michael Jordan.  Michael Jordan had many gambling incidents but there is one particular one at an airport.  "Back before NBA teams had grasped the rejuvenating power of chartered airplanes, the Bulls were waiting for their luggage in Portland when Jordan slapped a hunny on the conveyor belt: I bet you my bags come out first. Jumping on the incredibly favorable odds, nine teammates happily accepted the wager. Sure enough, Jordan's bags led the rollout. He cackled with delight as he collected everyone's money.  What none of the suckers knew, and what MJ presumably never told them, was that he had bribed a baggage handler to help him out. He didn't pocket much (a few hundred bucks), and considering his net worth hovered around nine figures at the time, it's safe to say he didn't need the extra cash. But that didn't matter. There was a chance at an easy score, and he took it."  This incident is not that big but it still shows the addiction Jordan had to gambling.  Most of the gambling incidents Jordan was involved in were never reported because it would destroy the image of basketball.  Jordan was and still is one of the most popular and famous basketball players to ever live.  And if he was reported on gambling and he got in trouble it would ruin his image and probably ruin the image of basketball.



http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060614

King of Basketball

If I was the king of basketball I would change the rules to make a 4 point line.  Somewhere between the 3 point line and half-court I would make a 4-point line.  Having a 4 point line would have more exciting games and would have players become better outside shooters.  Even though it would be a very difficult shot I think it would make the game very entertaining.  Also, I think kids would enjoy basketball more if they could make a 4 point shot.  Even some coaches and owners think a 4 point line would be an exciting aspect to the game.  Phil Jackson, longtime coach and owner, had something things to say about the 4 point line.  "So, Jackson's a purist, but he's a purist who would be fine with a 4-point line. How fascinating. He's always been a guy who places emphasis on versatility and skill with the basketball, and he values ball movement over one-on-one play. The game has moved in that direction, but away from the post-ups and midrange jumpers that were so prevalent when he coached the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers."  Basketball would definitely change a lot with a 4 point line and I think that's the main reason against it.  Although the game would never be the same, I think it would increase a lot of attention to the sport and gain younger athletes to start playing basketball  

Youth Basketball

Youth basketball is all about AAU.  AAU is looked at as a more competitive type of basketball and it is supposed to get you more college exposure. Last week was the McDonald's All-American Game, where the top 48 college recruits play in a game.  Each of those 48 kids all played and may still play AAU basketball.  AAU basketball teams play in, what is known as a showcase tournament where they play in a tournament where colleges will attend.  This gives kids a great chance to get their name out their and be recruited.  For instance the #1 prospect in the country, Ben Simmons, an LSU commit, got noticed at the 2012 Pangos Camp, which is a very large showcase camp that gained him national attention.  AAU basketball gives kids great attention and good competition but do the kids gain skill and work on fundamentals?  Most coaches expect the kids to have good skills and fundamentals.  With that being said the coaches do not necessarily stress basic fundamentals and growth of skills and only care about getting the athletes exposed to college coaches.  Having coaches only focus on college and playing at the next level is not always a bad thing but I think if parents are paying a good amount of money they would want their kid to be trained and become a better player not just doing showcases and tournaments.  Kobe Bryant even went on to say things about AAU basketball.  “I just think European players are just way more skillful,” Bryant said Friday Night. “They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. … They’re more skillful. It’s something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way.”  The main culprit, Bryant believes, is AAU basketball:  “AAU basketball,” Bryant said. “Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It’s stupid. It doesn’t teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don’t know how to post. They don’t know the fundamentals of the game. It’s stupid.”  In my opinion Kobe is exactly right,  AAU basketball players are not taught the basic fundamentals of the game.