Guys,
First off, I thought your coverage of the Mercer case was superb, and aside from
the slight errors that the lawyer-readers brought up, I thought you were right on the
mark Not being from the area, it wasn't exactly something I'd heard a lot about, but
you guys are on top of everything.
But, that's not really what has sparked me into writing. I just read the Sacramento
story chronicling Bobby's likely retirement. The article was superb. Yeah, Hurley's
NBA stats are anemic at best, but that's not the point, and with Hurley, numbers
were. From the beginning of his days at Duke (which is about the time Duke
basketball became an integral part of my life), he was about winning. To me, he is
and will always will be the epitome of Duke Basketball (although Wojo gives him a
good run for his money).
Yes, he's remembered for some things in college that are
not flattering, the so-called "whining", and the unfortuante game against Cal in the
tourney in 1993, but even those things come back to the simple fact that Bobby liked
to win, and believed he should always be able to win. That might seem conceited,
but I don't think he thought he should win because he was better than the other
person, he thought he should win because he wanted it more. That's what made him
great in college, and that is what, in my opinion, made his remarkable comeback to
competitive basketball a truly heart-warming story.
I remember, about a month after
his accident, NBC was airing their Christmas Eve or Christmas night game, and at
halftime they had an interview with Bobby from his parent's home, and I thought then
that he was done, and we'd probably never hear from him again. I grossly
misestimated his will to succeed, and win. And to me, regardless of what the
Celtics, or any other team say, he has.
Todd