Two career points.

When Kris Henry saw my Browns-related salvo in our "hometown" series, he sent back this ass-kicker (with an amazing story):

That's amazing! I mean, what a poster. And what a good story behind it. Great lessons there. Kris is definitely the better athlete between the two of us, but his volley sent me to the Hughes family archives. Enjoy:

Freshman year, 1994-95 season. The first team I had ever tried out for. And I made the cut. Barely. Fifteenth out of 15 for sure. Not terrible in practice, more of a defensive player. I loved blocking shots and grabbing rebounds. The uniform speaks for itself. The shorts, I'm sure, a hand-me-down from a '70s Athens High School team. The jersey number? Not my call, as it was dictated by the size. Bigger the jersey, higher the number. So there you go. No one ever accused me of being a point guard.

Here's my one quasi-inspirational story: The whole year - and the team wasn't great - I had played maybe 10, 15 seconds a game. Not a lot. Being a benchwarmer who comes in during garbage time on a bad team teaches you something, I suppose. Stick-to-it-iveness maybe? Anyway, second-to-last game comes around. By then, I had registered my two career points as a Bulldog. We're losing, again, and this time, there's maybe two minutes left. Coach goes up and down the bench asking if folks wanted to play.

People kept saying no, players who were way better than me. I piped up and volunteered to go in. Two minutes was probably more than I had played all season, so I couldn't pass this up. Hell, I think I threw up a half-courter for good measure at the buzzer. Fast-forward to outside the locker room afterward, and Coach tells me to stay outside.

Oh shit.

I assume I'm either in trouble for something or I'm so far down the bench I don't even get to go into the locker room anymore. Meanwhile, I can hear him yelling at the team. About me. About how this kid who never plays cares enough to ask to come in during a hopeless cause. He told them I'd start the next game, our last of the season, against the best team in the league. And guess what, sports fans, we kicked their ass.

Comments

[William Bogan]

Damn, that would have made a great "Ohio Today" cover.

[Joseph]

I have a hefty modeling fee.