I’d heard a bit of this story [1] before I saw it on ESPN this morning while I was at the YMCA. Jason McElwain, the autistic team manager for the Greece Athena Varsity Basketball team got to play in his first game at the end of the regular season- with 4 minutes left. The team was up by 20.
He missed his first two shots, then proceeded to hit 6 of 10 treys, would have been 7- but his foot was on the line. 4 minutes, 20 points, and the teams leading scorer.
The coach, Jim Johnson, said he was crying on the bench- for joy.
He should be crying because he deserves to lose his job.
I don’t care if J-Mac is 5’6†– or autistic, you don’t walk onto a basketball court and put up 20 points in 4 minutes if you don’t have skill. He obviously had enough skill to have been on the team instead of being the manager, and enough skill to be playing in the playoffs, instead of sitting on the bench with towels.
Underestimating people should be the eighth deadly sin.
Was it because Jason was 5’6†that he didn’t make the team? I guess Spud Webb should have been a water boy too.
Was it because he was autistic? I thought we had laws in this country against discrimination.
Either way, I’m rooting for Jason to be off the bench and on the court. I hope the Greece Athena AD takes another look at how his coach missed on giving this kid a fair shot, because it seems obvious- it would have been nothing but net.
What do you think?