Thursday Things (Schilling, Leonard, Facebook, Rico - A lot of Rico)

Well, since I get to work from home tomorrow, I might as well drink some vodka and post some things. I know, I'm surprised too. But sometimes we have to step outside of our comfort zone and do things we don't like to do. Bear with me.

- We'll start with an article I had seen but was brought up again in the comments here about your beloved Shane Schilling, called an "ex-basketball standout" in a case of hyperbolic journalism if I've ever seen one. What is not hyperbolic, however, is how big a whackjob this guy turned out to be.

The latest is that Schilling has been jailed on charges of drug possession and making terroristic threats - which does not mean threatening to blow up buildings (that would be Shamala). Apparently, since I assume if you're still here you aren't reading the article, Schilling had the cops called on him because of a loud argument accentuated by breaking glass and talk of "injections." When the cops showed up, superstar called them pigs, told them to leave, and threatened that he would kill them if they stayed. Three hours later, Schilling abruptly decided to open the door and layed down to be handcuffed without further comment. Police found a hatchet, knives (a ninja, perhaps?), and meth.

Following up on his brush with the law for attempted robbery, auto theft, receiving of stolen property - an event which included attacking some poor student on Washington Avenue and skipping town after being charged in Orono, this dude is pretty much fucked. And of course, don't forget his drunk driving incident where he crashed an explorer, then fled the scene but left his ID in the car. (NOTE: I can't find a link to this story anywhere, but I know it happened). Clearly he is dealing with his post-college life very well.

But I'm not here to dwell on the negativity. And shame on you. Let's remember the good times. Like when he scored 9 points in his first ever game as a Gopher. Or his Gopher career high 16 points his freshman year against Ohio State. Or any of the 16 other times he hit double-figures in scoring as a Gopher. Or his explosion his senior year to average 16.3 points per game, hitting 20 points six times including a huge 26 point, 8 rebound, 4 steal effort against Long Beach.

So you see, there is plenty of good stuff here to talk about. I'm really sick of all you people always having to dwell on the negative. You don't have to tear others down to build yourself up. Grow up, jerks.

By the way, if you google "Shane Schilling Drunk" we come up as the fourth website listed. Awesome.

- Speaking of Google, I started to google "How long do babies hate males" since Wonderbaby is NOT my biggest fan this past week and seems to have a real hate on for males and is in love with all females and you know that auto fill thing google has? It comes up first as "How long does weed stay in your system" as in, that's the thing people most often google that starts with the phrase "how long." The third thing is "How long does cocaine stay in your system." I'm serious. It looks like Mr. Shilling has been doing ALOT of googling.

- This week's horrible golfer who really let me down award goes to Justin Leonard. This week is the St. Jude classic, held at TPC Southwind, and not only is Leonard the defending champ, he also won this event (same venue) in 2005. Additionally he comes in hot, with a 5th, 16th, and 13th in this last three events. Should be good to go, right? Wrong. Captain Dickface instead shoots a 76, +6 on the day, good for 149th place (out of 156). Thanks, ass. You're already six shots off the cut, assuming it doesn't move, and you're 8 shots behind Notah Begay III, who generally makes about one cut a year. Adam freaking Scott would have probably shot even par for god's sake, and he might be the worst golfer in the world right now. Leonard is officially in my "go-to-hell" pile along with Sean O'Hair and some other guys I don't remember right now.

- Putting DWG on facebook has already been a resounding success. I'm friends already with both Melvin Newbern and Vincent Grier. If you haven't signed up to be our friend yet, you should. More than daily updates and a little discussion here and there. You're missing out, nerd.

- So everyone knows that Rico Tucker is the most athletic player in Gopher history, despite the fact that a bunch of dingleberries are trying to say that Rod Williams will be when he arrives. Leaving aside that nonsense, I thought it might be fun to check out what Rico's resume was coming out of high school in San Diego.

One thing I forgot or possibly never knew is that Rico made the Rivals150 the year he came out (2004). He was ranked #129, ahead of Rodney Stuckey, Chris Lofton, and DeMare Carroll. I don't really want to note this here, but it should also be said that Spencer Tollackson was ranked #118, so we probably don't need to pay too much attention to these lists. But that's not the point.

The point is, Rico was ranked the #20 point guard that year. Right behind Taurean Green and ahead of Lofton, Ramon Sessions, and Zam Frederick.

A lot of potential. I think we all saw that. Early in his freshman year, I unfortunately don't remember who the opponent was, but Rico got the ball in the far corner, drove by his man baseline side, and rose up for one of the most impressive dunks I have ever seen on any level, except some stupid white guy fouled him so he missed the dunk. Nevertheless, if you were paying attention, you were in man-love.

You probably don't remember this either, but Rico hit double-figures in scoring in both of his first two games. Two games which also totaled five steals and no turnovers, with better than 50% shooting. Overall in his freshman year, Rico hit double figures ten times, including a 17 point outburst against Loyola-Marymount that came with three trey balls. Alas, of those ten double-figure outputs, only two came in conference player, as Tucker's minutes dwindled. In team's first 13 games, he hit 20 minutes 10 times and never played less than 15 minutes. In the final 18 games he only hit 20 minutes four times, and totaled just 47 minutes in the team's final seven games. He ended up leading all Big Ten freshmen in steals and was 10th overall in the conference.

The following year his minutes were down from 17 a game to 14 a game, with a corresponding drop in almost every stat. He hit double-figures in scoring just four times, and hit 20 minutes played in just four conference games. His shooting dropped to just 30% on the season, and his assist to turnover ratio was an abysmal 0.63. What happened? He was Monsoned.

Those of you who remember that team should remember. Any missed shot, Rico was pulled. Any turnover, Rico was pulled. Hell, I remember a couple of times where he hit 2-3 shots in a row, then missed one, and was out at the next whistle. I question why Monson would even recruit an elite athlete, who was an unpolished gem, if we wasn't going to give him any free reign. It was a frustrating season for both Rico and Rico fans, and predictably he bolted for better pastures after that season, transferring to his home town Pepperdine.

In a new, more wide open system with a coach who was willing to give him room to thrive, Rico flourished. He opened the pre-season by winning the team's dunk contest, but then struggled played for Pepperdine until a December game against Montana State where he put up 24 points. The rest of the season, including conference play, Rico was on a terror, hitting double figures in ten of the team's last 11 games, stealing, assisting, and rebounding while cutting down on the turnovers that plagued him throughout his career. He made the all-tournament team at the Montana State tournament. He led the Waves in assists in fifteen times while leading the WCC in steals, finishing sixth in assists, and 15th in scoring. Things were looking very good, and very up for Rico, but then a knee injury ended his junior year, and basically wiped out his senior season as well.

His final year at Pepperdine, Tucker was only able to average 11 minutes per game, and hit double figures in scoring just once. He wasn't any where near the same player, as an athletic player with just one knee isn't a good combo, and played double figures in minutes just once in the team's last nine games. It was a lost season.

Really, I know I talk Rico up too much on here, but seriously think about it. He was a highly rated talent coming out of high school and had a very promising early freshman season before stupid Dan Monson decided he didn't like him or something and tanked the second half of his freshman year and his whole sophomore season. After the transfer, he started to really come into his own before the knee injury killed him.

I stand by my contention that not only is Enrico Tucker the greatest athlete to come into the Gopher basketball program in history, but also that with a better coach and/or no injury issues, he could have been a star. Well, maybe not a star, but a very, very good player.

I'm going to end the post here. Think on this for a while. Think on this.