Rant: Harrick Jr. was off course at Georgia, without question
By PETE YOUNG
Published March 7, 2004
Welcome to the course "Rant 101: When Favorite Targets of Rants Past, or Their Offspring, Once Again Reveal Themselves to be Rant Worthy."
This is your final exam. Sharpen your No.2 pencil. Begin.
1. Which former college basketball assistant last week managed to make himself resemble as much of an unethical buffoon as his legendary unethical buffoon father?
a. Jim Harrick Jr.
b. Jim Harrick Jr.
c. Jim Harrick Jr.
d. all of the above.
Harrick Jr., son of the deposed Georgia coach and former assistant to his father, probably made dad proud when it was revealed that not only did he allow Bulldogs basketball players to routinely skip class, he also administered a final exam so comically easy a grade-schooler in the Athens, Ga., rec league could have earned an A.
The aforementioned "question" was about as difficult as many of Harrick Jr.'s in his course "Coaching Principles and Strategies of Basketball." One example: "How many points does a 3-point field goal account for?"
Harrick's 20-question final is so pathetic it's funny. Except to folks at Georgia, who have been forever sullied because of their association with the slimy Harricks.
Rave: Ever wonder "what if?' Nike just does it well
Andre Agassi always has been a Hall of Fame second baseman in the parallel universe of incredible athletes because of his size (5-11) and nimble hands. But he could have handled third, too.
Lance Armstrong's alternative calling is more likely to be an anonymous, high pain threshold endeavor such as cross-country skiing. But boxing has enough suffering for Armstrong to excel in it, too.
Serena Williams playing beach volleyball? How could she not be awesome. Randy Johnson bowling? Imagine his 90 mph slider scattering the pins.
Nike does just that, morphing imagination into pseudo-reality. The aforementioned stars are part of a fascinating commercial from the apparel company. It shows famous athletes excelling at a different sport.
Sprinter Marion Jones flawlessly executes a difficult vault. Michael Vick and Brian Urlacher form a devastating 1-2 punch for the Colorado Avalanche. Agassi, who with his otherworldly hand-eye coordination would have been a threat to hit .400 had he picked up a bat instead of a racket, plays third base for the Red Sox in the ad. He bats lefty and swats his third hit of the game to leftfield.
The commercial opens a window into the world of what ifs. What if Urlacher grew up on a lake in Saskatchewan? Nike has produced a glimpse of what might have been.
