Two sports articles worth a read this morning

As you're sitting around your house, apartment or condo this morning watching the fresh white flakes hit the ground on the sidewalk outside, give the following two articles a read, especially if you're a Boston sports fan.

These are two pieces of two sports figures in Boston - one current and one former - that show the human side of sports.

There stands Paul Pierce. The Celtics forward, once the seeming embodiment of what Jordan sneeringly called "New Jack players"—underachieving and self-involved, persona non grata with the national team after leading it to its implosion in 2002, bearer of a contract that will pay him $18,077,903 this season—is hunched over. He's a wreck. Havlicek hands him the trophy, and Pierce dips his head onto the legend's right shoulder. Pierce lifts his head, tears streaming down his cheeks, and it suddenly becomes clear that we're witnessing a rare moment in modern sports: not market-tested, not spun, close to pure.

Read the rest here from SI.

Shifty receiver Deion Branch has made moves far better than this one. So have his Seahawks.

The former Super Bowl MVP held out of the New England Patriots [team stats]’ minicamp in June 2006, then all of training camp. He racked up almost $600,000 in fines from the team until his forced trade to Seattle in early September of that year.

Read the rest about Deon here. Read more!

Patrick Ewing and the call to the Hall

For those of you who don't know, I'm a graduate of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. The school made famous by those two guys who made that movie and won and Oscar. You know, Matt and Ben? Goodwill hunting? Ring a bell?

Well before Matt and Ben were roaming the halls of CRLS, there was a seven-footer from Jamaica who played hoops. He was so good in fact, that he made his way to Georgetown University and ended up the NBA. His name is Patrick Ewing and he is the newest member of the NBA Hall of Fame.

While it's cool to be from the school that Matt and Ben made famous, it's stories like Patrick Ewing's that really depicts the drive to succeed. He came to this country, not knowing a lick of English, but worked his butt off and made it big (we'll discount that he played for the Knicks though).

Congrats to Pat and his family on the call to the hall.

Read more!