Mark Wacyk of cishoops.ca has a bit of a scoop for hoops nuts here in Ottawa: Michael Jordan might (have to stress that qualifier) make an appearance in the capital. His son, Jeff Jordan, is an incoming freshman guard at the U of Illinois, which is visiting Ottawa to play exhibition games vs. the Carleton Ravens, U of O Gee-Gees and Montréal's McGill Redmen.
It's speculative at this point if MJ would come, but it's his first-born son, and the younger Jordan is a long shot to see much floor time this year. As the Illinois student paper reported, he wasn't expected to go to a Big Ten school. He's what's known in NCAA nomenclature as a preferred walk-on — basically, the coach has told him, "We like you, we want you on the team, but not as a scholarship player." (Hey, MJ can afford it, right?)
Digression: There's some reticence to hype the celebrity-offspring athlete: Jeff Jordan just wants to be another freshman basketball player, one among 1,000s of those in North America, so why not respect that reality? Once upon a time, we covered a hockey tournament where Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell's son, Wyatt Russell, was a 16-year-old backup goalie for one of the teams. An editor emphasized that a story should be done about Russell and the rookie reporter (me) balked, which was a mistake and a missed opportunity. At the same time, what's the gain in asking for the local readership, "So, what's it like to play hockey when your mom is Goldie Hawn?"
Ultimately, once you factor out Southern California weather and being driven to the rink in a luxury vehicle instead of a 1988 Ford Aerostar, there might not be a big difference between that experience and anyone else's.
OK, where were we? If Michael Jordan is spotted in Ottawa, remember Mark Wacyk told us first.
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2 comments:
If that wasn't my point at the time I suggested it, it should have been. It would have been interesting to see what his perspective was.
Like I say, rookie mistake by a stubborn kid.
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