A SCOUT'S PERSPECTIVE - OBSERVATIONS & RUMINATIONS

                                                     Chris & Heather Herren & their 3 kids. Sat down on Tuesday night, November 1, 2011 to watch ESPN's feature on Chris Herren, entitled "Unguarded." About 30 minutes into it my 11 year old son walked into the house and started watching it with me. He had a lot of homework, but I thought this documentary was more important for him to watch than doing his homework. Why? Most young kids only see the glamorous side of sports when they watch a top flight college or pro athlete in person or on television. I wanted him to see the darker side of life and the sports world. I wanted him to see what can happen to an individual when he is unable to say "no" to temptation, drugs, alcohol, negati...

Coach Steve Finamore sent me an article written by Harvey Araton on Earl Monroe, the greatest basketball player that my father, Clarence "Big House" Gaines ever coached. The article is entitled "The Parable of the Pearl" and it's a great read. The article is excerpted from Araton's book, "When The Garden was Eden," and focuses on a trade that rocked the basketball world on November 11, 1971. On that date, Earl Monroe was traded by the Baltimore Bullets to the New York Knicks. The central question that basketball fans and experts had on their minds after the trade was consummated was a simple one; could Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe coexist in the same backcourt? Araton's article addresses the question in the first paragraph: The trade was announced on November 11, stunning the basketball world. Imagine hearing in 1985 that Magic Johnson had been traded to the Celtics -- that's how unimaginable the dealing of Earl Monr...

Morice Fredrick Winter. If you stumbled upon this blog, you might be saying to yourself, 'who the hell is that?' But, if I say "Tex" Winter and you're a basketball aficionado, or a fan of the Chicago Bulls or Los Angeles Lakers, the name is instantly recognizable. Tex was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, August 12, 2011 as a coach. Tex was not able to speak for himself on the night he was inducted into the Hall of Fame because of a debilitating stroke he had suffered in 2009. After listening to Tex's son, Chris Winter's rambling speech, I decided to start tweeting about Tex. Nothing I've ever tweeted has resonated more with those who follow me on twitter than the comments I made about Tex and Dennis Rodman . Here are my real time comments (slightly cleaned up) about Tex after he had been inducted into the HOF: I haven't commented on the BB HOF speeches; sad that Phil Jackson didn't give tha...

I wrote this note to a 9th grade basketball player in 1998. Attended one of his practices and then gave it to him.  I've shared it with a few other people and have read parts of the letter at a few basketball clinics. I hope you're enriched by reading this note and will pass it on to a young baller if you think they can gain insight from it. NOTE TO A YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYER I enjoyed watching your gym class (a.k.a. BB Practice) on Friday. Your coach appears to have a sound understanding of the game and the teaching ability to impart his philosophy of the game to his players. I know he is high on you. You have the great moniker called potential attached to your name. My favorite definition for potential is excellence unrealized, and it can stay unrealized if the individual does not have the passion, intelligence, persistence, and determination to exceed the expectations/goals that one sets for his/herself. My sister gave me a poster with the following quote on it when I wa...