http://espn.go.com/magazine/# SUBJECT : Ric Bucher with the Rockets Sunday, March 25 Stevie and the Cat Stevie and the Cat ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher feels sorry for the pained Steve Francis ... for a sec. Stevie Franchise, sitting on the side of his hotel room bed, gingerly lifts the back of his t-shirt and for a second you think you've discovered the source of his inexhaustible energy. More than a half-dozen electrical pads are stuck to his back, a wire snaking from each one to the electric stimulation pack hooked onto the left hip of his shorts. Rockets teammate and best friend Cuttino Mobley, sitting next to him, helps pick off the pads -- standard treatment for sore muscles. Francis' body has taken every bit the beating AI's has as Stevie and Cuttino double-handedly try to put the Rockets in the playoffs. "I'm hurtin' everywhere," Francis told me earlier, walking stiffly through the hotel lobby. Now he's saying the hotel bed has his back feeling so cranky that he plans to take his afternoon nap on the floor. But suddenly he's a kid at Christmas, unloading nearly a dozen Timberland boots out of a big box near the foot of the bed and offering Mobley his choice of the leftovers. This is the yin and yang of being a young NBA star: day-long treatment to get an aching body loose enough to make the coin that has retailers sending boxes of gear so you can shop in the privacy of your hotel room. "I'm taking these and these and these," Francis says, pulling individual shoe boxes out of the shipping box and stacking them next to him. "See how he is?" Cat says. "OK, OK," Francis shoots back. I'm interviewing Mobley out on the balcony of his room, overlooking the Avenue of the Stars, where a protest against illegal aliens is being held. Francis bounces into his room, supposedly to borrow Mobley's CD player to listen to Olivia's "Bizzount." But then we hear the tinkle of little bottles. Cuttino and I look into the room to find Francis raiding the mini-bar. "Busted," I say. Francis, grinning, skips out of the room with the CD player and two bottles of Evian water. Considering how sweet the warm-up is, I'm thinking Cat still made out. ------------------ "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."- (Aldous Huxley)
It would be damn fun to hang out with Franchise. Go Terps, baby! Checkin' out my new sig. ------------------ Chris Webber at the July 28, 2001 3:00 PM news conference when he announces where he will go: "It seemed tough, but with guidance from Steve Francis, I learned my true destiny. That destiny is to play for the Houston Rockets, to bring them back to championship glory. One big man is all they need, and I believe I can fill that void. Thanks to the loyal fans in Sacramento, but Houston, Texas is where I belong."
Um, it's "Bizounce". ------------------ Note: It was my cowhead. I started the cowhead craze, and my cowhead inspired Mooch to step up and bring us a victory. Thank you for your time.
Bringing this to the top so everyone can enjoy it ------------------ "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."- (Aldous Huxley)
