photo: jamd.com
“Simple and plain, give me the lane, I’ll throw it down your throat like Barkley!” - Chuck D’s lyrics from the Public Enemy classic, Rebel Without A Pause.
To young fans, Charles Barkley is simply a former player. He’s better known as the affable television personality that always has something funny to say on the TNT show, Inside the NBA.
But for those who watched ball in the ’80s and ’90s, he was an awe inspiring, revolutionary talent that turned the establishment on its ear. He was an unstoppable, undersized, 6′4″ power forward who owned the low post, an explosive leaper and ferocious rebounder who could dribble, pass, score and pump gallons of fear through the hearts of even the most accomplished big men.
At the age of 9, lil’ Charles began showing up on the playgrounds of Leeds, Alabama – a small, working class town not too far from Birmingham. When he was only a baby, his father Frank left the family and headed for Los Angeles. Charles lived in the projects with his grandmother, Johnnie Mae Edwards, who worked long, arduous hours as a meatpacker and his mother, Charcey Mae Glenn, who toiled as a maid. Sometimes, too make ends meet, Charcey hustled bootleg liquor.
By the time he arrived at Leeds High School, there were no labels of future stardom attached to him. As a chubby, 5′10″, 220 pound sophomore, he got cut from the varsity. He made the team as a junior but, even then, his teammates were reluctant to pass him the rock.
photo: hollywoodcollectibles.com
Frustrated with his lack of touches, he decided that if he was going to score, he’d have to take matters into his own hands. He’d practice leaping over the 5-foot fence in his backyard before heading over to the playgrounds at night. He’d spend hours tossing the pill off the backboard and chasing after rebounds. Eventually, he developed a symbiotic relationship with balls that bounced unsuccessfuly off the rim.
He began to grow and his game improved, but his homies still laughed when he insisted that he was destined for the pros. As a senior, he’d grown to 6′4″ and began dominating. But he was largely ignored by collge scouts because of his girth and lack of height.
After one holiday tournament game though, everything changed. Barkley embarrassed the highly recruited, 6′9″ Bobby Lee Hurt to the tune of 24 points and 20 rebounds. Eyeballs popped out of sockets as the fat kid relenlessly ran, rebounded and slammed with a hitherto unseen force.
photo: si.com
At Auburn, whose big man on campus at the time was the otherworldly Bo Jackson – the greatest two sport college athlete since the great Jim Brown at Syracuse – Barkley ushered in a hoops renaissance. The Tigers were coming off their fourth straight losing season and had little fan support. In order to drum up some national interest, a concerted effort was made to market the large freshman.
“We promoted the fat thing, because it got publicity for us,” Auburn coach Sonny Smith said in Filip Bondy’d book, Tip-Off. The media began to flock to Barkley for his funny, self-deprecating quotes. The nicknames began pouring in – the Crisco Kid, Lard of the Rings, Pillsbury Doughboy and most commonly The Round Mound of Rebound. Some thought he was a sideshow freak because he was in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. But he proved to have tremendous, undeniable skills.
photo: encyclopediaofalabama.org
As a freshman, he devoured Kentucky’s highly respected, 6′11″ Mel Turpin, at a hostile Rupp Arena no less, to the tune of 25 points and 17 rebounds. When asked how he handled the bigger Turpin, Barkley responded with, “I can put my butt on Melvin’s legs, but Melvin can only put his legs on my butt.”
By his junior year, Barkley and teammate Chuck “The Rifleman” Person had transformed Auburn into an NCAA tournament squad. He was both the S.E.C. league and tournament MVP en route to leading the the school to it’s first ever foray into March Madness.
photo: si.com
“He’d get the rebound, head downcourt, dribble between his legs, behind the back, dunk it on the other end,” Smith said in Tip-Off. “Barkley was a great athlete who could have been a super tight end in football. His first step quickness was really good, he had unbelievable hands.”
After three college seasons, he’d become a mythic figure. He led the conference in rebounding three straight years and did things on the offensive end that a rotund, undersized player had never done before. Charles was later named the S.E.C. Player of the Decade.
“He’s my favorite player in college basketball,” Oklahoma’s Wayman Tisdale once told Sports Illustrated’s Alexander Wolff. “I call him the Eighth Wonder of the World.”
Before being taken with the 5th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76′ers in the ‘84 draft, there was the matter of the Olympic Trials in Bloomington, Indiana. Seventy two college players got invited, but with All-Americans Michael Jordan, Tisdale, Sam Perkins and Patrick Ewing virtual locks, the comp was really for eight spots on the roster.
photo: philly.com
An entire book could be written about those Olympic tryouts, overseen by the general himself – Bobby Knight. Stars like St. John’s Chris Mullin, Duke’s Johnny Dawkins, Syracuse’s Pearl Washington, Virginia Tech’s Dell Curry (Steph Curry’s pops), Georgia Tech’s Mark Price, Villanova’s Ed Pinckney and Memphis’ Keith Lee mixed with teenagers like Danny Manning and Steve Alford, New York playground legend (and Mullins’ future teammate at St. John’s) Walter Berry and then obscure, small school dynamo’s like McNeese State’s Joe Dumars, Louisiana Tech’s Karl Malone, Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Terry Porter and Gonzaga’s John Stockton. In the morning sessions, coaches worked with players by position. In the evening, squads were assembled for scrimmages.
“One time I remember Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Joe Dumars were all on the same team at the end of practice, and they absolutely blitzed the other team,” then Chicago Bulls General Manager Rod Thorn observed in Tip-Off. “Barkley was something else. He was possessed. You just didn’t see people other than Dr. J get a rebound at one end, go downcourt by himself and dunk the ball to finish the play.”
photo: freewebs.com
The overall consensus was that the two best players at the trials were the then 284-pound Barkley and Jordan, in that specific order.
“The thing that shocked everybody was that a man weighing 284 pounds could get up and down the floor quicker than anybody,” Steve Alford said in Barkley’s autobiography, Outrageous. “When he got the ball, you thought that at 284 pounds, he wasn’t going anywhere, but he was explosively quick. It was the most amazing thing that happened at the trials. Nobody could believe that anyone that size could jump like that.”
photo: hoopedia.com
“I was frankly amazed,” MJ said in Outrageous. “He was very creative, an unbelievable player. No one thought smeone with that type of body could do the things he did. He was guarding me a lot. I wasn’t guarding him. Why? Because I couldn’t control him.”
Trying to make an impression on the coaches, Joe Dumars took an ill advised charge on the big fella during one ferocious dunk attempt. As Barkley helped Dumars off the floor, the future Piston legend was shaking, struggling to catch his breath and talk.
photo: tinypic.com
“That was the first time I’d ever been around someone that big who could be that explosive,” Dumars said in Outrageous. “I was just amazed, how cat quick and agile he was. As for taking that charge, I was young and silly. That was the last time I took a charge on him. EVER! At the time, I thought it was admirable. Now that I look back on it, it was pure foolishness. Pure, pure foolishness.”
Leon Wood, an invitee who later became and NBA ref said, “Charles Barkley completely dominated the first week. He wanted to prove himself, let everybody know he belonged in the top five. When he made the first cut after the first week, he was told to drop a few pounds. Instead, he gained weight.”
photo: jamd.com
When someone asked Knight if he’d ever dealt with an overweight player before, the acerbic coach bristled, “Not for long.”
When Knight was late for one scheduled evening meeting, Barkley let him know about it, exposing his double standards, in front of the other players.
“Hey, where the hell have you been?,” Charles shouted at Knight.
“Let me tell you something you fat S.O.B., there’s only one chief in this army and that’s me!,” Knight exploded. “Your fat a– won’t be around here much longer.”
photo: jamd.com
Barkley eventually got cut from the team, to the shock of everyone who witnessed his performance at the trials. But he’d already accomplished his goal of elevating his draft stock and lining up endorsements.
“I thought he was going to make the team,” said MJ. “If you look at his talents, he certainly should have been on the team.”
“I didn’t like Bobby Knight,” Barkley said in another autobiography, I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It. “My primary goal was to move up in the draft.” He eventually got his olympic experience and gold medal with the ‘92 Dream Team.
photo: jamd.com
He may have walked into the league as the Round Mound of Rebound, but he walked away as Sir Charles. Mentored by greats like Mo Cheeks, Doctor J, Moses Malone and Andrew Toney early on in Philly, he became on of the greatest talents the game has ever seen.
Peep the overall arsenal on display below, as it appeared against Air Jordan in ‘88 –
His physical strength was the stuff of legend. “When Charles leans on you, it’s like being crushed by a trash compactor,” Celtics center Robert Parish told Fortune Magazine’s John Rolfe.
“He’s the most powerful player at forward I’ve ever seen,” Pat Riley told Fortune in 1991 when he was coaching the Lakers. “When he gets going, people just fly off him like he’s knocking down bowling pins.”
Sir Charles’ NBA accolades are too numerous to mention, but consider that for ten consecutive seasons, he was an All-NBA First or Second team performer going up against power forwards that were nearly half a foot taller. Offensively, he held his own against anyone and was virtually impossible to contain one-on-one. He could face the basket on the perimeter as well as work dudes over with every assortment of spin move with his back to the basket.
photo: si.com
He shot nearly 60% from the floor, an incredible number, even for an elite center whose majority of shoots are taken only a few feet from the rim. Along with Wes Unseld, Dennis Rodman and Moses Malone, Sir Charles was one of the greatest rebounders ever.
The knock on him was that he never won a championship, but he came awfully close. His rebuttal as to why he was never as valuable as Magic and MJ in the way that great players raise their teammates level of play was classic Barkley – “Magic Johnson got to raise the level of James Worthy’s game, Michael Jordan got to raise the level of Scottie Pippen’s game. But I got to raise the level of Shelton Jones’ game.”
He always said what was on his mind, to the consternation of many who are still irked over his “I am not a role model” Nike campaign, among other statements and personal missteps.
photo: si.com
The great sportswriter, Roy S. Johnson, wrote this in his introduction to Outrageous –
Fans of Barkley’s style do not marvel at his inspired court vision, as they do when watching Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. Nor are they left breathless by his flights of incandescent brilliance, gifts to us from Michael Jordan.
In Barkley, rather, people see the struggle. They see the undaunted, unrelenting effort to overcome obstacles – too short, too fat, too emotional…you get the idea – that are not unlike the barriers that they confront in their own lives. And they are inspired by his emphatic, unabashed response. They see the hurdles that have marked the paths of their own lives, and they cheer his unbowed bravado.
Love him or hate him, one thing cannot be denied. He was one of a kind, a dude that claimed he was misquoted in his own autobiography, a kind doubtful to be seen again.
And it was on the playgrounds of Leeds, Alabama that Sir Charles Barkley formulated his basketball dream. I, for one, am glad he did.
THE PLAYGROUND IS NOT THE PROBLEM. IT IS THE SOLUTION!
February 9th, 2009 at 10:29 am
illest says:
amazingly enough he could of been better. that 27 vs golden state in the 1st round in the 1st quarter is still one of the greatest quarters of basketball ive seen.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:53 am
ali says:
what do you mean he could’ve been better, illest? you don’t think he delivered on all of his potential?
February 9th, 2009 at 11:56 am
illest says:
no he didnt. he could have been a better defender and he didnt win a title. thats why hes not mentioned when mentioning the games great. he was great but you cant put him with magics, jordans, birds, akeems, and isiahs. you dont hear his or ewings name with those. and we should.
February 9th, 2009 at 11:59 am
illest says:
he did have one of the illest sneaker campaigns and sneakers over the years ever. they werent his but they need to retro the alpha forces.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
g says:
got to see him live a few times. craziest time was in philly in 92′. got to the arena early enough to watch them warm up. Barkley was doing a drill by himself on the rim,where he had two basketballs,one on each side of the basket. he would grab the ball with two hands,wrap one leg behind the other and dunk with 2 hands ,then go get the other ball from the other side of the box,wrap the opposite leg behind the other leg,and dunk it again. he did that 10 times in a row on each side of the basket. then he did tip drills where he’d practice throwing the ball off the glass,grab it,then tap it against the glass so he could get a grip on the ball,and come down with his elbows in his patented swing position. to see how high he was off the floor at 6′3 (no,hes not 6′4!) while carrying that weight was crazy. his legs were so strong,they looked liked they were carved and sculpted as opposed to belonging to an athlete.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
illest says:
the things he did were unbelievable on the court. to be his size and rebound the way he did you dont see that now and never will again. i hope hes not pulling an isiah and messing up off the court allowing people to forget how great he was.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
ali says:
i’ll never forget getting to see him up close during his 2nd year in the league. a prep school friend had tickets 8 rows behind the celtics bench at the old boston garden and i got to see chuck and an aging doc go up against bird and mchale. the young fella was phenomenal.
and illest, i’ll differ with you in saying that he definitely delivered on his potential. him and patrick may have not won a ring, but they gave it all they had every time they stepped on the floor. we can nitpick and say he could have done this and that better, but rare is the player who didn’t have any visible flaws.
chuck is an all-time great, with or without a ring. is barry sanders any less of a transcendant talent b/c his teams never won?
February 9th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
illest says:
you cant compare basketball players to a running back or nfl players. barkley is a rare player. and with those rare players you expect rings.
February 9th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
g says:
Illest,so Robert Horry,Steve Kerr,John Salley,and other dudes like them (no disrespect to them) are exceptional players? contrastly, Barkley, Malone, Ewing, Stockton, Miller, Iverson and other illuminaries like them are NOT exceptional cause they couldnt get their teams a ring? Not a fair argument. Exceptional players need teams that can complement them just like the star player has to make the lesser players better,its a symbiotic relationship. its like horseback riding,the jockey can be great,but the horse has to be able to run the way the jockey wants him to,otherwise they dont win…..
February 9th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
illest says:
i never said charles wasnt exceptional. i just said hes not mentioned with the greats who won rings. i said hes a rare and great player. charles had his chance at the title and didnt win. we know why. i didnt bash barkley at all in this post…i stated he could have been a better defender.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
ali says:
illest,
i CAN compare an all time great that never won a ring. barry sanders was one of the best athletes ever, period, that never won. are you telling me he’s not on the same plane as emmitt smith and walter payton?
are karl malone, barkley and ewing to be taken down a notch? i don’t think so. a common thread is that they all lost to one of the greatest dynasties of all-time, MJ’s bulls. is it fair to slight them for that?
a ring is about the TEAM, not the individual. the pursuit of the title, and the amazing accomplishments along that journey, is what makes them great, whether they win 6 championships or none.
if MJ never gets pippen and the other role players, is he less great? if larry bird toils in milwaukee, instead of boston, is he less great? if the rematkable oscar robertson doesn’t get to play w/ kareem at the end of his career and doesn’t get the chip, is he less great? if magic played for the clippers, is he less great?
there are a plethora of NBA legends, but only few become champions. George Gervin, Pistol Pete, Elgin Baylor, etc. are just a few of the BEST EVER that never won it. But each is worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as MJ, Kareem, Magic and Bird. With or without a title, their greatness cannot be diminished or denied. can’t happen in my book.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
ali says:
and i hear you, charles could have been a better defender. but he was not a terrible defender. that’s like saying bill russell could have had a better offensive game. or that ashanti still has her baby teeth.
he was what he was. or, staying with the football theme, as dennis green said – “they are who we thought they were!”
bird could have been a better defender, magic could have had a better jimmy and rodman could have had more sense. but, hey, they were remarkable nontheless. and i know you’ve said he was incredible. but it’s like that parent that is irked about that one B on a report card filled with A’s
February 9th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
ali says:
and how about those auburn highlights. BANANAS!!!
February 9th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
illest says:
how can you mention pistol, ice and elgin with mike, magic and bird? mike, magic and bird are top 5 to 10 all time and elgin, pistol and ice are below that. how can you honestly but ewing in the same class as jordan? forget about who had who and who was on what team. thats irrelevant. how can you put mailman in the same class as bird? whats the point of being a champion if everyone is on the same plane? that ring sets you apart among the greats. i dont mean the stacey kings and horrys, obviously.
there are many more variables in football and its the qbs that are judged in terms of rings. you know that. you cant compare the sports in terms of championships because of that. obviously barry is in the same class as walter.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
illest says:
i say its irrelevant because it is what it is. magic didnt play for the clippers. i understand your premise of course.
February 9th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
g says:
we’re just debating illest. i can see by your previous responses to the blogs as well as this one that your ball iq is on point,so i know you werent bashing CB. apologies if you thought i was head hunting for you,just saying i thought it was unfair. alot of the dudes mentioned as illuminaries have deficencies in their games. Wilt and Shaq couldnt/cant make free throws,but they still got a ring. there were plenty of dudes that couldnt play both sides of the rock that got a ring as fair or unfair as that may be. Chuck Nevitt got a ring. Luc Longley, Bill Wennington,etc. the standard or measure for greatness is the ring,so i understand why its easy to see them as less than stellar when they dont win it. But at the end of the day,its a team sport. Bark was never going to get to the chip in Philly,not with a often injured Johnny Dawkins,Hersey Hawkins, Rick Mahorn,Mike Gminsky,Ron Anderson,Gerald Henderson (Sr.),Armon Gilliam,Derek Smith (RIP),etc. Phoenix was his best shot (Kev Johnson,Dan Majerle,Mark West,Oliver Miller,Negele Knight,Tony Dumas,Frank Johnson,Jerrod Mustaf,Danny Ainge,Cedric Ceballos,Tom Chambers) he got them as far as he could,but they ran into a better TEAM in the Bulls.
remember Mike and the bulls couldnt get by detroit until they got better as a TEAM. scottie pippen and Horace grant had to step it up heavy,and thats when they started cooking. the exceptional talents are supposed to put their teams in a position to win the chip,but the team still has to produce to win it….
February 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
illest says:
indeed, g. its good. i didnt say anything to indicate that you were headhunting. its all opinions of the game we love.
i love barkley. but the ring puts you over the top. you are correct about the bulls. maybe saying charles could play better d is being to critical. because like ali stated bird could of played better defense (even though ive seen him make some very key steals and defensive plays).
there has to be some separation between the great players and immortal players.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
ali says:
pistol, ice and elgin are in the same sentence as bird, magic and mj b/c each one of them not only changed the game, they elevated it. and i understand the ring’s the thing, but not every great player gets one. i know it’s hypothetical, but consider my point about ping pong balls and serendipity. if barkley played for boston, and did the exact same things over his career while winning multiple rings, how is he any different from the player that did the exact same things in philly and phx?
February 9th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
kenny Patt says:
That Auburn team he played for resembled a football team. Chuck Person was the leading scorer tho Barkley put them on the map. I remember them losing a heartbreaker to Kentucky on a last second shot by Kenny walker in the SEC tourney and Charles cried like a baby.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
ali says:
he cried like a baby alot his freshman year. and barkley and the rifleman were some big bonededed ballers that could have easily dominated on the gridiron.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
ali says:
and the rifleman’s nickname was fitting. the brother could fill up the nets from loooong range.
February 9th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
g says:
true indeed…. but think of this too Illest. this dude was 6′3 playing the 4 spot,clearly undersized for whats traditionally the 2nd tallest/biggest spot on the floor. yet he was always top 5 in rebounding,thats the sign of a great defensive player. and i can recall countless times him guarding the other teams best players,making key steals and blocks (ask Patrick Ewing about the time Barkley played punchball with him @ msg). i concur those are single instances,but most of the players Ali,you and I mentioned werent exactly defensive stoppers either.
but sticking to the script,i dont necessarily think its fair to say he was less of a player because he didnt get a ring. i agree that there has to be a recognizable margin where the superstar players are separated from the average pro. but when you look at the superstar players that have won rings,they can always point to a supporting casts that was always capable of supplementing and complementing their talents. think of the 94,95 bulls when Mike was doing his MLB thing. the bulls made the playoffs and were quite competitive,but clearly Mike was the centerpiece of the team,which is why they couldnt make it to the chip. or how about the spurs couldnt win anything until tim duncan developed to supplement an aging david robinson….you get the gist of it. the great players take good teams and make them great. remember Mike with the wizards as an even better example!
February 10th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Inspiredworlds says:
great story. are you sure he’s 6′3 or 6′4? I’m sure he was listed as 6′6 / 6′5. Or was that just the nba programs trying to make him look taller.
I think i saw in the videos he looked a bit shorter than jordan, so it is possible.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:22 am
illest says:
i dont think he is less of a player at all. hes just not mike, magic, bird or isiah. hes probably the rarest player because of his height and the fact that he dominated the backboards.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:23 am
ali says:
barkley was listed at 6′6″ be he was actually about 6′3″ or 6′4″, inspiredworlds.
and illest, we can agree to disagree. but i have no hesitation in putting barkley in that group of isiah, magic, mj and bird.
February 10th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Dan the Man says:
Ali, Another masterful job !!! And speaking of NBA ref Leon Wood….The easygoing Wood says he was told early on that, in order to survive, he would need to develop a more authoritative edge to his personality. Charles Barkley, he says, all but dared the then-greenhorn official to give him a technical foul, which Wood did, and to this day Wood says Jordan still gives him a knowing smirk whenever he makes a call against the Charlotte Bobcats.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-crowe9-2009feb09,1,2920221.column
February 10th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
ali says:
thanks dan the man. nice write up on leon wood in the la times, too.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
timmy says:
in honor of Fly’s jersey being retired can we have a playground gave us on him plzzz
February 11th, 2009 at 9:57 am
illest says:
the rifleman was very fun to watch those few years he was lighting up the celtics.
February 11th, 2009 at 10:00 am
funkalot says:
Ali,
Great job in facilitating an erudite sports debate. I would have to concur with the sentiments of you and G, in that not having won a ring does not diminish the athletic exploits on an individual. This particular individual (Sir Charles) is arguably, one of , in my mind, the three most unique athletes to ever play; the others being Mike and Mugsy. Mike was the quickest player, with quick hops which gave him a sense of invincibility; Mugsy played ten plus years, mostly as a starter at 5′3″, enough said and then there is Sir Charles. Who at 6′3″ and a half inch, mastered his mismatch in the post, routinely giving up 5-7inches to opponents and thrashing them. When you really contemplate that fact, Sir Charles was indeed remarkable. He, too, like Mike was blessed with “quick hops”, the ability to bounce off of your toes in to the air versus having to compress your knees and then thrusting. It provided him with an equalizer for most of the lumbering 4’s in the “L”. LJ might have been the closest clone to Barkley, for a few years , prior to his back ailments.
His greatness was cemented during the Olympics, where he led the Dream Team in scoring, amongst the pantheon of all-time greats. I surely appreciated his work, he took no prisoners and gave us some “funk” to stew on. You can not be mad at that. He is in the top three to five of all-time power forwards, ever!
Side note, as always I insert the “BeanTown” connection. Sir Charles had relatives in Boston, the Reeves family. They lived next door to my Aunt and he would occasionally drop by to visit with them prior to visits to the “Gahden”. Of note, Earl Jones, of UDC and brief Laker stint is a cousin of Sir Charles’.
Lastly, I respected as a ball player, but I tune him out as a quasi political and social speaker.
Funky, just because!
February 11th, 2009 at 10:44 am
ali says:
funk,
good to see you up in here. it just ain’t a top notch discussion without the funknificence in the mix.
and timmy, the fly j’ernt is marinating. soon come.
February 11th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Dan the Man says:
Timmy,
Speaking of the Fly:
http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2009/02/07/the-flys-jersey-retired-at-apsu/
February 13th, 2009 at 12:02 am
Keyes says:
Barkley was/is one of those rare individuals who is not only hyped before he arrives, but he is larger than the hype. I remember all of the buzz about Sir Charles when he was drafted to Philly and the issue of his weight. But when he got on the court, he just delivered. His style on the court matches his persona off the court. Charles Barkley is one of the best ever. If you couldn’t feel the energy while watching him play, you’re already dead
February 13th, 2009 at 11:23 am
ali says:
keyes,
i wholeheatedly agree. love him or hate him, you had to be moved by how he played the game. and i love your last sentence.