This week in SI: L.A. Hoops -- Lakers, Sparks, 8th grader
The new issue of Sports Illustrated that arrives to subscribers Wednesday starts with Danica Patrick and her shot at the May 25 Indy 500 on the cover, but inside are three L.A.-focused basketball-centic features:
==A piece on the Lakers' "Bench Mob" of Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf -- "a foursome of feisty (and variously coiffed) players who embrace their role as a backup act is the key to the Lakers' championship title hopes."
==A story on the Sparks owners Carla Chistofferson and Kathy Goodman, who "represent what might be a minitrend for the sport: independent female owners:
"They bring an energy and passion that's been missing," says longtime season-ticket holder Deb Anderson. "I've seen Carla and Kathy at community events, and it's like they are campaigning for president. They are shaking hands and establishing relationships with people and suggesting that others become a part of it. That wasn't how the Lakers' organization did things."
==Michael Avery, the 6-foot-4, 15-year-old eighth-grader from Ascension Lutheran School in Thousand Oaks who made a verbal committment to the University of Kentucky, "would have appeared in SI as this week's Sign of the Apocalypse. Now it borders on business as usual," the SI promo reads. "As the pressure to win increases and competition for the top prospects grows fiercer, coaches are trying to lock down prized recruits as early as possible - even if it means making commitments when the recruits are barely old enough to be prized.
"How many parents of eighth-graders, if they were to be offered a scholarship for their child to get a free education at the college of their choice, would say, 'No, I'll wait until he's a senior to make that decision?'" the elder Avery says. "When that kind of offer comes along, I don't care if the kid's in third grade, the eight grade or the 12th grade, you take it."
More background, hit the Thousand Oaks Acorn, which is all over this story.
Avery is also quite the fodder for comedic ranting...
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