Life is Not an Accident by Jay Williams (Book Review)

Title: Life is Not an Accident
Author: Jay Williams
Publication: Harper Collins, 2016 Hardcover
Genre: Memoir

Description: Jason Williams, the outgoing Duke guard, who helped lead my beloved Blue Devils to a national championship, left Duke after his junior year (earning a Sociology degree in three years by amassing credits in summer school). He was drafted by the Chicago Bulls and had a frustrating rookie season where his mistakes were magnified and his successes were mostly ignored. Just as frustrating, the team was in a rebuilding phase and in the first few weeks of the season the Bulls lost more games than he’d lost at Duke in three years. However, he continued to work hard and was convinced his second year as a pro would be a breakthrough season. Sadly, in June 2003, he was in a terrible motorcycle accident that nearly killed him.

Devils at the White House

The Duke Blue Devils visited President Obama today to accept his congratulations on being NCAA champions and to show him how to fill out his bracket. . . I was glad to see the president enjoying himself as I am sure that is rare these days.

Duke to meet Butler in NCAA Finals

It was actually fun to watch unless you were a West Virginia fan, a Duke hater, or a gambler with the Mountaineers and 2.5 points.

Woe is Me

It's always so sad when the basketball season ends but to watch my cherished Blue Devils get blown out by Villanova was agony. Jon Scheyer kept doggedly trying to get the offense going but the magic he had during the ACC Tournament was mysteriously gone. It also seemed all wrong to be up in section 303 when I am so used to sitting in great seats at the Garden for the Beanpot. Really, I would have seen better on TV. It felt very odd for the Blue Devils to be at the Garden at all!

Can it be true that my players are too nice to be sufficiently aggressive? Where is Christian Laettner when you need him? Making a very cute commercial with Rick Pitino . . .

Duke wins ACC Tournament!

Sign seen in the crowd at the ACC tournament . . .

Duke fans celebrate a 79-69 win over Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference men's tournament championship in Atlanta, Sunday, March 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

What a terrible sports weekend!

Friday:

Harvard men lose to Brown in hockey AND basketball!

Saturday:

Harvard hockey loses second game to Brown and is eliminated from ECACs! Is this *because* my parents went to Aruba on Tuesday or were they simply spared the misery of watching?

Harvard basketball beats Yale (good) but I wasn't there (bad) and because of losing on Friday, we finish below .500 which is very annoying.

Women's hockey upset by RPI! That is more surprising to me than the men's hockey team losing.

Newton North boys basketball loses to archrival Brockton (after beating Durfee last week!).

Sunday:

Celtics lose (and Rondo is injured so Marbury started (boo) - no, it wasn't Marbury v. Madison, I like that Marbury).

Bruins lose to Rangers (Not very vested in the NHL this year but it's part of a big slump, a pity when they were doing so well).

Duke plays one good half, then runs out of steam in the second half, losing to the Tarheels. Now we have to play BC again (if they beat UVA in the first round of the ACC tournament).

(It wasn't a good weekend for Granny either. She fell last week, went to the emergency room, although didn't spend the night, and has been in great pain ever since.)

Red Sox:

Opening day is less than a month away!

John Feinstein

A great interview with John Feinstein - not as curmudgeonly as usual. I wish he would come to Harvard to see Jeremy Lin play! Perhaps next year.

Here is the second part of the interview.

Duke-Purdue

After all my years of working with people from Indiana (seven, and no jokes about counting in dog years as I am very fond of many of them), it seemed odd for Duke to be playing the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, yet not have anyone I knew talking trash to me all day (she observed disappointedly). It's not as if I am hard to find, but maybe they didn't realize Duke has never lost a game in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and did not intend to do so tonight. Kyle Singler played extremely well, and looked very happy (albeit a bit goofy) on the court. Jon Scheyer just looks intense but was also in good form.

I did email Joe Wikert but cravenly he has not yet replied (I doubt his new job has reduced his time for sports because he was badmouthing my Patriots a day or so ago). I did not bother to email Dave Linn because I would have been so disappointed if he and his wife, both Purdue alums, were not watching.