Give and Go

I should discuss my personal life on here. Make some greater connections with ya'll.

That's right Duane. loosen up a bit, kid.

Alright. Will do. Hey, you know what I love to do?

"What's that?

Rock a suit.

For real?

For real. It's like wearing sweatpants. I feel so comfortable in one. Last night for the BayHawks home opener, I broke out the black pinstripe suit and check this. The pinstripes were pink.

Get out.

Oh yeah and on top of that. I had on the pink shirt and the pink and black tie. Now I walked in with the black trench coach and a hat.

You hit 'em like that?

Had to. It was opening night. Now I have to give BayHawks majority owner Steve Demetriou and lead local investor Owen McCormick credit. They looked sharp, but I was razor sharp like the remix Mary J. Blige and Method Man did for "You're All I Need."

No doubt.

You know they won a Grammy for that song?

Oh yeah, Meth and Mary killed it with that one.

You know I love that Hip Hop. Yo, I got to bounce. Get some breakfast in me. I'll hit you up later.

Alright. Be easy.

It's Christmas time.

For me, it's not about the gifts. It's about celebrating the life we've all been blessed with. It's about seeing old friends. It's about getting that warm hug from your grandmother.

So as I take a break from the hustle and bustle of the bouncing ball, there are five things I'm looking forward to doing when I go home to West Virginia.

1. Seeing my family and friends. Me and my crew usually hang for a night and then just seeing everybody you know and love makes this long drive home all worth it.

2. Eating my mother's dressing. It's like plush, court-side seats to watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals between Magic's best L.A. Lakers' team and Michael's best Chicago Bulls' team at the Forum in Los Angeles. Don't get no better than that.

(We interrupt this program to announce the following. The Lakers and Boston Celtics go at it Christmas Day. It's the game of the year. Now back to our regularly scheduled program).

3. Eating my grandmother's lemon cake. There are people who come over her house just for the cake. It's got this frosting on top that's not thick, but it just makes you want to hook up the old Nintendo, play Tecmo Bowl and eat lemon cake with a tall glass of milk.

4. Ordering Gino's Pizza and Monty's Pizza. My goodness. I better run six miles a day instead of three while I'm home huh?

5. Just driving into Huntington. I know it sounds crazy, but whenever I drive back home, you see those familiar places you used to go. You see people walking on the street you knew from back in the day. No matter what the situation is there, it just feels safer there. It's a peaceful place for me and always will be.

Now, let me go get my hair cut.

I know, I know, I don't have any hair. It's more like get my beard shaped up. Hope everyone has a safe and blessed holiday. Take care.

Duane Rankin

Yo, D, what's up man? Haven't seen you in a while kid.

Been busy, man. Trying to make a living. What's good with you?

Oh you know me. I'm out here doing my thing, but yo, you recognize this dude?

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Uh? Not really. Is it Ludacris?

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Yo D, Shaq headed to Cleveland, boy. Shaq and LeBron James about to do the dang dang. Win that title baby.

Didn't happen dude.

WHAT! Why not. Could you imagine? The Diesel and LeBron playing together?

It would have been crazy, but it didn't go down. Now it appears Cleveland offered Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic for O'Neal.

That's not enough for the Diesel.

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Hey D, saw you at the game last night. What's up with the Erie BayHawks losing, man. Hadn't they won like six games in a row.

Well, it was actually eight in a row, but can't win them all right?

True, but anyway, I tried to catch you before you left the arena. Hey, wasn't that Jawad Williams playing for the other team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Yeah.

The same Jawad Williams that played on that national title team at North Carolina in 2005. The same Jawad Williams that was with the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this season before they cut him.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He played with BayHawks forward Jackie Manuel on that Carolina squad that was loaded with talent. Raymond Felton. Rashad McCants. Sean May. Marvin Williams. All those guys are in the NBA, but you know what, Jawad and Jackie were starters in that tite game when Carolina beat Illinois.

OK. OK. OK. Anyway, why isn't he playing for the BayHawks? I mean, Cleveland is one of Erie's NBA affiliates. Seems ideal that he'd play for Erie. Plus the guy is even from Cleveland.

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