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Home / Archive: 27. August 2008
by Frankie Anetzberger… 1. After making the 1987 McDonald’s All-American Team, being named Los Angeles City Player of the year, and California State Senior of the year, I am sure college scouts were eager to recruit you to their school. What made you choose the University of Michigan? I really didn’t choose the University of Michigan, the University of Michigan chose me. What I mean by this is, most people didn’t realize that I’m originally from Michigan, born and raised until the 5th grade, before moving West. When you grow up in Ann Arbor the maize and blue’s embedded into your soul. I new the fight song before I knew the pledge of Allegiance. So, in a sense the University of Michigan chose me from a baby.
2. Which ranks higher in your career, winning the NCAA Championship with Michigan or being drafted in the NBA? I would have to say winning the NCAA Championship. Having played alongside so many talented teammates and striving everyday to finally win, was just an incredible indescribable feeling. Although, being drafted and finally playing my first NBA game against my childhood favorite Magic Johnson was a thrill as well.
3. What player or coach was the most influential in your career as a player? I would have to say my elementary school gym teacher Andy Anderson; because he introduced me to the game as it should be played and that was fundamentals first. However, I’ve had so many influences on my career, so to answer the question best; I had to start from the beginning with coach. If not for coach Anderson I probably would never have played basketball, because I played football first. He saw me in his gym class and noticed I was a natural and he start working with me right then. I believe Coach Anderson is the inspiration that motivates me to train and coach young players today. My way of giving back to the game!
4. You have played for six different NBA teams. On which of those teams were you most successful and why? I was most successful in terms of statistics with the Philadelphia 76ers. I posted career numbers in all categories except single game scoring. But, in terms of professional success it would be the San Antonio Spurs. And I say this because this team and organization is where I learned how to be a pro on and off the court. Being around veteran players like David Robinson, Terry Cummings, Paul Pressey and coaches like Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich gave me an edge when I went to play for other teams. I contribute my longevity in the game to my time spent with the Spurs.
5. You also played in the Euro league for a couple seasons. What is the major difference between basketball in the States and overseas? The European game is played slower and with more emphasis on ball movement and not one on one play like here in the states. Although, the Euro players may not be as athletic, athleticism only lasts for so long, but fundamentals last forever.
6. You run an extremely successful business off the court. Did your studies of Sports Management in Michigan prepare you for this stage of your life? I think so, I had a professor at Michigan by the name of John Lockhart and he always encouraged me to prepare for when the air was out of the ball. He said to me find something you enjoy away from basketball. I was intrigued with business and the style of being a businessman. Then I had to say to myself, what do I what to do in business, and it was a no brainer, Sports. Being in the sports management department at Michigan definitely prepared me for this stage of my life.
7. If you could have played any other professional sport what would it have been? Football, I love football still to this day, like I mentioned it was my first love. If I wasn’t 6′9 I would have boxed also.
I thank Sean Higgins for his willingness to do this interview. Check out Sean’s official site as well for his career information and his business information
The Anetzberger Verdict 2008©
by Adam Wright… Just week’s away from WWE Unforgiven, the company has lost one of its biggest stars due to injury.
Arguably the most love/hated Superstar in the WWE, John Cena has suffered a herniated disc in his neck at Summerslam. The injury happened during his match against Batista.
Cena will need surgery and will be out indefinitly. This means that a replacement will be named for RAW’s Championship Scramble match later tonight on RAW.
This is a tough break for Cena, who just came back at last year’s Royal Rumble from a torn pectoral muscle injury.
Indeed, this is a tough break for the WWE as well. John Cena is one of the most popular performers in the company—whether you love him or hate him—and he gets the crowd going. However, RAW has a big roster and can cope with his loss.
Who will be named as Cena’s replacement for Unforgiven? Tune in later to find out!
by Josh Lewis… Another Olympiad has come and gone, and with its passing comes a significant let-down for sport fanatics. But they aren’t the only observers who felt a great rush of disappointment as the Beijing Games came to a close on Sunday.
Legions of people who couldn’t care less about who wins the Stanley Cup or the World Series will now return to the drudgery of everyday life. They can’t help but feel a small void in their souls, a little hole that for the past two weeks had been lit up by the wonder and amazement of the Olympic Games.
Butchers and secretaries, sales managers and teachers, doctors and carpenters. For 17 days, the world’s best captivated them all. Even the stereotypical housewife, who’d rather watch her soaps while her husband is forced to catch the ball game in the basement, is reeled in every four years.
What is it about these Games, this collection of athletic pursuits that would normally bore most people, that demands attention? Why does a working person, who routinely falls asleep on the couch during Hockey Night in Canada, feel the need to get up two hours early so they can watch a Norwegian shotputter go for the world record?
The Olympic spirit means something different for every person watching at home. It is plain to see, yet impossible to capture; complex and yet so simple.
The Olympic Games are the ultimate test of character and dedication. It requires a truly special person to put in four long years of pain, endurance and hardship. Only the most committed and hard-working souls are able to keep pushing their limits, to squeeze out one more lap, one more stroke, one more lift, even as their muscles cry out for respite.
And when the inevitable setbacks begin to claw into the psyche, only those blessed with incredible mental toughness are able to dig deep, find that ounce of resilience in their inner reserves, and bounce back.
When we witness an athlete standing atop the podium donning a newly-won medal and basking in the patriotic glow of town and country, we see the pinnacle of achievement. But we can’t possibly know the journey of enduring sacrifice, hard work, and excruciating heartbreak. We don’t see what that swimmer or long-distance runner has learned about themselves, or how they have grown as a person.
Simply put, the Olympics reveal just how much we are capable of—as athletes, as competitors and as human beings.
Aside from witnessing incredible sporting feats, it’s the stories and legends of the Olympics that keep bringing me back for more. I can’t help but tear up to see Eric Lamaze, a man who has overcome so much personal hardship, reach the pinnacle of sporting success.
Then there’s the Canadian men’s eights rowing squad, which was devastated by a fifth-place finish in Athens and vowed to spend every waking hour of the next four years working toward a gold medal and personal redemption in Beijing. I feel privileged to have witnessed them receiving their shiny new hardware on a sunny afternoon at Shunyi, belting out Oh Canada and knowing, deep down inside, that they had achieved something truly exceptional.
Why do the Olympic Games hold such a dear place in our hearts? Because they transcend sport. They tell an extraordinary tale of perseverance, sacrifice, determination, disappointment and jubilation.
In sports, as in life, all are road signs on the path to success.
by Bryan Thiel… For a long time, this world has blown a lot of different issues out of proportion.
In a time where so many serious and jeopardous events such as Global Conflict, Global Warming, and the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana debacle have grasped the world firmly around the throat and begun shaking it to the core, smaller things become infinitely more serious.
The ability to prioritize is gone—if something isn’t perfect, then it’s deadly; If something isn’t charming and bubbly, it’s suspicious; if Sean Crowe doesn’t keep his opinons about the Oakland Raiders to himself, then all of the sudden your NFL Community Leader is a know-nothing buffoon with the entire West Coast thirsting to eat his liver.
To the normal world, this has been a recent turn—things haven’t always been this drastic or arduous—despite past hardships and difficulties, our forefathers always seemed to find a better way, a distraction leading to the betterment of society and it’s attitudes, to keep themselves from going over the edge.
In sports however, we’ve lived this way for a very long time.
Everything is life and death now—whoever your team signs is a burden and will probably under perform, whoever they draft will undoubtedly be a bust, and win or lose, it’s not how you play the game, but how big of an idiot can you make the coach of your favorite team out to be.
That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with those thoughts—there are always two sides to an argument, and without the pessimists, the optimists would have nothing to do. Besides, not everyone can be happy with every decision.
But there is a place to draw the line.
One of those places was this weekend when the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Josef Boumedienne. With the reaction garnered in so few places, you’d have thought the atmosphere had just burned out and we were minutes away from being our own accompaniment to our pancakes (or waffles…depending on your breakfast preference).
For making a depth acquisition, Cliff Fletcher was blasted. He was called (among other things) and old tottering fool who was leading this team down another road of despair with another defenseman added to the roster.
Apparently no one in Toronto has heard of their farm team, the Toronto Marlies. You know, they could use some defensemen too (Boumedienne had 42 points in 52 AHL games last season). Oh, and the contract was a two-way one, so if the Leafs run into injuries (I don’t know why they would…it hasn’t happened before…EVER), they may have some insurance.
But instead of chilling and putting some thought into their reaction, we Leafers read the headline, saw another defenseman being added to the roster and snapped.
Ain’t sports great?
Maybe the reason why we get so angry is because there’s a lot of money being thrown around—in a round about way, it’s a lot of OUR money—and we envy that.
We see a guy, who may not be the best at his job, score a contract that’s more than some of us make in a 10-year span, and we get angry. Not necessarily at him, but at the fact it’ll cost us a month’s wages just to see him play.
We see men like Mats Sundin and Brett Favre struggle with the decision of retirement. Yes they can move on in the sport and take a different position, but anyone who’s retired before can tell you it’s hard, and in the real world there’s people who “unretire” all the time if they feel they left too early—some just miss work when they don’t expect to.
I’m sure the people at their workplace don’t flood their mail boxes with hate mail, but then again how many of those guys get $10 million a year and notoriety that a ‘D-List’ Actor/Comedian can only dream of.
Side note: I was prepared to say “Kathy Griffin” in that last sentence, but has there been anyone who’s been as annoying as her who’s ever received D-List status and then parlayed that into a career? It’s things like this that make me wish she had blown up in that building during ‘Dark Knight’—not necessarily that anyone would give her a speaking role in a Batman movie, but just so I could watch it actually happen.
Perhaps when we become judgmental as a fan, it’s because of greed. Not from what we can gain, but from what we perceive—we’re greedy for our hard-earned dollar to be spent on a number one or two defenseman, rather than AHL depth, or for our favorite players to just retire, rather than prattle about on the subject. It doesn’t make their decisions (or lack-there-of) right, but it also doesn’t make our failure to recognize what some of these players go through is human correct either.
Sports fans are fickle though, and we won’t change—nor should we. We’re passionate about our team, our favorite players, and the colors we choose to wear on our backs. We’re also passionate about every aspect of our players’ lives that happens off the field, and we forget that they aren’t only allowed to make mistakes on the playing field but in their decisions too.
Does that mean I’m not still slightly fed up with the fact that Mats Sundin keeps ignoring his own deadlines for his “decision” despite the public onslaught he’s received? No…But I’m still less fed up than most.
Does that mean I’m not still confused and a little bit angry about the whole Brett Favre thing? No…But at least I know he’s still part of the same race of mammal as me.
Does that mean that I’m hell-bent on assuming that Josef Boumedienne is going to be a bust and Cliff Fletcher is an idiot? No. I still think it’s a great depth signing, and if Fletcher’s wrong? Well I may be slightly irked, but it’s a mistake, and nobody’s perfect.
Besides, if everyone were perfect, there’d be no use for sports. Think about that while I cry myself to sleep reading 18-1: The 2007 New England Patriots Story. [Read more]
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