Finishing the clean up of the long list of links I’ve gotten behind on.
This first one got linked to right around the anniversary of John Lennon’s death. It is journalist Jimmy Breslin’s article from the night Lennon died. First, read the article. Then read the details of how quickly Breslin put it together. It’s a pretty amazing piece of journalism.
Your average basketball fan knows the basics of Larry Bird’s story. The “Hick From French Lick” who elevated lowly Indiana State to the national title game in 1979 and then became one of the iconic players in NBA history.
But many people don’t know how obscure Bird was as a high schooler, or remember that he first enrolled at Indiana and was set to play for Bobby Knight.[1]
This is a great review of how Bird ended up at Indiana State. One of the greatest basketball players of all time was nearly satisfied with doing municipal work rather than playing ball.
Larry Bird’s Greatest Shot Was the One He Didn’t Take
While talking about Indiana basketball (broadly), here is a fine profile of Butler interim coach Chris Holtmann. The Bulldogs are scuffling a but over the last two weeks, but look like a very solid team after a difficult first year in the Big East. Holtmann deserves a ton of credit for turning what could have been an awkward and difficult situation into one that has the team playing well.
Butler coach Chris Holtmann embraces tough decisions, tough jobs
(Late Edit: Holtmann was officially named the full time head coach today. Not sure what’s going on with Brandon Miller, but I hope he recovers. He had such a promising career.)
I trust most of you who would find the following piece brilliant have already read it, but I would be remiss if I did not link to it.
Livin’ Thing: An Oral History of ‘Boogie Nights’
I haven’t read all of the next article. But only because I got a couple paragraphs into it and then quit so I could put the book it is pulled from on hold at the library. I can’t wait for it to hit the shelves.
Let’s go crazy: Inside the making of Purple Rain
As we approach the end of the David Letterman era, let’s go back to this tremendous 1981 profile of Letterman in his days between the failure of his morning show and the beginning of the original Late Night.
“That Joke Has Everything”: David Letterman, Before Late Night
- In a year when Kentucky seems poised to make the best run at being undefeated national champions since the 1976 IU team, think of this: the undefeated Hoosiers could have had Larry Bird, too! ↩