I just can’t do it. Bo Jackson’s “knowledge” has been marketed and mythologized for decades, and gonging that popular phrase, again, would further dilute something that deserves to remain simple and sweet.

It’s hard enough for Jackson to be Jackson. The man was so captivating in the 80s and 90s that he became a cross-training abstraction; an impossibly perfect body, bound in our minds to his shoulder pads and baseball bat, until his body broke. Now he exists for most people as a frozen, unfulfilled hypothetical from 1991. But before that infamous Bengals game when the hip…man. If you don’t know, you better ask Google. Read More »

Just before the Northwestern Wildcats stomped the No. 6 ranked Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday in Evanston, Ill., the local high school squad – the Evanston Township Wildkits – had an upset of their own to attempt. At about 7:00 p.m. on Friday, the Waukegan Bulldogs strutted into Evanston Township’s Beardsley Gymnasium looking like they owned the joint, and with good reason, as they are a state-championship contender led by 6-7, 195-pound phenom Jereme Richmond, “an Illinois-bound senior who generally is considered the best player in the state,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Read More »

“It’s a recession, homey,” said my 61-year-old father. “Need some cash? Sell some clothes.” Easier floated than fulfilled, because what pops doesn’t understand is that any hoops-head worth his hardwood crafts his closet like a monk rakes a Zen garden; we catalogue and protect our collections like a posse of vigilante librarians who employ a hyperized Dewey Decimal system that exists only in our heads but is tacitly understood. And putting it all together on the daily is a truly holistic endeavor. Ask KG. Read More »

Only a few second-rounders from the 2009 NBA Draft justify the “slept-on” label. DeJuan Blair slipped to the Spurs at pick No. 37 (of course), and Outback trailblazer Patty Mills plummeted all the way to No. 55 before getting seized by the Trail Blazers (of course), and also respect to Sam Young and Jermaine Taylor.

As for the rest, “carry-on” is probably more appropriate — before you get too attached to your second-round additions, you should get to know the second round: Read More »