Cleaning out the inbox

    The inbox could use some sifting through since I haven't done a lot of writing recently.

I'm still struggling with things, but I do see a small amount of progress.

When I do write, it still seems like I have to push myself a little and it feels like every post takes two and three times longer to write but I do see a little progress- even if I'm still not watching a lot of games.

The Athletic writes of newly inducted Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and of Duncan's college career at Wake Forest.

When I was a massive college basketball fan, I had the pleasure of seeing most of Tim Duncan's college career on the various ACC networks, and he became one of my favorite players ever with the classy way that he played the game.

This article focuses on his Wake Forest career and talks to his coaches, including then-head coach Dave Odom along with teammates that include a great story from bench-warming teammate and future actor (including a run on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Marc Blucas.

It also discusses the story of Duncan's recruitment from the Virgin Islands and I remember no one knowing who Duncan was in a recruiting class that would have three players picked in the top five of the NBA draft in Maryland's Joe Smith and North Carolina's Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace.

The San Francisco Chronicle writes of the final meeting in 1995 of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider at the Baseball Writers Awards Dinner in New York City.

The final appearance of Mantle, who would die shortly after the dinner, was overshadowed by the unexpectedly emotional speech by Mays, who was never known for emoting well in his public speaking.

ESPN's Tim Kurkjian penned an article on Willie Mays as well, writing of Mays on his 90th birthday.

Kurkjian uses the analogy of comparing Mays to gymnasts like Simone Biles and ballet dancers such as Mikhail Baryshnikov along with Jim Brown and Michael Jordan as players that played with such grace that they were above the game.

I wouldn't disagree at all, but Kurkjian breaks each of the traditional "five tools" down and writes of how Mays fit into each of the five tools by asking fellow Hall of Famers and contemporaries during his career about Mays.

Our final note deals with a "Baron"

Wrestling's Baron Von Raschke wrestled for years as an "evil" German, but a recent documentary tells the story of the Baron from his college days at Nebraska for the Cornhuskers through his years in pro wrestling in a documentary titled "The Claw".

The film has the cooperation of Raschke, who appears in the film throughout, and the Baron appears to be in good health for a gentleman that will turn 81 later this year.

And that is all the people need to know- to quote the Baron's most famous quote from his grappling days.