Well this is going to be interesting.  Shaquille O’Neal, all 7′1″ 325 pounds of him is going to have a huge impact in ways beyond basketball.  There is nothing small about Shaq; in how he lives, plays, talks, acts, etc.  OK maybe his defense has shrunk, but whose D doesn’t on the back nine of a career?

Shaq does everything extra large.  Big body, big entertainer, a human quote machine.  Need sound, find Shaq.  You can’t miss him.  

A bunch of us in the Boston media are maneuvering to give him a nifty nickname so we can coin it.  I thought I said The Big Shamrock first, but I’ve heard at least three other people say it too–including Gary Tanguay–so I guess it’s not original enough.  My colleague Kyle Draper suggested The Big Leprechaun.  That’s a good one.  It might have legs taller than the logo on the parquet at The Garden.  If The Big Leprechaun sticks, Draper I’m sure will annoy me constantly about how clever he was for having come up with it.

The basketball heads are fighting about whether Shaq is a good fit for the Green Team, or just a clog on an aging team.  My thoughts: it’s a PR boon and it just might be the difference in putting the C’s over the top.  Really what’s the risk?  He’s only signing for the veteran’s minimum.  If it doesn’t work, release him.  There is no risk.  We’ll all be watching.

Really now, is it that hard to be a good sport?  There’s plenty of blame to go around.  Let’s start in reverse with the horrible officiating in Game 5 of the Celtics/Magic Eastern Conference finals.  NBA Ref Eddie F. Rush gave Kendrick Perkins his second technical foul of the game on a ridiculous call, resulting in an automatic ejection.  It changed the complexion of the game just before halftime and threatened to turn the series upside down.  With Perk reaching the maximum number of technicals allowed in postseason play (7), he was facing a game suspension.  Fortunately the league came to its senses and rescinded one of the technicals, which means Perk won’t have to sit a game out.

Perk clearly has a chronic complaining problem, but his reaction to what was an awful call was somewhat understandable.  What’s inexcusable was Eddie Rush’s rush to justice.  It’s the playoffs for goodness sake!  You have to let a lot of little stuff go.

What’s everyone talking about the next day?  The officiating.  When sportstalk radio is focusing on officiating, clearly we have trouble.

Doc Rivers not having it from Eddie F. Rush/NBA & Getty Images

A couple of hours before that there was Umpire Joe West who called two balks on White Sox Pitcher Mark Buehrle.  West quickly tossed Manager Ozzie Guillen out for arguing the first one, and Buehrle after the pitcher threw his glove down in disgust after the second.  Between a dozen or so f-bombs, Ozzie provided profound wisdom.  Paraphrasing Ozzie here, “Nobody comes to a f*&$%’n game to watch a f*#&!’n manager or umpire.  They come to watch the players.  Joe West thinks people come to a f*#&%’n game to watch him umpire.”

Ozzie’s right even if his choice of adjectives isn’t.

Ozzie Guillen & Joe West/Courtesy AP

And on Tuesday during the Red Sox and Rays contest Carl Crawford was tossed after arguing with Umpire Bob Davidson.  Crawford clearly went too far by nudging close enough that the bill of his helmet bopped Davidson’s nose.  Contact is an automatic ejection.  Then Rays’ Manager Joe Maddon got tossed too.  Davidson had to throw them out, but his willingness to shout profanities back within inches of Madden’s face is unprofessional umpiring at worst and sophomoric at best.

Courtesy: Getty Images

There is a gulf of resentment between players and umpires and it’s growing wider by the day.  The  jealously over money and attention is as bad as anything you’d find in a sorority house.  With that kind of drama simmering below the surface, one only needs a nudge to spark the explosion.  Players should know better and have respect for authority.  At the same time those authority figures ought to bigger about it when players/managers & coaches try to make them look small.  Let me steal a line from WWE Superstar The Rock,  ”Know your role and shut your mouth.”

That’s part of being a Good Sport, which by the way is the title of my blog.

I start most days with the newspaper.  It’s a habit and it’s my homework.  Much of what I read I’ll be talking about in some way, shape, or form later that night on Comcast Sportsnet Central.  I usually read the sports page while bobbing up and down on the elliptical machine at the gym.  But sometimes you have to change the routine and that includes the reading material.  Today I saved the sports page for last.  When I read Bob Ryan’s column, I almost fell off.

Boston Globe Sports Columnist Bob Ryan

Bob wrote a column that had little to do with sports and everything to do with life and the mighty struggle to stay alive.  The story was about one of Bob’s favorite athletes over the years, former Boston College and Pro Basketball Player Danya Abrams.  Actually the story was more about Danya’s 11-year-old daughter Tatyana, a sixth grade schoolgirl, who has acute myelogenous leukemia and is desperately looking for a bone marrow donor.  If you don’t know the dyanmics of how bone marrow matching and transplants work, let me be the educator.  Finding a match goes almost exclusively along racial and ethnic lines.  And that’s a problem because Tatyana is black and there are far fewer available minority donors than white, as much as 30% fewer.

Tatyana Abrams, Looking for Bone Marrow Donor, Photo Courtesy of Teresa Herbert

None of these statistics is news to me.  I wrote a book about it, The Marrow in Me,which details my unlikely journey to becoming a bone marrow donor.  I specifically highlight the unfortunate minority donor shortage.  When Bob came in to Sportsnet tonight to talk about the Celtics and Miami Heat game I gave him a copy of my book and told him the story of how I became an anonymous donor for a 16-year-old boy who had acute myelogenous leukemia, just like Tatyana Abrams.  I couldn’t believe the look on his face.  I’m sure it was kind of like the look on my face when I read his column in the Boston Globe.  I saw my life in print, but in reverse.  I was honored and humbled to be a part of a young man’s life, if only for a short time.  I’d do it again in a second and I’d love to do it for someone like Tatyana, if only it were that easy.

Do me a favor, please come to Tatyana Abrams’ registration drive this weekend January 10 at Butler Elementary School, 1 Patrick Clark Drive, Avon, Massachusetts from noon to 4pm.  Or, if you can’t make it in person, you can register to become a potential donor by clicking here, www.bethematch.org.  A simple cheek swab will start the process.  You are a match for someone, somewhere in the world.  It’s simply a question of whether they’ll get sick and whether you’ll be reachable.  And if you’re a minority of any kind, you’re especially needed.  Let’s not leave any doubt though about who’s needed most in this situation–African Americans.  The link above will give you information on how to get a testing kit sent to you for free.

 And if you really want to know what you’re getting yourself into, if you are lucky enough to get the call and mission of a lifetime, please read my book.   The Marrow in Me will answer all your relevent questions about what being a bone marrow donor is really like.  There has never been a book written about bone marrow donation between strangers until now.   Giving your bone marrow to someone else is courageous and generous.  But you know what?  It’s like a gift is given back to you.  I’ve experienced no greater satisfaction in my life than having that chance to share a part of me with someone else. 

Amazing Dancer Daylon Trotman

There are few things cuter than a kid who can dance.  And when it’s a cute kid who can really bust a move it’s wicked cool.  Check out the video of little Daylon Trotman who, when he appears on the Jumbo Tron at Boston Celtics games, the players watch too.  He’s that good.  Click on link to see for yourself.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsO2VmvGdxs&feature=related