Okay folks, it has been a slow month at COSELLOUT. There are at least five different articles on Rick Ankiel and Bill Belichek floating around somewhere in my head, but life just seems to be getting in the way these days. In any case, it is probably a good idea to drop some good news every now and then… especially when it concerns "the world wide leader". Believe it or not, there exists one corner of ESPN that does not rely on sensationalism, tabloidism, and blowhardism to reel in viewers. That corner is “TrueHoop by Henry Abbott”. Incorporating TrueHoop into its NBA fold this past year was one of ESPN’s best moves. Its next best move would be to give Mr. Abbott even more prominent website placing. Abbot likes to do this revolutionary thing over at ESPN—try to give the reader more facts and substance than smoke and mirrors. He is meticulous in providing links about more information in the blogosphere and he also likes to report some of the “good news”. Like here:

 
Yao Ming and Steve Nash collaborated to hold charity game in China to and raised 2.5 million for Chinese orphans. Nash and Ming share the same agency, BDA Sports, who spearheaded the organization of the charity project. Team Nash included Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Baron Davis and Leandro Barbosa in the starting lineup, and Team Yao featured Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, Yi Jianlian of the Milwaukee Bucks and Sun Yue of the Los Angeles Lakers.
 
From a global charity perspective, Nash and Ming follow in the NBA foreigner footsteps of super-humanitarian Dikembe Mutombo who raised more than $30 million dollars to open up a hospital in the Congo earlier this year. Carmelo Anthony’s participation is also no surprise for anyone who has bothered to follow his off court career.  Whether constantly lending his time, donating millions to his alma-mater (Syracuse), or funding youth centers in his hometown Baltimore, it is a shame that he is known more for one ill-advised punch. Of course, Carmelo is just one of many of the American-born NBA humanitarians (see Stephon Marbury, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, etc.) whose off-court contributions never get enough ink.
 
Yao Ming, Steve Nash, and the rest of the participating players came up big. So did Henry Abbott from ESPN for covering it. Oh yeah, Team Yao beat Team Nash 101-92. Oden might be down and out, but Yi just might pick up some rookie slack…