Happy Face Stories

I'm not really sure why but my last couple of posts have been kinda cranky and bitchy and so in an attempt to change from being a Grumpy Greta to a Gracious (Grace) Glenda here are a few sports realted stories I read today that made me happy and gave me a Happy Face


First, that Kevin Everett, the Buffalo Bills player who was parlyzed earlier this season, is now walking on his own, which is so remarkable it seems almost miraculous and is definitely good news especially because he seems like a really great guy-

"He doesn't have a full natural stride but, yeah, he's walking," a person close to the family told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of Everett's status.The person said Everett has been walking under his own power since his release from Memorial Hermann/TIRR three weeks ago and is now an outpatient there. The person added Everett is picked up at his Houston-area home by car to attend daily rehab sessions and is able to walk to and from the facility.

[snip]

Upon his release from Memorial Hermann, Everett said in a statement he was inspired after meeting many people that sustained similar injuries.

"Their courage and determination inspired me to fight every day for recovery of my ability to walk," Everett said. "While this news is a significant milestone for me, I still have a long journey to full recovery."

Everett's recovery has been the NFL's most inspirational story this season. And his presence has not been forgotten among Bills fans, with many wearing his jersey or T-shirts with his No. 85 on the back to home games.

The Bills' third-round draft pick in 2005, Everett is soft-spoken and reserved and regarded highly by teammates and friends.

"He's just every guy's teammate," Moorman had said after Everett was hurt. "He's got such a great character, and it's obvious. He's not a man of many words, but he doesn't need to speak by words."

Everett had been active in his hometown of Port Arthur, Texas. Last summer, he hosted a football camp in which he charged no admission, handed out T-shirts and made sure every youngster had a ride to and from camp.

"He'd give you his last," said Kenny Harrison, who coached Everett in high school. "His biggest deal was making sure every kid that wanted to be a part the camp was able to be a part of it, no exception."

and secondly I read a column about Candace Parker and it made me happy because she's not only really pretty but she seems like a sincere, normal and good person and that makes me happy because she's Shelden William's fiancee and I always want the best for my Dukies.-

First of all, who names their dog Fendi? That's so Reese Witherspoon and "Legally Blonde." Except that Candace Parker's Fendi is a St. Bernard mix, not some accessory pooch that fits in your makeup kit.
"She's high maintenance, so she's a designer purse," says Parker, the All-America forward for No. 1-ranked Tennessee. "She's, like, my heart. She sleeps with me every night."
OMG. Her other dog, a pug, is named Nino. "From 'New Jack City,'" Parker says.

Parker grew up in a Chicago suburb and adored MJ and the Bulls. And yet one of her most-prized possessions on her bedroom wall was a framed, poster-size photo of her and … Ron Harper?

"I respect Jordan -- he is the king -- but I would walk past Jordan to get Ron Harper's picture," Parker says of Harper, who played with MJ and is now an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons. "I don't know why I was the biggest Ron Harper fan. I just was" [Ed. note- Ron Harper was one of my favorites too; especially when he came to the Lakers]

Parker is also an All-America procrastinator. Her motto: Why do just one load of dirty laundry when you can wait another week and do three?
And Parker is a closet Disneyophile. Her older brother Marcus will die for this, but he says Parker knows all the words to the songs in, "The Little Mermaid." So sing along to her favorite lyrics from "Part of Your World," in which Ariel belts out, "Wouldn't you think I'm the girl … The girl who has everything?"

It's hard not to like Parker. She is smart (second-team Academic All-America), borderline goofball and, so, well, 21. When she met Ray Allen for the first time at this summer's ESPYS, she called him "Jesus" -- as in Jesus Shuttlesworth, Allen's character in "He Got Game." And in her Knoxville apartment is a photo of Parker and her fiancé, Atlanta Hawks forward Shelden Williams. According to friend and UT media relations intern Courtney Tysinger, the photo is a knockoff of the "Love and Basketball" promo poster. [Ed. Note: Shelden also has that picture as his AIM buddy icon]

Parker has a soft spot for Cold Stone, her family, her coaches and teammates, her vintage TV shows, her hoops, her pooches, her Shelden and her cooking (specialties: fried chicken … salmon … rice, sugar and butter).

"I like the fact that no matter how much people know her or how much she gets recognized, she's still the sweet, well-rounded person I knew when she got here,

Awww. She sounds perfect and I'm even happier for those crazy kids. Shelden just has to make sure that their kid comes to Duke. Whichever sex, that kid is going to be an epic basketball player

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