Just got a little dusty in here....

[Chef]

Say what you want about some a lot of the cheesy stuff ESPN puts out, but Tom Friend does a hell of a job with this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090925/aunese

 

[Songbird]

OK, I'm halfway through it, and really like it. Gotta finish it later.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Saw the piece on SC earlier this week.

Will have to read this later tonight.

 

[doubledown68]

Story was well done... and the arc, as the full-circle theme suggests, is downright remarkable.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It's an amazing story.

What I want to know, and maybe some of the SEC writers can help with this... Is T.C. McCartney a legit DI college quarterback? I know he's a walk-on, but that could be because his rich grandpa is paying his tuition and didn't want to take a scholarship from his good buddy Les Miles. Does anyone think he'll ever play/start for LSU?

 

[imjustagirl]

Since he's consistently been third or fourth on the depth chart, no.

Legit D1? Maybe. SEC? No.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Since he's consistently been third or fourth on the depth chart, no.

Legit D1? Maybe. SEC? No.

That's what I figured. He'd probably be the starter if he'd gone to his father's horse**** alma mater.

 

[imjustagirl]

You apparently didn't watch and/or read the story.

He was set to go to his father's "horse****" alma mater until the coaching change. Then he was looking at smaller schools until Les Miles came through. I won't explain Les Miles' connection if you didn't read the story.

 

[luckyducky]

Good damn fricken' story. Wow.

 

[Double J]

You apparently didn't watch and/or read the story.

As usual, that doesn't have to stop Mizzou from thinking he's an expert on the subject matter. :

 

[old_tony]

Ripping on other posters aside, I just thought it was way too long a story for practically no payoff at the end. We do all that reading to find out he isn't good enough to get in the game but he saw a rainbow in Seattle.

Rainbows in Seattle aren't exactly rare occurrences that make me think there was some divine intervention going on. I get the impression Friend was looking for some glorious ending but had to settle for that. And that the end was such a small payoff, it just didn't seem worth reading the other 200 or whatever inches.

 

[YGBFKM]

You suck at groupthink, o_t.

 

[old_tony]

You suck at groupthink, o_t.

Never was any good at it.

I mean, yeah, it's an OK story. And it does pack some emotion. But the way it ends, can anyone even feign to imagine some Hollywood producer would read it and say, "Yeah, we've just got to make a movie about this"? Not bloody likely.

 

[YGBFKM]

Couldn't make it through the story, but the OTL segment was pretty good.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

The story is great, except for one major item.

The glorification of a prick. Aunese's attitude toward Kristy was inexcusable.

 

[imjustagirl]

I didn't get the sense that aspect of him was glorified in the least. Hell, I thought it showed him warts and all.

****, he was a 20-year-old. Most 20-year-olds wouldn't react a hell of a lot different.

 

[sportsguydave]

I didn't get the sense that aspect of him was glorified in the least. Hell, I thought it showed him warts and all.

****, he was a 20-year-old. Most 20-year-olds wouldn't react a hell of a lot different.

I'd have to agree. I think the piece pretty much makes clear that Aunese redeemed himself in the end. I was in this position myself my senior year of high school ... my girlfriend and I lost the baby before we told anyone.

His reaction certainly isn't the way I would have handled it ... but having walked in those shoes, I'm not going to judge anyone else.

I've never been a big Bill McCartney fan, but in this case, he certainly walked the walk. Kudos to him for supporting his daughter and helping raise his grandson.

As far as the rainbow thing ... you either believe in that kind of thing, or you don't. Those of us who do believe aren't threatened by the views of those who don't.

A very nice piece all around, in my opinion.

And by the way ... there already is a movie in development:

http://www.salthemovie.com/index.html

 

[Double J]

I've seen other stories where Sal and Kristy's relationship didn't simply fade away - he dropped her like a hot potato and wouldn't acknowledge the kid until a blood test proved he was the father.

To make matters worse for Kristy, she went through it all over again a few years later with Shannon Clavelle, except he lived but still doesn't come around or support his child, supposedly.

Hopefully she stopped dating her father's football players after that.

 

[YGBFKM]

My first thought when McCartney related the scene about Aunese saying, " I won't marry her," was, What an asshole. Not sure they glorified him in the piece, but it appears they purposely glossed over a little reality for a better story.

 

[Double J]

I thought that too.

"Look, this is not going to affect your position on the team, but I'd like you to establish right now whether you're going to be with her through this or whether you're not."

"Coach, I'm not going to marry her."

Sal, you didn't have to marry her. You were asked if you would stand by her.

I don't care if he was 20 or 21 or however old he was. He was a grown man, an adult. He needed to make an adult decision, and he failed.

Maybe he made up for it in some way by acknowledging the child and by apologizing to Kristy for the way things had transpired. If he did, that's great. It doesn't change that he treated her like ****.