FanHouse ManuteBol

Greg Grant was a short player who overcame long odds: standing just 5-foot-7 and playing college ball in Division III, he was drafted in the second round by the Phoenix Suns in 1989, lasting seven years in the NBA.

Earlier today, FanHouse featured the first chapter of Greg's autobiography, 94 Feet and Rising, written with the help of Martin Sumners and released in July. In the following excerpts, Greg recalls what it was like to play against Magic Johnson and share a locker room with Charles Barkley, two of the brightest stars the NBA has ever seen.

I was fiddling through my RSS feeder tonight and saw "Clyde Drexler: how to cram it on Manute Bol" from Blazers Live, and hit it up, expecting something new, funny or maybe both. Instead it was an older YouTube of the Glide's top 10 dunks. Um, and it is freaking filthy, man.

I think a lot of us young hipsters might forget just how ridiculously high Drexler got up, so I'm posting this. Oh yeah, and he posterizes a bunch of people (Manute, #8, 0:39; #'s 5, 4, 3 and 2). Really, you need to watch the whole two minutes.



Sure, he's another guy that Jordan stopped from winning a title (on his own) and sure NC State took he and the Dream down (woot!), but man could he throw down.

Apparently, Stephen A. Smith (described by the Toronto Star's Doug Smith as "a prominent ESPN analyst known for his loud delivery and over-the-top commentary") called Raptors star Chris Bosh "soft," and to assert his point compared the NBA's 10th leading scorer (Bosh, that is) to ... Manute Bol, a gentleman to be credited for his political work of behalf of change in Darfur but otherwise existed as a basketball sideshow, a fellow who never averaged more than 3.9 points a game.

Bosh, you'll understand, bristled at the comparison.

"If you have respect for someone, you expect that same respect back," Bosh said yesterday. "If you're a classless person like that, I mean, I guess that shows how you are, what kind of person you really are. ... I don't have to prove anything to that guy, plain and simple. If that's what he wants to do, that's what he's going to do. If that's what makes him happy, to try to bring other people down, good for him."

The Toronto chapter of the Stephen A. Haters Club has expanded. President and founder Rasho Nesterovic must be overjoyed.

Named in honor of noted gambling aficionado Rick Tocchet, The Tocchet Line is an occasional feature on NHL FanHouse in which we even out the odds for the likelihood of various hockey-related happenings.

As Eric McErlain noted today on FanHouse, Al Arbour's one-shot return to the New York Islanders' bench was a very big deal. Not only did the NHL legend coach his 1,500th game, but the Islanders managed to piss off hockey purists with nary a 15-year contract in sight. So successful was Arbour's cameo appearance, one can't help but wonder who else might be in line for a flimsy publicity stunt moment of honor and distinction. The Tocchet Line handicaps the field:

Barry Melrose (2:1) - The Mullet must return! If not because he's the key to landing sponsorship with Mario's House of Mafioso Pinstripes, then because he's looking so laid back these days on ESPNews that I'm pretty sure he could coach an entire NHL game with a copy of The Hockey News in one hand and a Tom Collins in the other.

Phil Goyette, Terry Simpson, Lorne Henning, Mike Milbury, Butch Goring, Peter Laviolette and Steve Stirling (6:1) - Did you see the attendance for the Islanders' win against the Penguins on Al Arbour Night? Incredible ... a sellout at the Nassau Coliseum, and the Rangers weren't even playing. Based on those numbers alone, they should bring everyone that ever coached the Islanders back for one night only. Can you imagine the nostalgic joy that is Steve Stirling Night?

Paul Newman (15:1) - Get the Hansons out of moth balls and grab the foil, because Reggie Dunlop's finally coaching an NHL team! Would you have him behind the bench in Philly, where the Flyers are currently perfecting their own brand of "old time hockey?" Nah ... gotta have him in Florida, where the Charlestown Chiefs were going to be relocated -- if the rumors were true, that is.

The700Level passes on this Sixers.com visit with celebrity boxing/Monkey in the Middle/professional basketball legend Manute Bol, who shares details of his harrowing and completely unknown (until now) ordeal which involved being comatose for four weeks.

"The accident happened when I was coming back from a women's basketball game (The Connecticut Sun of the WNBA). The driver was going too fast. I told him to slow down. Next thing I know, I woke up four weeks later. I had been in a coma. I spent six weeks in the hospital.

Slow down, people. Stop putting Manute Bol and others in danger. Of course, Manute himself tried to run over Charles Barkley back in the day...

"One day there was a golf tournament in Philly. I was driving a golf cart and I hit him with the golf cart while he was doing an interview. I don't remember what Charles thought, but I thought it was real funny."

... so maybe this was just karma? Whatever, the moral: We need more Manute Bol in our lives.