In a business overflowing with huge egos, Chris is a good, | Forum

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Cheap Houston Texans Jerseys . -- When Shaquille ONeal was 10 years old, his father made a prediction.Friday night when his son became a Hall of Famer, it was realized.Shaq and Allen Iverson headlined the 10-member Class of 2016 enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. One of the most star-packed classes in recent memory, it also featured international star Yao Ming, WNBA great Sheryl Swoopes, coach Tom Izzo, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf, an architect in the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls championship teams of the 1990s.If I know my father, hes up there arguing with Wilt (Chamberlain) that his son is the best big man in the game, Shaq said.Posthumous honorees were: 27-year NBA referee Darell Garretson; John McLendon, the first African-American coach in a professional league; Zelmo Beaty, the former NBA and ABA star who led Prairie View to an NAIA title in 1962; and Cumberland Posey, who is also a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.Shaq was an instant box office draw during his career because of his mammoth frame and rim-shaking dunks. But he also exhibited a personality that was as playful was it was engaging. He showed off all of it on Friday.He had the final speech of the night, a humorous dissertation that spanned his long journey in the sport.His speech had serious moments like thanking his parents, Phil Harrison and Lucille ONeal, for giving him the discipline and drive that drove his NBA dream.But he also tossed in light moments. He thanked former Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant for helping him win three NBA titles, but also for getting me pushed off the team and traded to Miami.Before host Ahmad Rashad could even introduce Iverson, the first mention of his name started a roar of cheers throughout the assembled audience.Dressed in all black, former MVP known as A.I., blew kisses has tears began to form in his eyes.Thank God for loving me and blessing me, Iverson said, to be the man that I am and having no regrets for the man that I am. A man that my family loves, my teammates love and my fans love.Fighting tears throughout, Iverson thanked former Georgetown coach John Thompson for saving my life.(After) the incident happened in high school and all that was taken away...no other schools would recruit me anymore, Iverson recalled. My mom went to Georgetown and begged him to give me a chance. And he did.He said he later left Georgetown only as an OK basketball player.But once I started to listen to Larry Brown and take constructive criticism, I learned how much of a great, great coach that he really is. ... Thats when I became an MVP.Iverson saved his final thank you for wife Tawanna.Youre just the best to me, he said. I want you to walk around and be proud of yourself that you are a Hall of Famer.Two of the themes on the night were family and journeys. That was the essence of Swoopes speech, who was thankful of her path from tiny Brownsfield, Texas, and that her cancer-stricken mother, Louise, was able to see it.What a ride its been, she said.The 7-foot-6 Yaos arrival from China to the NBA in 2002 instantly helped bring the game to a broader international audience.He was Fridays first inductee, an honor which he joked that should have gone to Iverson.You know why? Because I need more practice than him, Yao said to applause from the crowd and a laugh from Iverson.Yao also thanked his early mentors in China, former NBA Commissioner David Stern for his vision in wanting Yao to play in the league, as well his first teammates on the Houston Rockets. He also singled is former NBA coaches, including Rudy Tomjonavich and Jeff Van Gundy.I will always consider you my family, Yao said. I am Texan and Houston Rocket for life.Izzo has become the face of the blue-collar Michigan State team while leading it to seven Final Fours and the NCAA championship in 2000.He thanked his parents, Carl and Dororthy, for being his first mentors. The 90-year-old Dorothy was in attendance, but Carl passed away last September.Izzo briefly got choked up as he spoke of his father, who he said instilled in him a work ethic that remains with him today.The seven Final Fours and championship are just frosting on the cake, Izzo said.Reinsdorf, the longtime Bulls owner, chronicled what led him to purchase the Bulls in 1984. It was a move he said legendary New York Yankees coach George Steinbrenner panned, telling him hed never make any money.He enjoyed proving him wrong.Its been a great life, he said. I know its the fourth quarter, but Im hoping for overtime.Like his father, Shaq too has a wish.One day when some father quizzes his sons on the greats of the game, I hope Shaquille ONeal will be the answer, he said.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower Cheap Green Bay Packers Jerseys . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. Cheap Jacksonville Jaguars Jerseys .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. http:///...uffalo-bills-jerseys . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. CANTON, Ohio -- ESPNs Chris Mortensen made an inspirational appearance onstage during the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday night to collect the Dick McCann Award seven months after entering into treatment for Stage 4 throat cancer.Applause greeted Mortensen, 64, as the Hall of Fame recognized him for making a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage.No one is more deserving, ESPN colleague Suzy Kolber said as part of a video presentation as thousands watched from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.Mortensen initially made his name in journalism as an investigative reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. In 1988, he became the first sports reporter since Red Smith (1951) to win a George Polk Award. Mortensen continued to build his reputation as an NFL analyst for ESPN over the past 25 years.Peers in attendance for the Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies described Mortensen as thorough, tough, unassuming and exceptional in his ability to earn trust.When you were a local reporter, he would come visit your team and you would go, I hope Im not reading about this in the Journal Constitution or hearing about it on ESPN, longtime NFL columnist Clark Judge said. You knew he was going to find out something about the team you covered that you didnt know, even though you were out there every day.Mortensen became the 48th winner of the McCann Award and the third from ESPN over the past decade, joining John Clayton and Len Pasquarelli.Will McDonough was probably the first network NFL insider, but Mort took it to another level and transitioned into the world of everyyday news like no other, said Bob Glauber, NFL columnist for Newsday. Cheap Carolina Panthers Jerseys. . He would break a story any day of the week, any day of the year. He was a true trailblazer in that sense.ESPNs Chris Berman noted during the ceremony that Mortensen has stayed true to the reporting roots that launched his career in television.I know this, he reports 5 percent of what he knows, and his 5 percent is more than the 100 percent for other reporters, veteran NFL columnist Ira Kaufman said.Mortensen appeared onstage with his wife, Micki. McCann Award winners do not give a speech during the ceremonies, but Mortensen waved to the crowd after Hall of Fame president David Baker honored him.Mort is one of the conspicuously nice guys who does a great job, said Frank Cooney, a Hall of Fame selector who has covered the NFL since the 1960s. Mort knows how to get difficult stories. He works with people so well that he is able to get the information he needs even if it isnt comfortable sometimes. Its a tribute to him.USA Todays?Jarrett Bell called Mortensen?a standard-bearer in this industry.Whats so much more defining than the well-deserved honor that marks his career is the person that Ive come to know over the years, said Bell. Chris is as first-class as they come. In a business overflowing with huge egos, Chris is a good, down-to-earth dude who always seemed to me to represent something larger than getting the next story. Thats why Im more proud to call him a friend than a colleague. 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