SheBron

[JeeberD]

I don't know if any of ya'll have seen this (http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2003-02-12/feature.html/1/index.html) yet, but it's an interesting read. Far fetched, but interesting...

[Tarkus]

Can't wait to see her elementary school games on ESPN. :rolleyes:

Tarkus

[Anthony]

it's a shame. i guess when these kids are making millions of dollars no one questions whether it's right to rob them of a normal teen life.

i don't understand the rush.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally posted by JeeberD
I don't know if any of ya'll have seen this (http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2003-02-12/feature.html/1/index.html) yet, but it's an interesting read. Far fetched, but interesting...

Interesting indeed. But I gotta admit, I kept waiting for a Sid Finch reference to pop-up in the article somewhere.

[Iceberg]

who was that guy who espn made up? you know the pitcher with the 150 mph fastball who signed witht the mets then disapeared. something like syd finch. it sounds like these guys have themselves a similar rouse going.

[JeeberD]

I found a link to the article on a different board, and posted below it was this:

"This from the St. Louis Dispatch regarding the hoax article written by Mike Seely:

The Riverfront Times scribe wrote a delightful cover story on a local 12-year-old basketball phenom, "Sheila Bronson." The piece was a hoax, and Seely will catch some heat, but it was all in good fun. Methinks that Seely exposed a larger truth: the preposterous, almost demented, amount of hype over teenage (or even pre-teen) basketball players in our culture. See: LeBron James. It's wacko. And I thought Seely did a wicked job making fun of breathless get-a-lifers who go berserk over kid basketball prospects."

I haven't found an actual link stating that it was satire, but come on, it's gotta be...

[Anthony]

that makes more sense.

i don't think as many red flags would have been raised if he would have made the piece on a boy rather a girl. i feel silly for believing it now.

[GoldenEagle]

I think the article is pretty funny.

A 12 year old girl dunking over a 6'8 D1 prospect? Good stuff.

[JeeberD]

Quoting Bob Gibbons is what got me at first. Getting a very well known recruiting guru to go along with the story was a fantatic touch...

OK, found a link (http://riverfronttimes.com/issues/2003-02-19/theworm.html/1/index.html) to an article from the paper saying that it was a hoax...

[GoldenEagle]

Is the RiverFront Times a big newspaper?

[mckerney]

Knew it was fake after about the 4th paragraph.



"Citing her daughter's height and intellect as compelling factors, Terry has also petitioned Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who oversees the state's driver-services department, to grant SheBron an age exemption so that she can earn her driver's license at age thirteen."

and anyone who believed it after that needs some serious help

[kcchief19]

Yeah, I don't know if the writer was just trying to leave in clues or just wasn't very bright, but there were a number of things that made no sense, including the idea that top-flight high school basketball talent is playing pick-up games outside in the middle of January. Not to mention the idea of anybody from McCluer going over the play ball in East St. Louis. :)

The RFT is a free hand-out weekly alternative newspaper. That's the only way a writer could get away with an article like this a month a half before April Fool's Day. It's also another reason why alternative newspapers had a low reputation for truth and journalistic integrity.