Basketball On The Internet.

BOB'S CORNER: US correspondent Bob Craven sent this for publication on October 9 but that was the day my eldest gal got hitched so it fell by the wayside. Was it worth the read? Of course!                                                                                                   

LaMARCUS Aldridge, veteran big man (210cm) for the New Jersey Nets, is back with the team. 

Five months ago, after playing in his fifth game for them, he developed a rapid heart arrhythmia, and it was quickly announced he had been forced to medically retire. 

In 2007 as a rookie, he had been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome—an abnormality that can cause a rapid heartbeat.

After months of testing, his doctors, the NBA and the Nets have given him medical clearance to resume playing, and he’s signed a new one-year contract for next season. 

He will provide size and a post presence that has been one of the few weak spots on a high-scoring team that often has played small.  Aldridge was the #2 pick in the 2006 NBA draft, is a 7-time All-Star, and has averaged 19.4 points per game in 15 years with the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, prior to signing with the Nets last March.

GEEZ, I am really getting old, I guess.  A double icon from my (much) younger days has left the building at age 87. 

Willard Scott was a national icon in the US as a weather forecaster, and he was an institution in the Washington, DC area as a major network weatherman. 

During my time in the Foreign Service, whenever I was posted to or passing through the D.C. area, I always checked out his weather broadcasts.

He was a very large, outgoing, and funny guy, and was famous for wearing crazy outfits on air. 

Most people, even in the US, don’t know that in his much younger days, he was the creator of and the first person to portray the character of Ronald McDonald on McDonald’s TV ads.  For better or worse, the heavenly hosts are now going to hear a lot more about McDonald’s burgers, Big Macs, etc., etc. 

I’m assuming no weather news, however, as I’ll also assume the weather there is perfect all the time.

I don’t know if Aussie people would have ever seen or heard of Bozo The Clown, but prior to being the inventor and first portrayer of Ronald McDonald, Scott was also the first to portray Bozo The Clown. 

It was as a result of his success there that McDonald’s Corp. contacted him and asked him to create an iconic character for their TV ads.  Bozo is well-remembered over here by people of a certain age and, of course, Ronaldo El Payaso is known worldwide.