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Super Mario
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So, it's the Summer of 1997. The Chicago Bulls had just defeated the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. I'm going to be starting my Freshman year of High School soon.
The extremely small podunk town that I grew up in had a few famous current/former residents as well. Former NFL player Carl Mauck comes in at a distance second in status to the legend that is Jerry Sloan. Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.
Jerry lived right in the middle of town, on one of the main streets that goes through town. He would come home every Summer and spend most of his offseason in the town he grew up in. If you seen him outside, you could just walk up in his yard and talk to him and get an autograph. I did it several times as a young kid.
It was the 4th of July. And the people I lived with were having a party at their lake. And who shows up? Jerry Sloan. And of course, Jerry's been drinking. Anyone who knows Jerry knows that he used to be a fall down belligerent drunk.
This was just a month or so after the Jazz had been defeated in the Finals by the Bulls. And as you could guess, living in Illinois, there was always a ton of Bulls apparel being sported. There were a lot of people who were Jazz fans in the area because of Jerry, but the Bulls reigned supreme.
I had an authentic red Bulls Michael Jordan jersey. It was legit. Just so happened to have it on at this particular party. This is the same jersey I sold on eBay a few months ago within 30 minutes of listing it.
So I have this jersey on, and at one point during the party, Jerry walks up to me and we start talking about the Finals. This is the Finals that Michael Jordan played his famous 'flu game'. Gritting it out through sickness, getting IV's, and putting on a great performance while barely being able to stand on his own two feet.
Jerry Sloan then goes on to tell me a story that would change my opinion of him to this day.
Jerry told me that in fact, Michael Jordan did not have the flu that game. He said the Jordan and some other people spent the night before gambling and drinking until daylight. And that Michael Jordan was extremely hung over and sleep deprived the night of the 'flu game'.
I lost any respect I had for Jerry Sloan that night.
Hell, his story might be true. But a multi-millionaire former professional athlete and current head coach in the NBA shouldn't be going around drunkenly and telling a 15 year old child that his hero is a fraud.
The extremely small podunk town that I grew up in had a few famous current/former residents as well. Former NFL player Carl Mauck comes in at a distance second in status to the legend that is Jerry Sloan. Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.
Jerry lived right in the middle of town, on one of the main streets that goes through town. He would come home every Summer and spend most of his offseason in the town he grew up in. If you seen him outside, you could just walk up in his yard and talk to him and get an autograph. I did it several times as a young kid.
It was the 4th of July. And the people I lived with were having a party at their lake. And who shows up? Jerry Sloan. And of course, Jerry's been drinking. Anyone who knows Jerry knows that he used to be a fall down belligerent drunk.
This was just a month or so after the Jazz had been defeated in the Finals by the Bulls. And as you could guess, living in Illinois, there was always a ton of Bulls apparel being sported. There were a lot of people who were Jazz fans in the area because of Jerry, but the Bulls reigned supreme.
I had an authentic red Bulls Michael Jordan jersey. It was legit. Just so happened to have it on at this particular party. This is the same jersey I sold on eBay a few months ago within 30 minutes of listing it.
So I have this jersey on, and at one point during the party, Jerry walks up to me and we start talking about the Finals. This is the Finals that Michael Jordan played his famous 'flu game'. Gritting it out through sickness, getting IV's, and putting on a great performance while barely being able to stand on his own two feet.
Jerry Sloan then goes on to tell me a story that would change my opinion of him to this day.
Jerry told me that in fact, Michael Jordan did not have the flu that game. He said the Jordan and some other people spent the night before gambling and drinking until daylight. And that Michael Jordan was extremely hung over and sleep deprived the night of the 'flu game'.
I lost any respect I had for Jerry Sloan that night.
Hell, his story might be true. But a multi-millionaire former professional athlete and current head coach in the NBA shouldn't be going around drunkenly and telling a 15 year old child that his hero is a fraud.
