NPR, Fab 5 and Ronald Reagan

This is a few weeks old, but did you see that the House voted to defund NPR?. It seems the republicans want to stop funding NPR because they say it leans too far to the left. The democrats don’t want to stop funding NPR because… well… it leans to the left. Don’t get me wrong, I like NPR and I don’t want it to go away. The thing is, I don’t think cutting government funding will cause NPR to go away. And if it does go away, then so be it. But really, Fox radio is doing ok without any help from the Feds… so why can’t NPR? They have some good shows and the shows that aren’t good will be replaced by good shows. You can’t tell me a show like Car Talk wouldn’t bring in advertising dollars. This way NPR can lean whichever way it wants to… it’s a win-win for everyone.

So did you happen to see the ESPN documentary thingy on the “Fab 5”? I got to see it the first night it aired and I have to admit… I liked it. I have to be up front with you on a couple of things here. Back then I was a huge Duke basketball fan (I don’t hate Duke now… but I think we all know Winthrop is now my team). The other thing is I wasn’t a fan of the “Fab 5”. In fact, their championship game against UNC in 1993 is really the only time I can remember cheering for UNC in a basketball game. Anyway, this show was interesting. It helps to know that the executive producer of the documentary was Jalen Rose… one of the members of the “Fab 5”. It would seem (from this documentary) that this group of players were “pioneers” with their trash talk, baggy shorts, black shoes and black socks. We also learned from this documentary that the Michigan players hated Christian Laettner, didn’t think Bobby Hurley was good and thought players like Grant Hill (ie, black players) were “Uncle Tom’s”. It was also said that Duke didn’t recruit players like “us” (“us” being the Fab 5 guys). Honestly, it would be hard to watch this thing and not walk away thinking this was an incredible group of players who changed college basketball forever and blah, blah, blah…

Let’s start with the “Uncle Tom” comment… I’m not really going to talk about it except to say that if Grant Hill is an “Uncle Tom” then all people (of all races) should strive to be one. Trust me when I tell you that if Daniel grows up to be like Grant Hill then I will be the first person to pat myself on the back. :) I’ll let you read what Grant Hill had to say about it here and what Thomas Hill had to say about it here. And I do find it a little funny that the guys who were saying a black guy had to “sell-out” to go to Duke were guys who went to…. Michigan. I don’t know how to put this… but… UM ain’t SC State, if you get my meaning. UM is whiter than The Wife after a long cold winter. But enough about that… let’s move on to the next point.

The fact that anyone would want to credit them with bringing trash-talking to basketball is just downright laughable. I don’t know when trash-talking started, but I can tell you it was around before the “Fab 5”. There was trash-talking in the Duke/UNLV game the year before the “Fab 5” got to Michigan. Heck, Larry Bird was a world famous trash-talker and he was in college loooooong before these guys.

Speaking of UNLV… a quick look back at the DVD I have of the 1991 Duke/UNLV game shows that UNLV had baggy shorts and black shoes. The “Fab 5” might have had shorts that were a tad longer… but not much.

As for the black socks, my only comment is who the hell cares.

They hated Laettner… wow… there’s a shocker. What would be news is to find out that someone who played against Laettner liked him. Based on various things I’ve read over the years, I could probably count on one finger the number players who played with or against Laettner back then who liked him (Brian Davis). It was said in a John Feinstein book many years ago that every team needs a motherf***er and for Duke that motherf***er was Laettner. But love him or hate him, the fact is that he did more than all of the “Fab 5” combined.

They didn’t think Bobby Hurley was good. That’s just dumb. Bobby Hurley could very well be one of the greatest point guards in college basketball history. I don’t know if he would be #1 on the list… but I do know he’s at least on the list. He made the list of 50 greatest ACC basketball players of all time. Do you know the guys who have played basketball in the ACC?! He could hit 3’s and he could dish the ball (I don’t know if he still holds it, but he graduated as the all-time assist leader in college basketball). He pretty much carried Duke over Indiana in their 1992 Final Four game. Jalen Rose made it to the championship game his first two years in college… Bobby Hurley made it his first three years. Oh, and Hurley won two of those three. He also put up 20 or more points in 2 of the 3 wins Duke had over the “Fab 5”. There are no stats for how he did in Dukes losses to the “Fab 5” because… well… Duke didn’t lose to them.

As for the “Duke didn’t recruit players like us” comment… that’s just not true. They recruited Chris Webber pretty hard. They didn’t recruit all of the “Fab 5” because, to be brutally honest, not all of the “Fab 5” were good enough to play for Duke.

Here are some things guys like Hurley, Laettner, and Hill did that the “Fab 5” didn’t. They won championships (both conference and national). They talked trash… and backed it up. And they stayed out of trouble… so that all of their wins still count. All of their banners are still hanging. They didn’t have to vacate anything because they did things the right way.

The “Fab 5” thought they were going to “shock the world”… but Duke had already done that in 1991 when they beat the “unbeatable” UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. All the “Fab 5” did was walk away crying.

I’m just sayin… highly recommends the book Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan. It was a very interesting book. For any of you who like politics and history… read this book. I would say about 90% of the book deals with the day of the assassination attempt.

This post is brought to you by E*Trade…


Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Seaman/Gun Captain Thomas Bourne (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 24, 1862 on the USS Varuna. His citation reads:

Served as captain of a gun on board the U.S.S. Varuna during an attack on Forts Jackson and St. Philip and while under fire and ramming by the rebel ship Morgan, 24 April 1862. During this action at extremely close range while his ship was under furious fire and was twice rammed by the rebel ship Morgan, Bourne remained steadfast at his gun and was instrumental in inflicting damage on the enemy until the Varuna, badly damaged and forced to beach, was finally sunk.

Sergeant Richard Boury (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on (unknown) at (unknown). His citation reads:

Capture of flag.

Private John W. Boutwell (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on April 2, 1865 at Petersburg, Virginia. His citation reads:

Brought off from the picket line, under heavy fire, a comrade who had been shot through both legs.