Sat, Nov 21, 2009
EURweb |
|
Back to the Article »
Click Here
|
|---|
| Click here to post your comments. |
|
Name:
MrsPhoenix
Comment: I work for non-profit drug prevention program serving youth ages 11-17, and MOST are currently in the foster care system, so your column on Bro. Alonzo REALLY piqued my interest. I will print this, too!
|
|
Name:
McNasty
Comment: He is a fine role model but too many are blinded by the sparkle of bling to see him. Too bad he can't be cloned!
|
|
Name:
Justeace
Comment: I wish there were more Zo's in the public eye. There are many out of the limelight and they should always be commended but the one's in the limelight are the one's that catches the youngsters eyes and they need to see that 50 cent and Snoop Dog are not role models. They're just idiots who still haven't learned how to be real men.
|
|
Name:
giantsfan
Comment: is this the same Alonzo Mourning who %*$!(ed & whined his way out of New Jersey, after the NETS gave him a guaranteed contract, despite his kidney ailment? Then when he was traded to Toronto, he cried like a little girl and wouldn't show up. Then he had the nerve to ask for 80 percent of his contract in a buyout!!! Mo, he wasn't partying on G-Town's campus, because he was always on Howard's campus (when he wasn't with Rayful Edmond, the country's most notorious drug lord). He has done some good things, but you might want to pump your brakes on making him a saint.
|
|
Name:
MzTee
Comment: Nice tribute article Mo. Since you were on GT campus in 1988, I'm wondering if you knew my childhood friend Vernon Goins.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: I know and remember Vernon very well. I believe he was originally from Richmond, CA. He's good people.
|
|
Name:
Renegade
Comment: good article, but I will be rooting for the short black guy on the other team. Coach Avery Johnson who also has a great reputation. Peace.
|
|
Name:
DCGG
Comment: Speak on it Giantsfan...Alonzo is certainly no saint particularly if you grew up in DC circa late 80's early 90's!
|
|
Name:
McNasty
Comment: This is sickening - every body has a past and since he made it through his unscathed I guess it's just too much to let it go and look at him now. It also occurs to me that since we do all have a past, what contribution are any of you making now? Giantsfan, I hung out with Rayful Edmonds in the mid 80s and just like Alonzo - it didn't have any kind of long term affect on me.
|
|
Name:
Thunny
Comment: Wow!! How old is this homo Carlton O'Kelly (with the nice Irish name!!)? Dide had a full moustache and beard in 1989!! 17 years later he is a columnist for an online publication with zero credibility. Keep on keeping on Carlton!
(and keep your homo longings about Zo to yourself - he's a happily married man!)
And then you say Zo was never partying?? Wow, you're letting your homo tendencies cloud reality. He was involved with Rayful Edmonds for Christ's sake! Dude was partying with notorious drug dealers in DC. This guy Carlton O'Kelly stays on dudes dicks. Wow!
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: Homo?
Wow, you're trippin. It's nice to see you take everything personal.
Good to see you're reading my work. One day people I'm "a hater" and the next "I'm jocking"...which is it.
But I appreciate that you care about my personal life Thunny. Sorry I don't feel the same about yours.
Insignificant one.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: The haterism is amazing...simply amazing.
|
|
Name:
Closet_Nerd_Girl
Comment: I met Alonzo Mourning in Cancuun back in '94. My girls and I rolled up to this hot club (at the time) and the line was around the block. We got in line, then saw Alonzo and his crew walking up. We politely eased in behind them, like we were with them, and walked to the front of the line and got in the club with them. He was real cool about it, and he was genuinely nice. He was getting his party on too! LOL!
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: And by the way...I never said he didn't party. I said he stayed clear for the most part of those things. He was (and I assume still is) a private individual.
|
|
Name:
MzTee
Comment: Yes, Vernon is good people and is doing rather well with his law practice in Oakland. Vernon is from Richmond as am I. We grew up in the same neighborhood.
|
|
Name:
HoyaQue
Comment: Bruh and fellow alum. Great article about our Bruh and fellow alum. It's only a handful of Omega men that went to Georgetown so it's great to see you give tribute to him. Zo is good peoples, always has been. Like you said, us comprising only 7% of the population, we really got to know each other on a personal level. You brought back some good memories. It's a shame that people want to bring up the Rayful issue. We all knew Zo hung with him our freshman year, but few know that once Coach Thompson got wind, he essentially banned Rayful from campus and ened that. People make mistakes and Zo as an 18 year old freshman had a lapse in judgement. Hindsight is always 20/20. Nonetheless, great article. Whoever mention Vernon Goins...he was my roommate sophomore year, and still a good friend of mine.
|
|
Name:
Willie1986
Comment: Excellent article! You look like a little chump standing next to 'Zo LOL
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: HoyaQue...anybody who KNEW the real history knew that Zo wasn't selling drugs with Rayful, it was just a matter of association. And if anyone on this board hasn't at one time hung with a known to be drug dealer, they're probably lying.
And if hanging with a drug dealer is the WORST thing someone can bring up and it's almost 20 years ago...they're actually proving my point.
Some people don't know how they sound...
"YEAH, YEAH, BUT IN 1988 HE KNEW A DRUG DEALER"
Oh...ok, you win. Who in the world can dispute that type of logic?
|
|
Name:
whynotme
Comment: -->MorrisOKelly i don't think somebody would be lying if they say they have never hung around a known drug dealer....i know plenty of people who have never hung around a known drug dealer including myself.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: I'd be willing to wager that you have and didn't know it. Of all the people that we all know who smoke (and sell) weed...I'd still hold to that %*$ertion.
|
|
Name:
Angel
Comment: Morris O'Kelly - So true. I am definitely what some folks consider a "Miss Goody Two Shoes", so I was shocked to find out that a college boyfriend of mine was recently busted for trafficking and dealing drugs. I was even more shocked when I found out he did it during college. So a few weeks ago, I would've definitely been positive that I've never hung out with a drug dealer. I must now change that to say that I've never KNOWINGLY hung out with one. LOL
|
|
Name:
jab122
Comment: I have to admit, when I first read the article, I too remember him rolling with Rayful---as someone who grew up in the DC area, its was hard not to see all of the news stories of him testifying. However, I agree, 'Zo should not be subject to guilt by association. Furthermore, the measure of his character should be based on the man he is now, and not the boy he was then.
|
|
Name:
giantsfan
Comment: Mo- You want it both ways. first of all, he wasn't hanging with some dude selling weed on the corner or out of his dorm room. He was hanging with a legendary underworld cult-figure. there was a display of Rayful in the F.B.I. building. He wasn't a drug dealer, he was a crime lord. He ordered murders. Zo couldn't even pretend that he didn't know who he was hanging with, the man had armed body guards at all times!!!! I wouldn't have brought it up if you wouldn't have used some theology class to speak to his character. Plus, you seem really quiet when it comes to his conduct today. You wanted to vilify some of the players when they spoke up about the dress code, saying they were lowly employees, but its okay to you for Zo to tell not one, BUT TWO teams that he would fake injuries until he got what he wanted. AND DEMANDED TO BE PAID FOR IT......and that wasn't 20 years ago, that was last season.
|
|
Name:
whynotme
Comment: --->morris, you said that if someone says that have never hung around a KNOWN drug dealer they were lying....if someone sold drugs and i didn't know it then it wouldn't be a lie if i said i didn't hang around one because i had no idea they were one but if i found out later then i can say i unknowingly hung out with one....but still to this day i have yet to find out somebody i used to hang out with was a big time drug dealer.....and smoking weed and being rayful are not the same thing at all.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: To Giantsfan: Let's be clear, Edmonds 'befriended' Alonzo. And let's also be clear...Alonzo wasn't ever arrested, accused or investigated for illegal activity. Those are facts. Sorry, but I can't castigate people for who they know and more times than not, it was EDMONDS who came to campus to visit Zo...not the other way around.
And the proof is in the pudding. If Zo was up to wrong-doing, it would've played out, leaked out or born out SOMEWHERE. Even YOU can only submit that they knew each other. And given Zo's star status, Edmonds I'm sure had more to gain in trying to 'befriend' Zo than the other way around.
Going one-step further. Don't you think Edmonds would have submarined Zo if Zo was actually guilty of anything? Think about that one.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: And no, I don't believe he was faking injuries. I don't think so. Even today, he's only good for some 20 minutes a game at best. It's hard to say someone is 'faking' given well-documented physical limitations.
If anything I could make a better argument for New Jersey LYING and saying they were building a championship team and instead trading away all of their talent. That's my perception.
At the end of the day, if the ONLY thing you can recite is association with a criminal some 20 years ago...you still prove my point.
To this day there has never even been any ACCUSATION of wrong doing on his part. The story 'wasn't a story' until John Thompson made PUBLIC the fact that he intervened and told Edmonds to stay away. THAT was the story, since you want to recite history.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: Big time drug dealers usually associate with big time people. Yeah, you and I probably haven't hung out with people like Tony Montana (Scarface) but if you're the top basketball recruit in the world, they'll likely come looking for you for a variety of reasons. It's all relative to your status - whynotme.
|
|
Name:
whynotme
Comment: --->morris i get what you're saying now but i thought you meant just drug dealing in general but yeah of course if somebody is big time and somebody was hanging around them then you better believe they knew that person was a drug dealer and of they say they didn't then they are telling a concocted lie.
|
|
Name:
giantsfan
Comment: Morris, im not saying that Zo was working for Rayful, but if you want to go into his past to speak to who he was/is, then be truthful. If you didnt know that Zo was hanging with Rayful until Coach Thompson made it public, than you were the only one. The whole city knew!!! Im sure there are people on this board who knew before that. Obviously your Georgetown classmate, and the dude everyone else knew on GA. ave and in North/southeast, were 2 different people.Secondly, he signed a contract to play for the Nets regardless of who they put him on the floor with. If Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson could go out there and give their best, then Zo should have shut his sorry %*$ up and done the same. He signed a contract, he should have honored it. He faked injuries so he wouldnt have to play in New Jersey while complaining about the team being no good. Why didnt he play to try to make them better. Then when the Nets were tired of his whining, they traded him to Toronto, and not only did he refuse to play, he never even showed up in Toronto!!! He had the audacity to ask for a buyout or he would stay "hurt". Look it up, these are facts. In Toronto he was injured, but in Miami, he was fine one week later. Dude is not a team player, unless everything is catered toward him. Instead of trying to win a championship, he got on the "ride-along" program. What he does for charities is nice and he should be commended, but dont get crazy. Stop trying to whitewash his story.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: Alright (giantsfan), lets move the discussion in this direction. If Alonzo is in your estimation NOT worthy of the praise I've given him, give me an example of someone in your mind who is in the NBA. With the exception of maybe Dikembe Mutombo (another great Georgetown example) I'm guessing there isn't too long of a list of admirable NBA men on and off the court.
If I'm wrong, I'm sure you'll provide examples.
|
|
Name:
giantsfan
Comment: Its not about him not being worthy of your praise. He is your classmate and you want him to get a ring. I simply gave you another side that you didnt want to acknowledge. The league is filled with regular guys who do both good and bad. Lets not try to paint anyone as an absolute angel or devil. I told you, I admire what Zo does for charity. BTW, his wife is cool-as-hell, and very down to earth.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: Agreed, Tracy is very, very cool. I did write
"I’m not saying Alonzo Mourning is a saint by no means, but I am saying he’s one of the most sincere individuals that I ever remember meeting..."
I think it's also fair to say he's heads and shoulders (above me literally) and above most of what is in the NBA from a personal standpoint.
|
|
Name:
giantsfan
Comment: This is where we disagree, being here in DC, I know of a lot of good things that a lot of players do, but it doesnt come to light because we dont like their appearance or the way they choose to dress. If a player is helping in his community, why should his rims or jewelry matter??? The NBA is filled with good dudes. They just dont easily fit into societies' little boxes.
|
|
Name:
MorrisOKelly
Comment: I'm not saying that the 'rims and jewelry' matter...but I am saying that true selflessness is evident in the choices that people make that offer zero personal gain.
I'm sure that many NBA players do positive 'stuff.' I only offer that sincerity bears itself out when you look at the totality of a situation.
Giving money because you can, is different from giving because you don't have to and feel compelled to do so.
That's the difference between the 'choice' to wear 25k worth of jewelry and spending 25k on the Democratic Party.
That's the difference between reading to children in the NBA Read to Achieve program because the NBA instructs players to do and spending your time, money and energy with foster kids because you once were one.
Sincerity is the difference.
|
|
Name:
PHScott
Comment: I, personally, had forgotten about the whole ordeal. All I remember is 'Zo being the next dominating link in the G'Town Center chain for Coach Thompson. And NBA basketball is a business, making Alonzo Mourning a businessman. His decision to work in the bet atmosphere possible is a buiness decision regarding his work environment. And when is it a sin to want to get paid? Finally, Thunny, you are a real dumba$$. I am certain of it now...
|
| Back to Top |
| Click here to post your comments. |
| Back to the Article » Click Here |
|---|
...
