A Fan's Notes:
A Hometown Perspective on the Rise of Jason Richardson
I received a voicemail message at 10:45 AM on March 28th. "Hi
Jason, this is Raymond Ridder, Public Relations Director of the Golden
State Warriors. Vic Taffur and I are on our way to Saginaw. We're flying
into Detroit and driving up. We should be there by 1:00 PM. I thought we
could all meet at Starbucks and sit down to swap information about Jason
Richardson and his growing up in Saginaw."
Starbucks? These guys have obviously never been to Saginaw before.
Throughout the week Raymond and I talked on the phone about getting an
interview with Jason Richardson on his first trip back to Saginaw since
making it in the pros. Raymond wanted some information in return.
Vic Taffur is a beat writer for the Oakland (CA) Tribune. He covers the
Golden State Warriors and was doing a story on Jason and his hometown.
Raymond thought I had covered J-Rich since Junior High. Just like Saginaw
having a Starbucks, he was wrong again.
This, you see, is my first article of any kind. The good thing is that I am
an Arthur Hill graduate (like J-Rich) and pride myself on knowing Saginaw
fairly well. Also, my so-called photographer, Matt 'fun' Sharpe is the son
of former Arthur Hill principal Thomas B. Sharpe. So at 10:46 we called
John Payne (current AHHS principal) to see if he could help, and help he
did. Raymond and Vic got all the information they needed and then some
from coaches and teachers at Arthur Hill like Jim Jones (football coach)
and Mary Morris (Head of the Media Center).
The biggest help of all was my 9th grade Gym teacher, Dave Slaggert, who
was Jason Richardson's basketball coach at Arthur Hill. His daughter was
subbing for his classroom that day and offered to contact him at home. We
had an hour to kill so I thought to myself, Saginaw doesn't have a
Starbucks, but we do have the Red Eye CoffeeHouse. Besides, Saginaw isn't
a Starbucks kind of town. Saginaw is unique - a tough town with a lot of
interesting areas.
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Sitting over a mocha-chino at
the Red Eye, Raymond and Vic admitted they didn't know what to expect
coming to Saginaw. Vic said he told someone in Oakland, California that he
was coming to Saginaw and they wanted to know if he was taking a
gun. I had to laugh. To someone that grew up in this city, I laugh
when I hear things like that. I reassured Vic that Saginaw is not as
bad as people think.
As we sat sipping our coffee, I told Raymond and Vic
about some of the great athletes that Saginaw has
produced. They were surprised to learn that Darvin
Ham of the Milwaukee Bucks was from Saginaw and that
his Mother was the Mayor.
|
The two
rookies: Gilbert Are'nas and Jason Richardson get some advice from coach
Brian Winters |
As we walked into Dave Slaggert's home we quickly discovered that his
basement is a virtual shrine dedicated to Jason Richardson. Vic was in
Sports writer's heaven and experiencing information overload.
"Boy, you're a popular guy here in Saginaw," said Raymond. "It's Jason
Richardson. He's at his Mom's house."
So we packed up our stuff and headed over to meet the Superstar from Saganasty.
Rather than pinning Jason down for any 'big revelations', I wanted to
witness his life away from the limelight. My nephew, Sam, was all smiles
and his eyes as big as silver dollars while we sat at the table with Jason
and his mom at her house that afternoon.
Jason's Mom made us feel completely at home and you can tell where Jason
gets his heart and humanity when you meet his mother.
On 'game day' the adrenalin was running high for the Pistons vs. Golden
State Warriors basketball game on March 29th. This was the first time Jason
would be this close to home and his former high school since getting
drafted fifth overall by the Golden State Warriors in this year's NBA draft.
Richardson's rookie season has him in contention for rookie-of-the-year and
also saw him win MVP at the Rookie-All-Star game, with the highlight being
when he nailed the NBA Slam-Dunk Contest. Such luminaries as Dominque
Wilkins, Spud Webb, Brent Barry, and the amazing Michael Jordan have won
this contest.
In looking at Jason today it is difficult not to recall the summer of 1996.
I was at work where sports were regularly the topic of conversation. Jim
Jones, the football coach at Arthur Hill, came in and told me he had just
came from the Gym where former AHHS basketball coach George Kubiak told him
to check out this transfer from Nouvell.
Jim looked at me dead in the eye and said, "Jason, I saw this kid today
that if I saw Michael Jordan at age 15 it would have been him."
Bigger than Jason Richardson's highlights or his dunks is his heart,
humanity and work ethic. Ever since Gus Macker trophies Jason has given
every award ever won to his bed-ridden Grandfather to place on the mantle
next to his bed.
At the game I asked Jason about the two trophies he got in the NBA. "My
Mom really likes the crystal MVP trophy from the Rookie-All-Star game, so
she'll probably get that. But my grandfather will get the slam-dunk award."
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Jason back in
his days at MSU |
One day when Jason was home from MSU in the summer, my
brother-in-law saw Jason jogging down the street dribbling a basketball.
He stopped Jason in the middle of his workout dripping with sweat and
Jason took time to sign autographs and took it upon himself to make my
niece Gabriella laugh.
I'm sure there are tons of Saginaw residents who have similar stories,
because that is the kind of heart and humanity that Jason possesses. |
What about his relentless pursuit at making his jump shot perfect? When
all the critics talk, they view this as his one weakness. There is no
weakness as far as I am concerned, simply because of his work ethic and
willingness to improve every aspect of his game.
And you can't say enough about how he loves where he comes from. When
interviewed on the sidelines during his MVP performance in the
rookie-all-star game, a reporter said, "Oh yeah, Jason, you wanted to tell
everyone where you are from. Where are you from?
J-Rich looked right into the camera and said, "I'm from Sagnasty!"
By the way, this is not a negative reference but merely an expressive
statement young people have adopted to represent their hometown, in the
same way that saying something is 'bad' really means 'good'.
So J-Rich - let the 'Nasty Naw live on!