Webbaaahhhh!!!

Rumor has it that Chris Webber is going to bookend his career with the Warriors, returning to be the power forward he never actually was for them. We certainly need one, though I guess we’re likely to find out if he’s got any gas in his tank. Given the high price of gas, it’s surprising he’ll sign for the prorated minimum salary.

Don Nelson and Chris Webber are together again. Wonderful! I was there, present and accounted for, the last time they played a game together. It was game 3 of the first round of the 1994 playoffs, in which Charles Barkley and the Suns won a classic shootout, 140-133 to sweep the Warriors. It was the Warriors’ last playoff game until last season.

The good old days: let’s reminisce. The starting lineup consisted of Latrell Sprewell, Chris Webber, Chris Mullin, Billy Owens and Avery Johnson, who replaced Tim Hardaway who tore his ACL or something during the preseason. Backups included Fatso and Skinny (Big Vic Alexander and Floppin’ Chris Gatling), Byron Houston, Keith Jennings and Jud Buechler. Now there are some names from the past.

It wasn’t long until Nellie traded Owens to one of those Florida teams for Rony Seikaly, which turned horribly ugly when Webber voided his contract. Webber bagat Tom Gugliatta, who begat Donyell Marshall in short order. Of the three, only Marshall is technically still playing. You could have gotten some serious odds against that back in 1995.

Maybe it will be ugly, and maybe it won’t. I don’t actually care much anymore, but one thing we know – if Nellie and Webbahhh get together again, it will be interesting. And after all of those bad, bad, bad years in the interim, interesting is good.

I got a comment today from Rickey Henderson about my column this weekend. I have no idea how he found it, or why he commented, but I exchanged some emails with him. I checked out Rickey’s blog. It’s damned funny. It makes me think he’ll give a great speech when he heads into the HOF next summer. Check him out, and now since we’re friends, I’ll link Rickey’s blog on my site.

I actually met Rickey once. The Doc and I were selling baseball cards at a show in Santa Clara back in 1989. Rickey was signing autographs there. He walked through the place, and stopped at our table. We featured a lot of old Giants baseball cards, and we also had our famous complete Bob Uecker card collection as our big draw. We sold a lot of Uecker cards for ridiculous prices.

Anyway, we had some Willie Mays cards in the case, and next to them we had a Rickey Rookie, which was selling for more than the later Mays cards. He asked how a Rickey Henderson card could possibly sell for more than a Willie Mays card. I explained the premium for rookie cards, and I pointed out that he would eventually break the all-time record for stolen bases as well as runs, and would end up in the Hall of Fame. I added that he would eventually manage a blog which would become world famous and would be linked to my blog which would be a little less famous. He immediately signed me up as his accountant and his personal financial representative, and a few years later I was the best man at his wedding. We now go hunting and fishing together, and he came with me to Oslo last year when I was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. In my acceptance speech I acknowledged Rickey’s immense influence on my theories in which I disproved Einstein’s bullshit equation (E doesn’t equal squat). Rickey stood up to thunderous applause, as tears rolled down his cheeks. After all, he’s always been an emotional guy who loves Chick Flicks.

Somewhere in the middle of that paragraph (ok, probably near the beginning of that paragraph) I had a short break with reality, although the Nobel stuff is true.

Anyway, Rickey says check out Rickey's blog.