A pleasant diversion from the fight over $4 billion

GYSO

Hard to top this. think we all need to be brought down to earth once in a while.

beat

Remember seeing this when it first happened and am still blown away by it.

gyso,

Very good pick; this is the one that happened here where I live.

It ended up being a global news event and carried over to the sectional championships where I am a sponsor. In more than a dozen years of being a sponsor of what has become the biggest boys high school basketball tournament in the state I've never seen anything that comes close.

The team made the Sectional finals shortly after this and there were camera crews from all over the world present in an arena with a capacity of slightly over 15,000. They have a group of us sponsors hand out the awards at center court after each classification's final. We were out there for the awards presentation after JMac's team won their sectional bracket and literally got run over by the crush of cameras; especially the Japanese camera crew that didn't care who was in the way.

The kid (now in his young 20's) didn't play again after that one night but became such an international celebrity that every move he made the rest of the season was captured on camera. Then President Bush and his wife Laura were even escorted from Air Force One by Jason when they visited here a short time later. The only existing video from the game was taken by a student in the stands and CBS purchased it from the student as soon as word got out. The whole school knew he was going to get a chance to play that night, which is why all the students are holding cut-outs of his face in the stands.

JMac's still living in the area and working for a local Grocery chain in one of their stores. During the season he's an assistant coach for his alma mater as well. The coach has gotten a lot of lecture opportunities and has written a book about his approach to coaching and his relationship to JMac. Magic Johnson has purchased the movie rights and will be a producer on the project which could end up being a fairly major theater release.

My single favorite basketball event, and one I'm happy to have been in on a little of the extended aftermath for, even in a small way...even if it did mean getting run into full on by the Japanese news crew!

Regards

Thanks, gyso.

NYCelt

You say the only exsisting footage was taken by a student, yet if you look at GYSO you tube tape it shows him shooting at the basket to the left. Yet on the second done during the NBA halftime it shows him shooting to the basket to the left so it does appear ther were at least 2 gunman er cameramen, one on grassy knoll... er I mean behind the bench and one on the other side.

beat

beat,

You're absolutely right about that!

I remember that at the time they said CBS bought the only video of the event, but there was obviously at least two.

It goes to show that YouTube will catch whatever you do, wherever you do it!

There must have been something about another camera catching it that I missed.

By the way the grocery chain he works for is Wegmans; I think there must be at least one out your way.

Regards

NYCelt wrote:beat,

You're absolutely right about that!

I remember that at the time they said CBS bought the only video of the event, but there was obviously at least two.

It goes to show that YouTube will catch whatever you do, wherever you do it!

There must have been something about another camera catching it that I missed.

By the way the grocery chain he works for is Wegmans; I think there must be at least one out your way.

Regards

No wegmans north of Syracuse....... yet

beat