Wow, apo, thanks. I was skeptical that there would actually be something sports-related I would give a shit about, but now I'm all teary.
Saw it a couple of days ago, and lumped up. It's the reaction of the crowd that's most touching. And I like that the kid seems like he might be a little bit of a dick, not a paper mache saint.
Hey, but who issued a fatwa against discussion of sport?
Curling isn't a sport, is it?
Anyway, Bemidji won the bronze, crushing the hapless Brits.
N.B. 5 is both an homage to Armsmasher and completely sincere. (Not an either/or kind of blog!)
That's really sweet. On the other hand, if the kid can shoot like that, how come he isn't on the team for real?
(BTW, I thought I'd already made this comment, but can't find it. If it's showing up twice, sorry.)
When I saw the headline "Autistic student causes mayhem at basketball game," I was really scared, because the definition of "mayhem" that I'm most familiar with (via torts class) is "n. Law. The offense of willfully maiming or crippling a person."
That was totally what I expected from the headline, as well. I figure 'mayhem' gets used so much in a sports context that it no longer sounds negative to sportswriters.
That is awfully sweet. And I had the same reaction to 9/10 -- sportswriters know how to use mayhem to mean people punching people out 'n'at.
I like to think that ogged (PBUH) was guarding the guy.
not to rain on the guy's parade, but he seems pretty well socially integrated for someone with autism. i mean, talking to the reporter, being a coach for the team - tisn't that something that autism is supposed to be insurmountable in trying to do?
(maybe he does have severe autism, and has overcome incredible challenges to get where he was - if so, that didn't come across at all in the report)
I think they're diagnosing a much broader range as 'autism' these days. Heck, look at someone like Temple Grandin -- as far as I know, there's no argument that she's correctly diagnosed as autistic, but she's a respected professional, who's written a bunch of books, etc.
Yeah, autism spectrum disorder covers a pretty wide range. Kids with very severe autism have difficulty communicating, but some kids with milder forms, including Asperger's, can get by pretty much fine.
Nice story. No lump or tears, though. Guess I'm soulless.
uess I'm soulless.
Yes, you and w-lfs-n.
The kid seems not be on the regular team because he's only 5'6". A few more details about his autism there -- sounds like he's relatively high-functioning.
Apo, you went soft on me, which is something I am rarely forced to say at the Mineshaft.
(The story's ok, but more funny than lump-worthy: Coach puts the kid in for after-school special reasons, and the guy drains threes like a machine. Who knew? It'd be like one of those Down Syndrome football players leaving real defenders on their backs.)
Re. the kid making a ton of points--I really have to wonder, based in part on the crowd reaction (and his going in in the last few minutes) if the opposing team didn't go easy on him. Which isn't to take away from his ability to hit 3-pointers; god knows I can't get a basketball in the basket from ten feet away. But he'd have to be Michael Jordan to score *that* much in just four minutes. (In other words, I suspect there's a reason he doesn't play much.)
Labs and w-lfs-n and I will have a great time in hell together.
The kid seems not be on the regular team because he's only 5'6".
Heh. So part of what we're looking at here is the coach kicking himself ("Damn, if I'd known the kid could shoot like that!"). This is probably a desperately ignorant reaction, given that I don't know anyone with high-functioning autism personally, but did anyone else think that it wasn't all that surprising that the kid was awfully good? As far as I understand what goes on with autism, part of the symptoms are an obsessive focus on repetitive actions: in a kid where the obsession is basketball, and he's high-functioning enough to play at all, that he's a good shot seems like what you'd expect.
b, that occurred to me too. FWIW, it looks like his team was winning by a pretty big margin anyway. Looking at the tape, one of his baskets comes on a fast break, with a long pass to him all alone in the corner; in the rest there's an opposing player in the area but never quite right in his face. (God, I have no life.) I don't know if that means the other team was backing off or if that's usual when guarding people taking 3-point shots.
Still, sinking a bunch of 3-pointers is pretty cool even if the opponents aren't guarding you tight.
Mahmoud Abdul-Raouf (Chris Jackson when he was at LSU) led the NBA in free throw percentage a couple of years and was near the top the rest of his career, an achievement he attributes the OCD component of his Tourette's Syndrome.
"Obsessive focus on repetitive actions" might not be the best characteristic for a teammate.
0.14 inches of rain in Lubbock today! Woo-hoo!
"Obsessive focus on repetitive actions" might not be the best characteristic for a teammate
Try telling that to the US Men's Olympic Handjob Team.
I really have to wonder, based in part on the crowd reaction (and his going in in the last few minutes) if the opposing team didn't go easy on him
Jason's team was killing them before the coach put him in. The final score was 79-43. My best guess is that the score would have been 59-37 when he got put in. It appears that he wasn't playing against a terribly good team, so it's not clear that the opponent needed to lay off him for him to score like that. Especially if, as at the end of most blowouts, its scrubs vs. scrubs.
But the only thing of which we can really be sure is that B does not have a reflection.
Who needs mirrors when you're constantly reflecting in the glow of public admiration?
B does not have a reflection
That's too bad. Nobody will ever see her hoo-hoo and live to tell the tale.
Oh, come on. Plenty of people have seen my hoo-hoo. Most of them are still alive.
Caveat: TI didn't see the video.
High-function autistics are very bright. That's why there's a story. Practically everyone involved in sports, especially the fans and sportscasters, is borderline retarded, so there'd be no story there.
I forsee a trend. Across the country, countless junior high and high school basketball coaches will be approaching special ed. teachers in the the teachers' lounge and asking, "Do you have any, um, what's the word for it, artistic kids in your class? . . ."
"The drought's finally over," said Ed Lukowich, a former world champion brought in from Canada to help coach the U.S. national [curling] teams. "Bronze, for the U.S., is like winning the gold."
Owww. Who says Canadians are nice? Or curlers?
At least we beat the hapless British.
Labs and w-lfs-n and I will have a great time in hell together.
Man, if hell's full of tools like these (not you, b), I'm turning over a new leaf. I'd hope for someone a little more racy down in the hot pot.
My understanding is that the range of autism can be quite wide, and that the desperate hope of parents who work hard to get their *young* children into good schools is that the students will then, in turn, be more likely to grow up to be high functioning. Hence, for example, Nick Hornby's Speaking to the Angel anthology.
That totally teared me up. I haven't been to a real basketball game since high school, when I loved to cheer for my fairly talented classmates. I'd forgotten how wonderful it is to watch your friends shoot baskets. The crowd jumping up and down---so hard the camera shakes with the bleachers--that was just lovely--the epitome of all the best moments of school camraderie. Professional generally sports leaves me cold, but I often wish that neighborhoood and community sports had better organized spectating.
Kung Fu Monkey claims he cried when he saw the clip. That seems to be the standard response. I'm led to wonder: How heartless and evil would a kid by B and Labs be?
I do have to say Kung Fu Monkey's commenter is dead on.