November 13, 2002

“We’re attempting to find skates and equipment to fit him.” : Tallest-basketball-player-ever Manute Bol is going to be playing hockey with the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League. Why not, after his recent defeat of William “The Refrigerator” Perry in Celebrity Boxing.

posted by kirkaracha to hockey at 08:01 AM - 7 comments

Poor Manute. I love this guy. His 'commercial' for a cruise line on Saturday Night Live was my favorite parody commercial that SNL ever did. When he's in the hot tub with the couple. Gold, baby.

posted by Ufez Jones at 09:32 AM on November 13, 2002

This is very, very wrong, and confuses me. Just because something can be done doesn't mean you should do it. This is like if NASA decided to send donkeys to the moon.

posted by Samsonov14 at 09:42 AM on November 13, 2002

This says it all about the guy:

Bol recently took part in Fox TV's Celebrity Boxing show and beat former football player William "The Refrigerator'' Perry in a bout. Bol agreed to take part, so long as Fox agreed to air a toll-free number for the Ring True Foundation, a West Hartford-based charity he set up to benefit southern Sudanese children. He donated his $35,000 purse from the boxing match to the group.
He's got his priorities -- and his heart -- in the right place. Who the fuck cares what other people think, when you're doing good things.

posted by ajax at 10:31 AM on November 13, 2002

Thanks for the perspective, ajax. I was going to write something sarcastic about "dignity," but Manute seems to be willing to do whatever it takes to help Sudanese children, even if it means looking foolish in the eyes of others. That's noble. Uncomfortable, but noble.

posted by jacknose at 10:59 AM on November 13, 2002

(More on Bol here. The interview gets interesting about halfway down, when Bol himself speaks, describing the situation in the Sudan, and also why he did that boxing match. ("That money is not going to my pocket. If it was going to my pocket, I would say yeah, you know, it's bad to do that, you know."))

posted by ajax at 02:03 PM on November 13, 2002

Reminds me of the saying I have taped up at my desk Anyways by Mother Theresa.

posted by brent at 07:37 PM on November 13, 2002

(Turns out, those aphorisms weren't actually written by Momma T, they were by a guy named Kent Keith, who self-published them when he was 19. (The New York Times ran a story on it last March.))

posted by mattpfeff at 07:51 PM on November 13, 2002

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