Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Sunday, May 18, 2008
I’ll probably have lots of Hot Sauce with my dunks
My streetball name is Nestle Quik.
It has nothing to do with my “handles” or my “skillz” or my quickness.
It’s based solely on the fact that I drink a lot of the stuff.
I’m not sponsored by the company, so really you’ll have to either call me Quik Rick or straight up Chocolate Milk, and, again, that’s based solely on the drink.
Tonight, I’ll be participating in some capacity in the Hustle Up Streetball game that’s happening at Saint Mary’s University. The doors open at 6 p.m. The game is at 7 p.m.
There’s a Winona team. Nobody is really sure who is on it, so sorry, I can’t tell you exactly.
Who we’re going up against is for certain, however.
It’s the same guys you’ve seen on the mix tapes, on ESPN and anywhere else streetball is advertised.
Guys like Hot Sauce, Springs, Highrizer, Big Swoal and A-Money. I don’t know either.
I talked to Big Swoal (James Rhodes) and Hot Sauce (Phillip Champion) last week a little about the game.
Hot Sauce reminded me of a professional wrestler, playing the card to its fullest extent. He also wasn’t keen on being called Phillip.
“You can just call me Hot Sauce,” he said a couple of times.
I asked him what we, the players, should expect. I felt like Mean Gene Okerland asking Hulk Hogan who is the greatest.
“The person with the best seat in the house is the person guarding me,” he said. “You’re right in front of me. That’s the best seat. You don’t need popcorn or anything like that.”
I won’t be guarding Hot Sauce. I don’t even like hot sauce.
Talking to Big Swoal, he was a little more down to earth. From a fan’s perspective he was excited for Winona.
I told him about this town and how we’ve seen some pretty good basketball in watching Winona State win it all. He wasn’t worried about the basketball purist still enjoying the show.
“Even people used to seeing competitive play, they will still like to see the highlights, the dunks and the crossovers,” he said.
I know some of the guys playing on the “Winona” team. One is former WSU center and 1993 graduate, Ray Winter. Three others just finished up their senior years playing for the SMU men’s team — Eric Lear, Dan Cormier and Mike Rohr.
Sorry, they don’t have nicknames. Maybe after tonight.
Lear has high hopes for making an impact in the game.
“My expectations are to get dunked on less than 10 times,” he said.
Good luck. I think we’ll all need it.
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