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TechnographIt's good to be home, again
By Ryne Nelson
Posted: 6/17/05 Section: Opinions
It's good to be home again. In my hot, stuffy, second-floor room, an idea bursts into my brain. I feverishly search through the reams of old newspaper clippings in my bottom desk drawer.
Lightbulbs.
Finally, I pull out a beige file folder with the thickness of a half-pound steak burger. I tear through its contents - girls' soccer recaps, badminton columns, boys' volleyball box scores.
Finally, after a couple scrambling minutes, I find what I'm looking for.
nnn
This is a basketball story. Growing up, professional basketball was the only sport I knew.
I recognized stars only at the highest level. It was Jordan, Malone and Kemp, not Jamison, Bibby and Pierce.
But there was another world out there. A growing world - to be most precise - and it wasn't college basketball.
In 1995, the Minnesota Timberwolves changed the game. They drafted a scrawny, 6'10'' high schooler named Kevin Garnett with their fifth overall selection. Other franchises saw the enormous upside of selecting players fresh out of high school and began to follow suit.
Turning point.
I began to realize the fresh excitement and tremendous hype the NBA created at the high school level. My game was talking to me.
With the high school game, there was the promise of discovery - that maybe the next big thing would be on the back page of your sports section.
I started to follow high school basketball so I could find the next Jordan before anyone else.
nnn
In a beige file folder, I pull out a copy of the March 31, 2002 Chicago Tribune Sports section, stashed safely away from my sophomore year in high school. I turn to the back page.
A picture - for the first time ever - fills my head with more than one thousand words.
It's Daniel "Dee" Brown.
Noticeably skinnier, Dee dribbles a ball in his bed. On his shoulders is a blue Isiah Thomas throwback jersey - Detroit, No. 11. He dons a white headband with an embroidered number "11" between his eyebrows. A large chain with a cross swings from his neck.
Lightbulbs.
Finally, I pull out a beige file folder with the thickness of a half-pound steak burger. I tear through its contents - girls' soccer recaps, badminton columns, boys' volleyball box scores.
Finally, after a couple scrambling minutes, I find what I'm looking for.
nnn
This is a basketball story. Growing up, professional basketball was the only sport I knew.
I recognized stars only at the highest level. It was Jordan, Malone and Kemp, not Jamison, Bibby and Pierce.
But there was another world out there. A growing world - to be most precise - and it wasn't college basketball.
In 1995, the Minnesota Timberwolves changed the game. They drafted a scrawny, 6'10'' high schooler named Kevin Garnett with their fifth overall selection. Other franchises saw the enormous upside of selecting players fresh out of high school and began to follow suit.
Turning point.
I began to realize the fresh excitement and tremendous hype the NBA created at the high school level. My game was talking to me.
With the high school game, there was the promise of discovery - that maybe the next big thing would be on the back page of your sports section.
I started to follow high school basketball so I could find the next Jordan before anyone else.
nnn
In a beige file folder, I pull out a copy of the March 31, 2002 Chicago Tribune Sports section, stashed safely away from my sophomore year in high school. I turn to the back page.
A picture - for the first time ever - fills my head with more than one thousand words.
It's Daniel "Dee" Brown.
Noticeably skinnier, Dee dribbles a ball in his bed. On his shoulders is a blue Isiah Thomas throwback jersey - Detroit, No. 11. He dons a white headband with an embroidered number "11" between his eyebrows. A large chain with a cross swings from his neck.
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