Believe it or not, sometimes there’s way too many
distractions in N.C. Central’s McLendon-McDougald gymnasium to focus on the
basketball games. On Tuesday, between
K97.5 FM’s radio personalities, Brian Dawson and Wade Banner deejaying, adorable
mohawked six-year-old boys dancing to their tunes, delicious yellow cheddar
cheese popcorn from Durham’s The Mad Popper,
and watching newspaper reporters make bets on which of them could do the
impossible and convince Rasheed Wallace to give them an interview, amazing
things needed to happen on the court.
The evening opened up with the Wheelchair Bridge to Sports
players battling it out in a game that came down to a tie-breaking shot in the
last seconds. Disabled and restricted to
wheelchairs, their combined athleticism was just as inspiring as the dozens of amateur,
college and pro athletes who would later on exhibit their own breathtaking athleticism, both on foot
and in the air.
So, if NC Pro-Am’s opening night was N.C. State freshman Rodney
Purvis’ coming out party, then this Tuesday night’s coming out party belonged
to Duke’s Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood, and Duke freshmen Amile
Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon. But Jefferson’s
stickman agility, Sulaimon’s barking enthusiasm, and Hood’s late baseline
three-pointer weren’t enough to stop former NC State guard, Alex Johnson—who, in
his second game of the night--spoiled the Duke newcomers’ Pro-Am debut, by following
up Hood’s shot, with his own long-range, game-winning three-pointer.
NBA Rookie of the Year and USA Select Team point-guard Kyrie
Irving was scheduled to play Tuesday evening, but had bigger fish to fry out in
Las Vegas, crossing-over veteran Team USA players and prepping the team for the
upcoming London 2012 Olympics. Duke’s Quinn Cook filled whatever void Irving’s footwork-absence might have left,
showing-off a multiple-spin-move before a fast break layup. Also, during halftime, Cook spontaneously
threw down a 360-degree dunk . Those
that saw it were just as surprised as he was—including fellow Blue Devils,
Tyler Thornton and Seth Curry, sitting on the bench in streetwear, hyping-up
the guy whose main duty will probably be running next year’s Duke’s offense.
But enough about basketball.
Like I said earlier; there’s too many distractions. Last year, I found myself making one-too-many
trips to the concession stand for Chic-fil-a sandwiches. I ate one per game. That’s four chicken sandwiches and an extra
five pounds of body fat that I don’t need.
Tuesday night, I discovered that the good folks at the concession stand
are selling turkey burgers. My favorite,
ON DECK! But there’s absolutely no way I can eat four
of those. I’d fall into a coma after the
second one. Ain’t nobody got time for that—especially during Pro-Am.
