Two Quickies: Kenny George; The Replacement Players

Last college basketball season, I wrote about a player named Kenny George from UNC-Asheville. At 7'7" and in possession of the top field goal percentage in the NCAA, you'd think he had it made, but his size seems to get in the way of him living a normal life. This is a guy whose dad has to drive across the country to pick him up from school because he can't fit on an airplane. And I felt a tinge of sadness watching him play, mainly because he seemed to be in pain. Although I'm sure he loves basketball, there's an air of exploitation surrounding him. I'm not suggesting that UNC-Asheville is necessarily the culprit, but it's just an uneasy feeling I get.

Well, now it looks like he's going to miss the entire upcoming season. George is currently laid up in a Chicago hospital following two surgeries due to a foot infection, and his coach says that he's probably not going to even attend school this semester, which sucks because this is his senior year. (Although he could possibly have another year of eligibility if his injury is non-sports related. I actually had an extra year of sports eligibility when I started law school. . . but God denied my petition for 28 hours in a day.) Hopefully, he will be able to at least return to graduate even if he can't play . . . something tells me that even if he takes the year off, he has a good shot at being picked up by an NBA team who wants to take a chance on him. While I don't think his body will handle too many years in the league, though, I do hope he gets a shot - for his own sake and no one else's . . .


The latest episode of "Pull the Plug on the QB," features the Minnesota Viking's Tarvaris Jackson. Vikings coach Brad Childress announced Wednesday that Jackson will be riding the pine from here on out until further notice. In his place will be 15-year veteran Gus Frerotte - aka the poster child for "one time a bride, usually a bridesmaid." He made a name for himself with the Washington Redskins where he made the Pro Bowl in 1996 (12 years ago) but was perhaps even more famous in our nation's capital for spraining his neck during a touchdown celebration (but at least he scored, DeSean) and ending up in the hospital.

Only two weeks in and the coach is shaking things up. Childress clearly doesn't like what he sees and apparently neither do the fans as they vocally expressed their disapproval of Jackson's playing during the last game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings have certainly woefully underperformed in their first two games, but I'm not sure anyone on the team was expecting this move, not even the two men who are swapping jobs. Right now, Jackson has barely 300 yards in his two starts - Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb both had about that on Monday night. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing (everyone can't be Romo and McNabb)...if you're still getting it done other ways. Oh, there's the problem: Despite Adrian Peterson rushing for 160 yards, the Vikings never scored a touchdown in Sunday's game against the Colts. Childress probably thinks, like many folks, that if you've got a player like AP, who's still performing at AP-level (i.e., LT - I know, the toe, but 2007 counts, too) you ought to be winning, or at the very least, scoring.

Frerotte has had a very, very (very) long time to become a premier QB in this league, and if it hasn't happened in 14 years, I don't see 15 being the charm, so we'll see how long this lasts. But, boy oh boy, life is tough for a starting QB, isn't it? We're just two games in, and this season has already changed at least one institution: fantasy football. All those "draft the best QB first" owners will definitely be re-thinking that strategy next year . . .

"Giant" Exploitation?

Wednesday night I caught a little bit of the UNC-UNC Asheville game. Of course, everyone was talking about the 7'7" Kenny George with the size 28(!) feet on UNC Asheville's team.

I watched him play. He looks like a giant. Seriously, I've watched a decent amount of basketball and he makes 6'10" guys look like midgets. But he doesn't really look happy, and he seems to be laboring in his movements. I wonder if he's not in any pain and people are just pushing him for the novelty and the (eventual) money. Here's his take on himself. He can't do a lot of things regular people do, like riding in a car or fitting on an airplane. I actually feel kind of sad for him. But on the other hand, he's the leading shot blocker in the NCAA and, let's face it, he's going to block a lot of people by just standing there.

But he didn't block Tyler Hansbrough's dunk. The funniest part in the entire link is George's statement about why he got dunked on:

“I saw him coming to the basket. I just kept my hands straight up,” George said.
“I had him. I just forgot to jump. He jumped. I didn’t jump. I should have known
than a 6-10 player as athletic as him was able to jump over my hands even if I
go straight up.”

I'm going to read between the lines a little bit and speak for George. What he wanted to say was "White men can't jump, and I thought this was going to be no exception."

No, instead, "Psycho T" gets press for dunking on George, who is tall and can block the shots where he's standing but otherwise I'm not sure how developed his skills are.

He wants to play in the league, and I am sure that he can. I just hope he stays healthy.