TMS Man of the Year: Manute Bol (Part 3)

The Entertainer:

In 1996 rheumatism forced Manute into an early retirement. He was now at a crucial crossroads in his life. You see, Manute had donated a large portion of his NBA earnings to help various causes in his home country of Sudan and now stood to take a significant salary decrease. Alas, there will still mouths to feed and causes to be supported so Manute needed to find work.

Despite his success and popularity stateside, it remained difficult for a 7'7 African-American male to find good work in Sudan. Farming had never much interested Manute, what with the long hours and low pay leaving precious little time to instigate widespread change. After many sleepless nights and conversations with God, Manute decided to take the next logical step in life: He would become a boxer.

In 2002 Manute Bol made his boxing debut on Fox Television versus William 'The Refrigerator' Perry. Providing further evidence that boxing is indeed rigged, Manute won in the third round. In return, Fox broadcast the number of his charity before the fight. There are no statistics to show whether or not this garnered any money for the foundation.

Later that year Bol signed a one-day contract with the Indianapolis Ice to raise more money for Sudan. Manute Bol cannot skate.

Finally, in one last publicity stunt to garner money for his war-ravaged country and at the same time make white people laugh, Manute Bol become a horse jockey. He is a licensed horse jockey in the state of Indiana, and owns a nifty, tailor-made green jockey uniform. Manute Bol has to this day never rode a horse.

During his post-NBA career of entertaining the unwashed masses, Manute has encountered several roadblocks. In 2001, after refusing to convert to Islam, he was detained in Sudan and held against his will by the Islamic government, who refused to grant him an exit visa. The government briefly thought of trying to starve Manute as punishment, but soon realized that such tactics would be both inhumane and ineffective in this post 9/11 society. Finally, the US government, led by Jewish senator Joe Lieberman, was able to bring Manute back to the US.

Then, in June of 2004, Bol was involved in a horrific car accident. One can imagine that it was an act of God that Manute survived. A strong gust of wind has been known to put Manute in peril, much less a high-speed collision involving over 7000 pounds of unforgiving metal. He suffered three broken vertebrae in his neck and temporary loss of movement in his hands.

Miraculously, Manute made a full recovery from his injuries, though it has made it more difficult for him to raise money for Sudan. His boxing career has been put on hold. This has put the focus squarely on his family life. Manute has a wife and six children and lives in Hartford, Connecticut, where he is by far the tallest man in town. His 16 year-old son is 6'7 and Manute hopes that one day he can follow in his proud and ample footsteps and carry on the family name.

Manute Bol can be found from time to time organizing goodwill events throughout the country and making charitable appearances. If you see him, shake his hand and tell him how much his work means to everyone. But please, don't squeeze too hard, as his hands are still a bit weak from the accident.

To view a montage of Manute's on the court work set to inspirational hip-hop, click here.

To order Manute's autobiography, Manute: The Center of Two Worlds, click here.

TMS Man of the Year: Manute Bol (Part 2)

The Political Activist:

Contrary to popular belief, former National Basketball League player and personality Manute Bol is not a native citizen of the United States. Manute Bol grew up in Africa. Sudan to be more specific. With his unique physical gifts, Manute was recruited by several colleges in the U.S. to play basketball. Most sports fans will remember Manute's 7'7" frame and propensity to block shots in his 10 year NBA career. But what became of Mr. Bol after his playing time ended?

While most former atheletes would rest on their laurels and their burgeoning bank accounts, Manute Bol aspired to become a more active member of the global community. Appreciative of the opportunities afforded him, Mr. Bol has set out to force positive change for those less fortunate than himself. Mr. Bol organized a publicity event New Year's Day on the steps of the capital building in Des Moines, Iowa. He was joined by numerous Sudanese U.S. citizens in an attempt to bring additional attention to the ongoing violence and genocide taking place in their home country of Sudan. The event was an appeal to the current Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to pledge action to counter the atrocities being committed in the African nation.

For those unfamiliar with the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, a brief synopsis. Sudan is essentially split between to ethnic factions: Arabs in the North, and native Sudanese Africans in the South. The Sudanese government has been funding Arab militias to quell uprisings from the South caused by the desperate pleas to end native economic marginalization. Government-funded militias have been destroying and looting villages, burning crops, raping women, and otherwise forcing native southern Sudanese to seek safety in refugee camps.

Much of the economic disparity is driven by Sudan's primary natural resource and export: oil. While the UN has imposed sanctions on Sudan, China has essentially worked to undermine them. China funds the Sudanese government, be it by the sale of military aircraft or the importing of Sudanese oil. In fact China accounts for 70 percent of all Sudanese oil exports. Yet given this considerable percentage, oil from Sudan only accounts for about four percent of China's imports.

With China set to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, many in the international community are using this as an opportunity to call attention to the crisis. Some are dubbing the 2008 games as the "Genocide Olympics" in an effort to awaken developed nations from their slumber and take a proactive stance against the oppression and genocide in Darfur. This is Manute Bol's hope. Through his upstart Ring True Foundation, and with the help of activists and humanitarians across the globe, Bol is intent on sharpening the focus on atrocities in Sudan this New Year.

TMS Man of the Year: Manute Bol (Part 1)

Welcome, and Happy New Year! We here at the Saloon look to welcome in 2008 by bringing you more of the same great material and lack of hard Cubs coverage that you have come to expect. Though we're a day late and a proverbial dollar short in making this the first post of the year, we would like to bring to you, at this time, the inaugural TMS Person of the Year. In much the same vein as Time magazine, we have poured countless hours into identifying a key mover and shaker, a global contributor. However, instead of celebrating this individual's accomplishments over the past year, we at TMS are putting them on the podium as a force to be reckoned for the next 365 days, scratch that, 366.

This first TMS Person of the Year is a legend, he is an icon, he made his way into the new TMS banner, he is...well, just keep reading and by way of an unprecedented three part installment, you'll find out more than you ever thought you should know about (fireworks exploding, confetti showering, "Beer Barrel Polka" being struck up by the band) Manute Bol.


Basketball Life:

To say that Manute Bol was somewhat of an NBA oddity would be an understatement. Standing 7'7" and tipping the scales at a rail-thin 225 pounds, Manute was something that no one had seen before. His path to the NBA was also anything but typical. Manute never played basketball until he was 16 years old, instead being engrossed in the exciting life of a cattle farmer in Sudan. Using his freakish dimensions, Bol made it onto the Sudanese basketball team, where he was noticed by the coaching staff of Fairleigh-Dickinson University. A year later, Bol was on his way to America to play college ball, despite lacking an education and only speaking Dinka, his native language in Sudan. As if that weren't bad enough, Bol aqrrived dressed in a leisure suit, and missing 15 teeth - some of which were missing as a result of his first attempt at a dunk (he hit his mouth on the rim).

Learning the game at Bridgeport College in Connecticut, Bol was a D-2 All-America in his only season, and was drafted in the 2nd Round by the Washington Bullets. In his rookie year, he lead the NBA in shotblocks, with 397. And it wasn't just your typical blocks, either. Bol was blocking fadeaways, turn-arounds, and baby hook shots. Detroit Piston, James "Buddha" Edwards told of how Bol was unlike anyone in the league, "I remember going up to shoot my fadeaway jumper against him, and I just kept fading and fading and fading. By the time I thought I had a clear shot, I didn't even hit the rim."

Bol was taking the NBA by storm, and was quickly becoming a fan favourite. Obviously his freakish physical attributes were a factor (he has a 48-inch inseam, size-16 feet and a flat-footed reach of 10'5"), but his play factored as well. Bol became known as the premier shot-blocker in the league. He had an NBA-best career average of a block every 5.6 minutes, ranks second in average blocks per game (3.34), and is the only player in NBA history to have more blocks (2,086) than points (1,599). Later in his career, his "fan favourite" tag continued to grow as Manute became accustomed to launching 3-pointers. Playing with the Golden State Warriors under head coach Don Nelson, Manute launched 91 three-pointers, making 20 of them. While playing with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1993, Bol launched a career high 12 three-pointers in one game, this time connecting on 6 of them.

Bol's NBA career spanned from 1985 - 1994. Manute played for the Washington Bullets (twice), the Golden State Warriors (twice), the Philadelphia 76ers (twice), and the Miami Heat. In 1994 Bol suffered an NBA career-ending injury, and his only experience after was a brief stint in the CBA and in Italy. For his career, Bol averaged 2.6 points per game and 4.2 rebounds. Bol has stated that he'd like to come back to the game, preferably as a coach who specializes in the development of big men.