A SCOUT'S PERSPECTIVE - OBSERVATIONS & RUMINATIONS

Lauren Rain Williams is one of ten finalists for Sports Illustrated's 2011 SportsKid of the Year award . All of the nominees are worthy of the award. Just being named as one of the ten finalists out of the thousands of kids nominated for the award is an honor in and of itself. Voting starts today and ends at 12:00PM EST on October 17. Vote early and often for the athlete that you feel is most deserving of this award. My choice is Lauren Williams. Why Lauren? If you want the long version, read the blog I wrote on Lauren in June, "Do No Harm - The weekend story of a child track prodigy - Lauren Rain Williams." The short version. I first saw Lauren run in 2009 at a USATF youth track and field meet. My son started participating in track and field meets in 2009 and I happened upon an excellent web site that was dedicated to youth track and field, trackmom.com . Lauren's mom, Lorraine is the architect of the site and you couldn't help but notice the pictures s...

Jason Whitlock is a talent, but his thinking on issues is sometimes flawed and intellectually lazy. Whitlock's "NBA Players Are Wrecking Their League" article best illustrates his flawed thinking. Bill Simmons wrote a contrasting two-part article:  Part 1: "Grading Carmelo and Other NBA Trades" and  Part 2 - "Celtics Will Miss Kendrick Perkins" about the recent transactions/trades in the NBA. Simmons directly challenged Whitlock's point of view, without mentioning his name: "EVERYONE WHO CLAIMS THE NBA IS BEING RUINED BECAUSE SUPERSTARS WANT TO CONTROL WHERE THEY PLAY: D-minus What a lazy argument. Over the past six decades, the following players pushed their way from a worse situation to a (seemingly) better one either by trade or free agency: Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Rick Barry, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Bill Walton, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Gary Payt...