This is Steven Hill. Let's go in reverse. Steven Hill today signed a contract this week with the Portland Trailblazers. He earned his way onto the team by becoming a fan favorite at Summer League using his size and a whole lot of downhome effort to make an impact. That and his beard is awesome. Hill was drafted by the Blazers after finishing his senior year at the University of Arkansas, where he starred in the Razorbacks' first round victory over
Branson, Missouri is 30 minutes from my home town. Let me put it this way. It was a big deal when Branson got an Olive Garden. BIG DEAL.
"C'mon, Martha! We goin' to the whittlin' store, then we're going to that there Olive Garden!"
Here's a brief introduction to Branson.
The following exist there:
- Yakov Smirnoff's Theatre. No, seriously. He performs nightly.
- Chainsaw Carving Art Shows. On the side of a highway.
- The best Indoor Mini-Golf course in the country, featuring a "simulated Ozark rainstorm."
- The world's largest banjo.
- Funnel cakes made year-round.
- The Platters.
- Fire In The Hole! (Which also decapitated one of the test-drivers. That was fun.)
- This.
- Andy Williams' Moon River Theatre. I have no confirmation if he's still alive or if this is an exacerbated Weekend at Bernie's joke.
- Pirates in Mini-Golf form.
- This show, which is the longest running show in Branson. No,this is not a farce. I've seen it. It's real.
- A theatre featuring a Korean violinist star, in which the bathrooms have a pool table and onyx sinks.
And now, we have an NBA player, even if its only briefly, from this magnificent place.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a new hero. And his name is Steven Hill, from Branson, Missouri.
Oh, and no, Big Country Reeves doesn't count as a Hillbilly. Gans is out of the mountains, to the west of Fort Smith. If he'd been from east of Fort Smith, he'd be a hillbilly. As he is from the west, he's an Oklahoman. Which is kind of like a big lemming with remedial hygiene and a job at a gas station. Hillbillies are more like overgrown sloths with remedial hygiene and a job making moonshine. Important difference.
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9 comments:
He looks more like a hipster than a hillbilly.
And Branson? Wow. David Lynch would love it.
How about Bryant Reeves?
I wonder how tired he is of people quoting "Waiting For Guffman" to him.
Two words. Brad Daugherty. And if Branson, Missouri is a hillbilly town, I'm Grandpa Jones. It was a hillbilly town when I first went there, in 1984. Now, it's a tourist mecca.
Branson, Missouri. It's what Vegas would be like if it were run by Ned Flanders.
-Bart Simpson
Branson is Hillbilly Vegas.
Two more words: Jerry West
I'm a Portland native who mysteriously ended up in Springfield, MO (the big city for the Branson folks) when Hill played HS ball. Branson was in the same conference with the Springfield schools and Hill was a dominant player. He was recruited nationwide and I was disappointed when he didn't choose Kansas (my lifelong team). Again somehow I ended up near Fayetteville these past years when Hill was at Arkansas. He developed into a defensive monster and deserves an NBA roster spot for that reason alone. I believe that HAD he gone to Kansas, or another of the many other schools that recruited him, he would have developed his offensive game more. He was a scorer in HS and should have been a 10-12 ppg college player. He was poorly served by Stan Heath, the coach at Arkansas his first three years. Heath, a good coach otherwise, lacked intensity and passion and did not do enough to help his players develop their individual skills. The talented Razorbacks consistently underperformed. Star Ronnie Brewer was expected to carry the team offensively. I DO think that Hill can develop some offensive game in the NBA. Steven Hill is an exceptionally bright guy and another exceptionally bright guy, Kevin Pritchard, did a smart thing in signing him. And that backwoods look? It's more thoughtful hippie than ignorant hillbilly, more Portland than Branson, if you will. I don't know if it was intentional on his part, but the look of the red hair and beard has always reminded me of Bill Walton during his early Trailblazer career.
So this comes from a person who saw Hill play every game in highschool.. im from reeds spring MO about 10 mins away from branson... branson was our red sox yankee game.. im not going to give a huge comment bout this all i can say is... BRYCE BUSEN 6" ft tall climbed the ladder on hill and if not for a hard foul by Hill his 7"1 self would have been embarassed.. the refs called it a no foul because Hill ran COC CEntral ozark conference... hill has skill but come on lets apply it already..
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