POST the touching stories ofathletes that make u cry....no +#*%

[Chester McFloppy]

Originally Posted by cheezybaby


i wish










....i was that boy

You'd be hanging off the end of his jock like an altar boy on a catholic priest if that was you.

 

[verdykt]

Originally Posted by cheezybaby

http://www.charlotte.com/456/story/397692.html Richardson found tragedy, triumph and trusty fans in Saginaw [h3]DAVID SCOTT[/h3] [h3][email protected][/h3]
[h5]THE SAGINAW NEWS[/h5] [h2]Jason Richardson's emphatic dunks while playing for Saginaw's Arthur Hill High helped him win Michigan's Mr. Basketball award. (JEFF SCHRIER -- THE SAGINAW NEWS)[/h2]
[h3]SAGINAW, Mich. --[/h3]Elaine Richardson-Cook didn't see this coming.
It's the holidays and people are busy. So Richardson-Cook was prepared to understand if the good folks of Saginaw decided to pass on a chance to see her son -- Charlotte Bobcats guard Jason Richardson -- play a homecoming game today against the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Mich.

It has become an annual ritual for Richardson-Cook. In each of Richardson's first six seasons in the NBA, his mother chartered a bus for the 75-mile trip down Interstate 75 from Saginaw to Auburn Hills, allowing local fans a chance to see Richardson and the Golden State Warriors play the Pistons.

But Richardson plays for the Eastern Conference's Bobcats now. Since they return for a second game against the Pistons in February, Richardson-Cook figured that might be a more convenient time to dispatch what she calls the "fan bus."

Not so.

"My oldest son said people keep asking, `Are we going to have the bus?' " said Richardson-Cook. "I hadn't planned on it. But it's crazy. I guess I don't have a choice."

Richardson-Cook ponders this while sitting in the kitchen of her well-appointed home in suburban Saginaw, a city of about 60,000 on the banks of the Saginaw River near Lake Huron.

Jason bought her the house after he signed with Golden State in 2001. He played two seasons at Michigan State, helping the Spartans to a national championship as a freshman.

Before that, Richardson led Saginaw's Arthur Hill High to the state championship game as a senior and won Michigan's Mr. Basketball award. He was the best player they'd ever seen in Saginaw.

That's where Richardson's story begins -- full of success and tragedy. And why there will be a fan bus heading from Saginaw to Auburn Hills today.

Too big for his booties

When Richardson was born one January day in 1981, the fourth of six children Richardson-Cook would have, his cousin Marlow Prescott walked into the hospital room and gasped.

"He was amazed at how Jason looked," said Richardson-Cook. "He had huge hands, big feet. He said, `Oh my God, this is my boy. Look at these hands and feet!' "

It was true. Only Jason's toes would fit into normal-sized baby booties. Richardson-Cook had to find larger booties made for older infants.

Three days later, Richardson-Cook looked over to the bassinet where Jason was lying. Prescott had Jason holding a basketball up in the air.

"Get that ball out of my baby's hands!" she said.

"Look, he can hold a basketball," Richardson-Cook said Prescott told her. "This is the is one who's going to make it."

Prescott would soon play a large part in the life of Jason, whose father would leave when he was 3.

"He was his father figure," said Richardson-Cook. "Marlow took Jason everywhere. He was taking him to pickup games in the park before he could even walk."

One day when Jason was 8, Prescott drowned in a pond near the family's neighborhood in the Saginaw suburb of Carrollton. Standing outside their house, Richardson-Cook told Jason about it.

"I didn't really understand it," said Richardson. "I didn't really know about people dying."

But another voice spoke up. Richardson-Cook's brother, Tyrone Bowen, told Jason he'd take up where Prescott had left off.

Dunks, hockey, highlights video

Bowen and Jason soon developed their own close relationship. Bowen was nearby when 12-year-old Jason dunked for the first time, at Sherman Street Park in Carrollton. It was an event so momentous for Richardson -- who would eventually win the NBA's slam-dunk contest two years in a row -- that he ran down the street and dragged 10 relatives back to watch him do it again.

Then, when Richardson was 13, tragedy struck again. Bowen died of unknown causes while playing basketball.

Standing outside their house at the same spot, Richardson-Cook again told her son that a close relative had died.

"All my father figures were passing away," said Richardson. "It was really tough on me."

Since Bowen died on a basketball court, Jason couldn't bring himself to continue playing the sport. Instead, he took up hockey, telling his mother he wanted to become one of the first African American players in the NHL. That lasted for about six months because he outgrew his skates and couldn't afford a new pair.

One day at about 6 a.m., Richardson-Cook was awakened by the sound of a ball bouncing. Jason was playing basketball again.

At Arthur Hill, Richardson developed quickly into one of the state's best high school players. But in a state where most of the publicity goes to players in the Detroit-Ann Arbor area, he wasn't being noticed much beyond Saginaw.

That's when Arthur Hill coach Dave Slaggert stepped in. Slaggert put together a 15-minute highlight video of his star, mailing it to 800 coaches around Michigan who voted on the Mr. Basketball award.

"It was something I felt I could do to help him out," said Slaggert, who's retired now and whose basement is home to several mementos of Richardson's career at Arthur Hill.

Half-price Warriors jersey

Richardson is in the NBA now. He returns to Saginaw periodically, hosting a benefit golf tournament and making other contributions to charity. Stores in Saginaw have Richardson's Warriors jersey on the half-price rack. His Charlotte jersey hasn't arrived yet, although a Bobcats T-shirt with his name and No. 23 can be found.His road to professional stardom hasn't always been smooth -- he was sentenced to one year of probation in 2003 for assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

And his career in Charlotte has started unevenly as the Bobcats struggle to stay at the .500 level. Brought in to bolster the Bobcats' late-game offense, Richardson is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 16.9 points (before Saturday's home game against Cleveland) on streaky 40 percent shooting.

And today, the fans from Saginaw will board a bus to watch him once again play in the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Bet you didn't know

• Richardson's childhood idol was Dominque Wilkins.

• His late uncle Tyrone Bowen was a backup singer to singer Gladys Knight (but after the Pips broke up).

• He has a daughter named Jaela, 8.

• He is the only player besides his boss, Michael Jordan, to win back-to-back NBA slam-dunk contests.

woow what a truly touching story

post your favorite athletes coming up through rough times story

That's the worst story i've ever read. And I readthe entire Goosebumps series.

 

[airjordan jb23]

That's the worst story i've ever read. And I read the entire Goosebumps series.
Yo, don't take shots at Goosebumps...

 

[kb8sandiego]

Originally Posted by Chester McFloppy

Originally Posted by cheezybaby


i wish










....i was that boy

You'd be hanging off the end of his jock like an altar boy on a catholic priest if that was you.

 

[paul is on tilt]

Originally Posted by KB8sandiego

Originally Posted by Chester McFloppy

Originally Posted by cheezybaby


i wish










....i was that boy

You'd be hanging off the end of his jock like an altar boy on a catholic priest if that was you.

 

[breakinyourankles]

Hoops4life Chris Paul 61 pts highlights
Uploaded by Pred21

 

[miamin2]

Originally Posted by mario23407

surprised you didnt post the story of when j-rich stuck it in your butt.

 

[juan baller]

Ian Baker-Finch and David Duval as golfers who achieved greatness but then suddenly lost their swings... and Jean Van de Velde for giving away the British Openon the 72nd hole.

 

[scuse7]

This one is good.

 

[breakinyourankles]

Originally Posted by SCuse7

This one is good.

�Saw that on TV

 

[ddot7]

 

[shabooyah1124]

Originally Posted by ddot7

�"Don't give up, don't ever give up."

This still gives me chills when I watch it. RIP Jimmy V.

 

[nimo007]

Remember Najai Turpin from the first season of The Contender. Very Sad.

 

[notoriouslar]

Caron on Oprah, Reggie Lewis, Jimmy V, and KG's whole high school ordeal

 

[flydaily]

Willis McGahee during the Fiesta Bowl

.......but he came back strong....cant remember who layed that dirty hit....whitner? idk

 

[kdwallace]

I can barely even watch that video - gives me a big lump in my throat every time.

 

[niketalker23]

 

[scuse7]

Originally Posted by kdwallace



I can barely even watch that video - gives me a big lump in my throat every time.

�Word. Gets me every time.

Good stuff

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

What about when Reggie Bush was giving his Heisman speech? Talking about his step pops??

 

[addictedtofreshkicks]

Originally Posted by mario23407

surprised you didnt post the story of when j-rich stuck it in your butt.

 

[shannonscrooks]

Probably when Albert Belle tried to run over those kids over in his car after they egged his house on Halloween or when Lawrence Phillips also tried to run agroup of kids over after a pick up football game.