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If you haven't heard by now OKC was ravaged by tornados. Including one awful one in which at least 51 people are have been killed. It's an awful state of affairs right now in the city of Moore, Oklahoma. This area has a very special place in my heart. I served an LDS mission in Oklahoma. One of the areas I served in was South OKC and Moore. That being said there are a number of things you can do to help the people in the afflicted areas.
If you are looking to make sure a friend/loved one/acquaintance is safe in the are you can search a register of people who have listed themselves as safe and okay.
Next if you'd like to send aid you can donate to Red Cross in a number of ways. Those include
- Calling 1-800-REDCROSS
- Texting REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation
- Or by visiting the Red Cross website and donate there.
Most of you have heard a ton of coverage of the NBA Draft Combine from Amar and I. There's still a lot more of that to follow albeit not in it's intense frequency (we'll be writing 1-2 posts a day this week compared to the 8-9). But there has been some excellent coverage as well that I'd like to share. After all, there were some excellent bloggers/writers who had their professional eyes on the court. Amar and I noticed Tony Snell of New Mexico really having an excellent combine. I honestly dismissed my thoughts because of my inexperience. He seemed impressive to me but I wasn't sure if I was just naive. But then Chad Ford dropped this tidbit about Tony Snell.
New Mexico small forward Tony Snell also appeared to make the leap this weekend from interesting prospect to potential first-round pick. He still has a long way to go as far as proving to scouts he can play with consistent effort, but the raw athletic ability and elite size for his position, combined with smooth shooting touch really improved his stock. I've heard his name as high as No. 21 to the Utah Jazz.
Thurl Bailey has a new job. He was brought on as the state of Utah's new Refugee Ambassador. Honestly, Thurl is a class act and this sounds like something he'll excel at.
Former Utah Jazz great Thurl Bailey has been named the state's refugee ambassador.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced Bailey's new position Monday. He'll be a liaison between the governor's office and the estimated 50,000 refugees who live in Utah.
The state's largest refugee communities are from Iraq, Burma, Somalia and Bhutan. Each has about 5,000 people. There many other smaller refugee communities.
Herbert says refugees need help finding work, learning English and acclimating to life in the Utah. Refugees are people forced to leave their countries due to persecution based on race, religion or for political reasons.
Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer is reporting that the Charlotte Bobcats might be interested in trading down. In fact, many teams in the lottery past the 4 spot are not very enthused about this year's draft. Mr. Bonnell writes:
I spent Thursday and Friday at the NBA Draft combine. These things become numbingly repetitious , so when an oddity sticks out, you tend to notice. Here’s what I noticed: The Charlotte Bobcats, a team assured of drafting no lower than fifth in the first round and having no second-round pick, seem oddly curious about players projected to be drafted in the middle of the first round.
They interviewed Duke center Mason Plumlee, Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams and Gonzaga center Kelly Olynyck. It’s a stretch to draft any of those guys in the top-five.
This might be just zealous due diligence. General manager Rich Cho is meticulous to a fault, so chatting up too many draft prospects could be in his wheelhouse. But there was something that raised my radar about how curious the Bobcats seem to be about players who could be drafted 10th through 20th.
So I asked several writers covering teams with similarly high picks if they thought their general managers were receptive to trading down. "Absolutely," I kept hearing.
No one is particularly excited about this draft. I’m not saying it’s a write-off, but it’s clear what you historically expect to get with the third, fourth or fifth pick is not what this NBA draft figures to produce.
Tonight is the NBA Lottery Selection. If the Jazz win the NBA Draft Lottery with Randy Rigby, what should Randy Rigby's next move be? Vegas? Hot Sauce Wing Challenge? Let us know!