The Jason Salas Experience

Keeping with an annual tradition I've got to commemorate the beginning of each college basketball season, I'm re-reading what I hold as one of the best-written sports books of all time, "Fab Five: Basketball, Trash Talk, The American Dream". In an age when all the world's information is web-based and wireless and geared for short-attention span audiences, I free up a couple days in my schedule to go cover-to-cover on this one. It's really entertaining work.

You can feel the pre-game enthusiasm as Muhammad Ali, our country's greatest champion, shows up in the Michigan locker room to give a surprise and terse pep talk to the Wolverines' stellar group of freshman starters, softly speaking three key words: "Shock the world". Wow.

It always takes me back to watching The Fab Five in 1992/1993, and noting the evolution of the game from five phenoms - the smack talking, the black socks with black shoes, the Nike sponsorship, the baggy pants, the optimism, the bravado. In a way, that the Fab Five never won a national championship makes them that more heroic, a la Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma team with Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon.

Mitch Albom's more known for his bestselling work with "Five People You Meet in Heaven" and "Tuesdays With Morrie", but this is my favorite. Really gets you into the spirit of the college game and profiles the Greatest College Recruiting Class of All Time. Albom also pragmatically demystifies some of the hype about Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, noting their flaws and shortcomings - arrogance, naivete, fear - while noting their very well-documented success and unique kinship as college freshmen.

Albom's telling of the press conference prior to the '92 national championship against Duke is timeless, when noting the team's unplanned but unified response to the question What were you doing at this time last year?

Webber: "Sittin' at home, rootin' for UNLV"
Howard: "Sittin' at home, rootin' for UNLV"
King: "Sittin' at home, rootin' for UNLV"
Jackson: "Sittin' at home, rootin' for UNLV"
Rose: "Sittin' at home, rootin' for UNLV"

For me, only after putting this back on my bookshelf has the college hoops season started.

(Buy this book from Amazon)