Darnell Goodman | Len Bias | Vega | Griffin, Rubio and Jennings | DJ Shadow
Is your soul butt naked?
courtesy of Global Sports Fraternity
Darnell Goodman is the former Heisman-winning wide receiver who could've become the next Jerry Rice. Goodman runs a 4.3 40-yard dash and has more talent than Terrell Owens, Randy Moss or Chad Ochocinco.
Darnell Goodman is the skirt-chasing, blunt-smoking, Xbox-playing, unmotivated locker room distraction. Excepting tragedies like Len Bias', Goodman represents the worst kind of draft bust, a prodigious talent gone terribly wrong on and off the field.
Darnell Goodman is the man who has found Jesus. Goodman still struggles with major relapses back into his world of flesh, sin and vices but he has at least found some perspective, and is trying to make it back to the NFL.
Darnell Goodman is the ultimate parody of the prodigal superstar athlete. Goodman is an ingenious creation of Global Sports Fraternity, run by Henry Lowenfels of Mayfly Films, the company behind the two acclaimed movies Rock the Bells and Visioneers. The former is an inside story documentary about Wu-Tang Clan's 2004 Rock the Bells concert and the latter is a black comedy about what it means to take charge of your life like a man.
Thank God Darnell Goodman is a fictional character.
For it would take an awful lot to save the man's soul.
What kills me about Len Bias' death due to a cocaine overdose in 1986 is that it didn't have to happen. The then-22-year old was caught up in the 1980's craze of excess and cocaine-snorting.
If you watch highlights of his dominance at Maryland, it becomes clear that Len Bias was an athletic, physical and basketball marvel. Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated retrospectively called him "a bigger, stronger, more advanced version of Michael Jordan. There was a reason the champions Boston Celtics selected Bias to become Larry Bird's eventual successor with the no. 2 pick in the 1986 NBA Draft.
Bias was described as a good kid but naive. I think this naivete played a role in his succumbing to peer pressure and using cocaine.
A good soul became tainted - and a good man dead.
photos courtesy of their respective owners
Vega, the cutest rock chick on Earth, looks deep into your soul.
What happened to Len Bias was the worst case scenario. But there have been countless prodigal sons in sports, and often, the main reason for their failures have been that they weren't able to keep their heads straight.
The reason I want to look into the souls of Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings (the three most intriguing 2009 rookies, in my opinion) is that while a player can't control his team's vision, he can control his intangibles, such as drive and work ethic.
1. Blake Griffin is about drive : I can totally see Griffin turning out to be the consummate professional who gets the most out of his talents due to his work ethic. Back in April, I wasn't sold on his lack of refined technique, but catching glimpses of his hardcore conditioning regimen and improved skill in The Rookie, I'm confident that this young man will live up to his billing - so long as he isn't poisoned by The Curse of the Clippers.
2. Ricky Rubio is about love : You don't play fun, creative team ball that Rubio plays unless you love the game. Basketball runs in the blood of the Rubio family, his dad having been an amateur player and youth coach, his older brother Marc the youngest player in the Spanish ACB before Ricky's debut and his younger sister Laia a starting shooting guard for the Catalan regional team that won the girls' "mini" championship in the spring of 2008.
There's a reason for Ricky Rubio's prodigious fun-damentals.
The 18-year old Spaniard is more than a baller. He's an artist in the Catalan tradition, the hardwood successor to Antonio Gaudi and Salvador Dali. He's a lover in the Latin tradition, the basketball successor to Casanova.
Ricky Rubio now gets a chance to display his artistic and romantic genius to NBA audiences.
3. Brandon Jennings is about business : Jennings may be young, but he's street smart. He's from Compton, the city whose rough streets gave birth to N.W.A. and helped explode the popularity of gangsta rap.
When Jennings couldn't qualify to play at Arizona, he told the NCAA to screw themselves and promptly packed his bags for Italy. The 19-year old didn't exactly light up the highly competitive Lega A or Euroleague but he kept his head on and did his best to return to America an improved player and richer man.
So while a baller's soul isn't the only factor that predicts success at the professional level, it may be the most important, because it's the one thing that a man has control over. From that perspective, Blake Griffin, Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings are all in good to great shape, although I sometimes wonder if Jennings' chip on his shoulder may keep him from achieving elite-level team success.
But if Jennings' soul is true and not too good for music, then I expect him to prove me wrong.
Man, Noble or Machine?
Music : "What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)" by DJ Shadow
courtesy of Javier Mayoral
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