...or something like that. Clever I ain't.
Big tip of the hat to Leave The Man Alone, who has a great recap (with some nifty photos) on a recent Alonzo Mourning's charity event that put me on to some of his philanthropic ways. SML likes to do at least one post a week on athletes, and the good they are doing. We've even gotten our act together and finally created a tag called "Good sh*t athletes do". The point isn't to glorify athletes, but to balance out all the negative you hear about athletes (which accounts for less than 5% of the athlete population, believe it or not). This week we'll follow LTMA's lead, and do a post on Zo's contributions.
We should add a disclaimer, namely we don't care much for Alonzo Mourning the player. He's a Knick villain, the guy who fought Larry Johnson during the playoffs. They had some historical beef going back to their Charlotte Hornets days. He's also the guy who sucked in those old NBA Live games, even though LJ was a freaking monster. If Mourning was any good I might have beat my friend who always used the Warriors (goddamn Chris Mullin was a monster).
Oh, and, as a reader of Bill Simmons once wrote, "Alonzo Mourning goes through kidneys like P. Diddy through bottles of Cristal at a party". Not to mention he screwed the Nets to get to the Heat. That kind of evened out karma-wise for the Nets, as they got Vince Carter in a similar situation with the Raptors. Still, despite all that, Mourning keeps busy with the charity stuff.
Alonzo Mourning donated his entire Heat salary ($300,000) in 2004 to organizations that "promote literacy and education for poor youth". He also donated money to charities that "provide food to poor kidney dialysis patients", a topic near to his heart, of course. But he first started his foundation (Alonzo Mourning Charities) in 1997, soon after signing that huge $105 million dollar contract with the Heat, and before any of his kidney problems. The foundation does a lot of work in the Miami/South Florida area, as well as New Jersey (where he played with the Nets for a small bit), and in Virginia, where he is from originally (Chesapeake, VA, per Wikipedia). His foundation has donated or raised more than $6 million for local charities, including Miami's Children's Home Society, the Overtown Youth Center, and 100 Black Men of South Florida (a mentorship program for kids) over the past 10 years.
A recent story is this press release related to the Summer Groove event Leave The Man Alone posted about. Alonzo Mourning Charities is teaming up with Spine 3D to do an artist rendering of a "new Youth Center for at-risk children". Here's what it's suppose to look like, which, like all f*cking architect projects, always looks like some it's on some old George Jetson futuristic sh*t:
Brand new flava in ya ear, indeed. Seriously, is that a cloaked hovercraft? For the children to play in, of course. And is the second floor really suppose to be supported by only two columns? My bet is that it'll look more like this when it's done:
If you look close enough, you'll see the soccer nets there, in the middle of the desert. Oh, before we continue, interesting story about that photo - I took that while riding a bus through the western Sahara portion of Morocco. Pretty quickly, I was half asleep when, in the middle of the desert, I saw it... a freaking basketball court. Just there, in the middle of nowhere (no buildings around, nothing). Just two backboards, and a court (with a 2 foot high rock wall around it forming the border). I tried to take a picture of it, but the bus was moving too quickly. Needless to say, it was the most Free Darko picture ever, bar none. This "soccer game in the desert" photo was a lame-ass attempt to recreate the magic of that photo that got away....
The Summer Groove is an event that Zo has done for like 11 years now. In 2002, the Professional Basketball Writers Association named Zo their J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award winner, which honors community service. Previous winners include Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, Dr. J, Joe Dumars, Vlade Divac, Dikembe Mutumbo and Chris "Free Throw Clinic" Dudley. Mourning won this award after he had created "Zo's Fund For Life", another organization that raises money for the Glomerular Institue at Columbia University (a leading center for research on kidney diseases). Glomeruloscleroscis is the most common cause of kidney disease among African-Americans - Zo raised $2 million dollars for that cause.
Mourning has also made individual donations to people who cannot afford medicines.
Let's finish this post with a reminder about why you don't screw a team like the Nets over just to get to the Heat... because dem boys might get some paid back:
And why, not, another video focused on that last dunk vicious Vince Carter dunk:
Leave a comment
|
13 Comments
Comments
Zo' give money like Vick gives dogs sleepy time forever?
come on! no shaq for his weight loss efforts?
Great post on Zo and great keeping these stories in the spot light. As you know, with COSELLOUT I'm just sliding over to the sports media world and fixing to do a similar thing as your "good shit athletes do" where I link to positive athletes stories wherever they are written... I will be frequently linking to your "good guy" stories...
DJM: Damnit! I knew I should have ran this article past you first. Nice job.
Modi: Thanks man. Just trying to do my part....
Mr. Mourning I hope you are doing fine and well. My name is Gerald Thomas and I to suffer from kidney disease. The one thing that I always do is to never allow myself to become depressed because of my condition. I am a family man with a wife, two sons, and a lot of responsibilities. I have not worked since the middle of March because my position on the job presented problems I couldn't overcome. One of the things was that I had just obtained the job at Georgia Power and the plant Administrators didn't want me to do anything to injure myself while on the job. I have always wanted to be able to take care of my family and have never asked anyone for help. Know I am at a door that I have never stood at before. If you will I am asking for some help. I have listed my E-MAIL address and I will also give my phone numbers which are 1-478-456-2327,1-475-456-2017. Thank you for being the person that you are and may God continue to bless and keep you is my prayer. Yours in Christ, Gerald Thomas.
LIL WAYNE ON MYSPACE MUSIC - - ADD KAYO MARBILUS MYSPACE.COM/KAYOMARBILUS
I've really enjoyed reading your articles. You obviously know what you are talking about! Your site is so easy to navigate too, I've bookmarked it in my favourites :-D
Some time ago, I really needed to buy a good house for my firm but I did not earn enough cash and couldn't order anything. Thank God my father suggested to try to get the loan at creditors. Therefore, I did so and used to be satisfied with my bank loan.
Thank you for this.
However mean your nike air max 2010 mens life is meet it and live it; Do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad nike air max 2010 as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The nike max 2009 on sale faultfinder will find faults in paradise. Love your new nike air max 2009 life poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant thrilling glorious air max 95 black hours even in a poorhouse. The setting sun is reflected from the blue airmax 95 windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's blue air max 90 for women abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may nike air max 90 live as contentedly there and have as cheering cheap air max 180 thoughts as in a palace. The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent air max classic womens shoes lives of any. May be they are simply great nike air max enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it often grey nike air max for men happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means. Which should be more disreputable. Cultivate poverty men air max shoes like a garden herb like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things whether clothes or women air max shoes friends Turn the old return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. Today we have higher nike air max white buildings and wider highways but shorter temperaments and narrower points of nike red air max 2009 view. http://www.sellnikeairmax.com/ CC
Purple is a very beautiful color,GHD IV MK4 Purple is a Purple ghd hair straighteners,bright purple,the eyes have moved by the people attracted to purple on the outside with a layer of white decorating,extremely fine.hair straighteners performance,I would like to like to know that hair design,superior performance to attract subjects to buy
These fantastic mini stylers are easy to use,with slimmer ceramic iron plates that smoothes your hair in minutes.Our Ghd mini straighteners are perfect for shorter hair and provide that salon approved shine every time.GHD IV Purple Hair Straighteners
In this day and age, when every woman is trying to find some way to get and keep her hair straighteners ghd there companies like Pink ghd straighteners that are relatively new to this hair straightening trade have come up successfully with some pretty awesome products that surely carries the message of the company and the manufacturer that how promising they are not only in words but also in their performance.The popularity itself is the indication of their efficiency.All of the products from GHD and CHI feature the newest technology that not only aims to GHD IV Salon Hair Straighteners. http://www.ghdhairstraighteners-us.com/
Adult Drivers Ed - This course is required for students age 18-24 who have not passed an approved Texas Adult Drivers Ed Course and are wanting to get a license.And if you are over the age of 24, you will also benefit from not having to take the written exam at the DPS! Simply pass our course and you're done.Access the course from any computer with an internet connection.
Alonzo Mourning Gives Money Like He Loses Kidneys?