IUPUI (it stands for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis - don't ask me, I don't live in Indiana) head men's basketball coach Ron Hunter will be coaching barefoot on Thursday in his team's game against Oakland University. The stunt is a way to raise awareness for Samaritan's Feet, a charity started by Nigerian native Emmanuel "Manny" Ohonme, who eventually came to the US to play college basketball (no doubt recruited by Kevin Bacon). The goal is to send 40,000 pairs of shoes to Africa in honor of the 40th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Helping put shoes on the feet of needy men, women and children in Africa is a great cause. Hunter has personally received more than 30,000 pairs of shoes already. What he is doing is a great and noble thing.
It is also, unquestionably, unbelievably gross and unhygienic. I'm far from a neat freak, but you couldn't pay me enough money to walk barefoot on a gym floor for several hours. The sheer number of variety of fungi and other infectious diseases lurking on any gym floor boggles the mind. It's a Tinactin commercial waiting to happen. Perhaps he should take a lesson from Howard Hughes and skip the shoes but wear Kleenex boxes on his feet.
I'd like to say that it would be neat if other, more established coaches follow his lead. But let's be honest - Bobby Knight's bare feet probably resemble something from a Lord of the Rings monster, and I don't think we need the dozens of ESPN close-ups IN HD that we would probably be treated with during that broadcast.
3 comments:
I hate the feet too, great cause though. Give the coach some credit for baring no shoes and surely getting fungi.
The cause is worth the athlete's foot. Walk barefoot for one day while you do your yardwork and carry out the trash, and then remember how nice your yard is compared to much of Africa.
Ron Hunter would be on my head coach list at a big school because this shows he can see the big picture. If he knows his basketball, and his kids learn from him and play well under him, he'd jump to the top of the list.
I wish I had a Balrog joke. Or maybe one about Gimli, Gloin's son. Or one about Anduil, flame of the west, re-forged out of the shards of Narsil.
Post a Comment