New Yorker article on Ricky

[Sock Drawer 214]

 

 

 

On 1/13/2019 at 9:09 PM, closetojumping said:

I played big high school ball in Texas against guys that went to big programs and played in the pros. It’s hard to make me go “whoa”. 

Torrey: "I'm a soldier who's done fightin' in real battles."

[Michael Knight 12898]

Ricky isn't my favorite horn,  he's my favorite human

[Gil Bang 25898]

11 hours ago, Sock Drawer said:

Why the hell would you let her go? Or was it the other way around?

Not to derail the thread, but she left me for a man she met in the psych ward.  

Not kidding. 

[deft 6800]

So you're a california cuck?

[SHOOTER12 8789]

6 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Not to derail the thread, but she left me for a man she met in the psych ward.  

Not kidding. 

Damn ese'

[Gil Bang 25898]

true story. 

[dcar00 14035]

On 5/21/2019 at 9:37 AM, Machinator said:

 

i'm guessing an in depth discussion on the soothing sounds of a certain percussion instrument

[Gil Bang 25898]

34 minutes ago, SHOOTER12 said:

Damn ese'

It was a tremendous gift.  

She was batshit crazy.   I took my vows seriously, and was determined to stick by her side and do everything I could to help her get better.  I was miserable for several years, and through several hospitalizations. 

When she ran off with the other loon, it let me off the hook big time.  I filed for divorce with a clean conscience. 

[troph 24562]

" The Bo Jackson of San Diego":
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/sdut-ricky-williams-breitbard-hall-fame-2016feb14-htmlstory.html

Spoiler

“The Bo Jackson of our city,” longtime San Diego Union-Tribune sports writer Bill Center said of Williams.

Williams, 38, will be inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions’ Breitbard Hall of Fame on Tuesday night. He’s best known for his exploits on the football field, his green and gold 34 jersey draped across oversized shoulder pads, making like Earl Campbell and flattening defenders one play, scooting outside and sprinting past DBs the next.

Williams’ athleticism, though, was displayed about everywhere on the Patrick Henry campus. He roamed the outfield in baseball and ran a leg on a 4x100 relay team that advanced to the state meet.

And he wrestled, going one-on-one with San Diego High’s Stephen Neal, the future two-time NCAA heavyweight champion and New England Patriotsoffensive lineman.

“I remember Ricky being super quick, super agile and very, very strong,” Neal said regarding their one meeting on the mat. “It was one of those matches where I couldn’t make a mistake or I could get in trouble.”

Neal recalls pinning Williams in the second round. On the football field, where Neal played middle linebacker on defense for the Cavers, the results were different.

“He was a bruiser,” said Neal. “Some guys bragged, ‘I’m going to hit him up top.’ They just bounced right off.”

Former Morse High coach John Shacklett shakes his head recalling the first time the Tigers faced Williams. It was the fall of 1993. Morse was the reigning Division III champions. Williams was a junior. Morse, which had dominated Henry for some time, visited the Patriots and drove home 34-13 losers, Williams busting loose.

“After the game, kids are getting on the bus and I yell, ‘Who the hell is No. 34?’” said Shacklett.

“Oh, that’s Ricky,” a player responded.

“Where did he come from?” Shacklett bellowed.

“He was on the JV last year, but he was slow,” a player said.

“Well,” said Shacklett, “he kicked our (butt) tonight.”

Williams rushed for 2,099 yards his senior year at Henry and was the section’s offensive player of the year.

“He was a man among boys,” said Mission Bay coach Willie Matson, who was coaching at Kearny when Williams lined up in the backfield at Henry.

“He would run over a linebacker one play,” said Matson. “I think he left cleat marks on players. Then the next play, Henry would run the exact same play, the linebacker would be set, ready for the hit and end up grabbing air because Ricky made a move and ran around him.”

Canyon Crest Academy baseball coach Mike Hymes played center field at Torrey Pines and recalls facing Williams on the diamond.

“He was a lot like Bo Jackson,” said Hymes. “He had ridiculous power and ridiculous speed. He could chop a ball off home plate and hit a fricking double.”

Williams, who played the infield and outfield at Henry, was hardly a polished baseball player, his heart clearly into football.

“He was a diamond in the rough,” said 83-year-old Reds scout Mike Wallace. “He had tools, (but) he didn’t know how to use them. He did know how to carry a football.”

The Phillies picked Williams in the eighth round of the 1995 draft. In four minor league seasons, never above Class-A, he batted a combined .211, striking out 31.5 percent of the time. Using the speed that enabled him to advance to the state track meet in high school, Williams stole 46 bases in the minors.

For pure athleticism, former Mission Bay coach Dennis Pugh likens Williams to Lincoln’s Marcus Allen, arguably the greatest football player San Diego has ever produced.

“They’d go out, run the ball, run you over, then run back to the bench. No showboating,” said Pugh. “They just had their special way. There was no emulating other people. They went out and did it the way it was supposed to be done.”

I believe he was preseason offensive newcomer of the year for the SWC in one or more of the preseason mags.  I remember, at the time not following recruiting yet in those days, thinking damn who is that, awesome, OK, cool, hook'em. (Thought it but was not prescient enough to write it out like Tom)(winky eye)
 
Edit: Then staying up late to watch the Hawaii game and thinking damn, they might be right.(after that scamper, quick hitter, 55 or so yard TD against Hawaii)

That Hawaii game was insane

[Michael Knight 12898]

Long thread