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As we interviewed Cook for an upcoming
"FANdamonium" special, he just seems to be maturing and coming into
his own. He and Melissa both seem to be doing well and are both
enjoying the Southern California weather. Brian said he is happy to
live near the marina because he can fish right off the docks.
Cook says the players have pretty much
welcomed him into the Laker family, but the practices are still
pretty hard. That's nothing compared to the road trips. He said they
were brutal, oftentimes making players wonder where they even are.
For those keeping up with the Bryant
saga, Cook says Kobe is doing all right so far.
Cook says he spends most of his time
hanging out with former Missouri star Kareem Rush and former Arizona
star Luke Walton.
A huge crowd was on hand for the jersey
retirement, and Cook received several standing ovations. He briefly
spoke to the crowd, mostly to thank them for their years of support.
In typical Cook fashion, he stayed around an hour or two longer than
he needed to, to make sure that every little kid who wanted an
autograph or picture got one.
The LDN salutes this gentle giant and
hopes for an NBA championship in Brian's immediate future.
Railers
alone at the top
After a harrowing victory at home
Friday night over CS8 nemesis Southeast, the Lincoln Railers find
themselves alone in first place. That's because while Lincoln was
mustering up a win in Roy S. Anderson gymnasium, Lanphier continued
its amazing run by beating Jacksonville.
Now comes the hard part for the Railers.
This week they will play two difficult games on the road. Tuesday
they will visit SH-G, and then on Friday they go to do battle with
Springfield High. A split would almost assure them of a share of the
league crown, as you always hope that the Railers will defend the
home court. However, if Lincoln has any designs on winning the
conference crown outright, they must win both of these ballgames. If
Mike Shannon were here, he'd probably say that ol' Abner has done it
again!
Lady
Railers
Speaking of Railers, let's get ready to
support this fantastic group of Lady Railers as they prepare for
regionals. The girls capped off a fantastic regular season with a
very physical and hard-fought win over Southeast last Thursday
night. In fact, the Lady Railers start postseason play tonight as
the No. 7 seed and will take on No. 12 seed Bradley-Bourbonnais at 8
p.m. at Normal Community High.
Good luck, Lady Railers, as we're all
pulling for a long playoff run!
[to top of second column in this
article] |
 NBA
All-Star weekend
While Cook was basking in the Illinois
weather, his NBA colleagues were whooping and hooping it up on
Brian's new home court, the Staples Center. This time there were no
clothing malfunctions but some pretty good basketball. Cook must be
working the Lakers pretty hard in practice because it led to his
teammate Shaquille O'Neal winning the MVP award as the West beat the
East 136-132 in a very entertaining basketball game.
Daytona
500
It was a beautiful day in Daytona,
Fla., yesterday. Especially if you are a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
who won his first Daytona 500 six years to the day his father
accomplished the feat. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and a host of
others battled all day in a very entertaining race.
Other
stuff
North Carolina State shocked Duke last
night 78-74.
John Daly won a PGA Tour event for the
first time in nine years as he claimed the Buick Open by pulling off
an incredible bunker shot on the first playoff hole!
Professional hockey is coming to
Bloomington! At least, that's according to a front page story in
today's Pantagraph. A team that will be moving here from California
is scheduled to open play in the city's new arena for the 2005-2006
season!
LCC's men split on the weekend and are
now 16-13.
While the Angels blasted Emmaus on
Saturday.
No LC report available.
LCC's men's basketball team plays its
FINAL home game of the season tonight against St. Louis. A hearty
invitation to all area fans is being extended. Just tell the ticket
takers that Greg Taylor sent you and… (you'll still have to pay, but
they should let you in).
Have a great
week, everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield]
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