Miami

Heat Visit Charley Victims


Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services 

Malik Allen, Dorrell Wright, and Udonis Haslem and the Heat halfcourt entertainers visited a shelter in Arcadia to lift the spirits of children affected by Hurricane Charley. I know this is supposed to be considered a "good deed" and it is taboo to question it, but if we can't address controversial topics here on NEWS@, then nobody can.

Any deed done by someone in power to someone in need, regardless of how moronic the particular act, is supposed to be an unquestionable act of goodness.

I question it.

Of all the articles and press releases I have read about this or any other charitable event, no one questions them anymore. I don't care if I'm alone. I don't care if the American Red Cross, an unquestionable source of goodness, sponsored the event. It's just not right teaching your kids to accept pity. How does that instill self-sufficiency? How does that teach them pride? It seems so degrading. Hey kids, our house and possessions are gone, but if you rush over there and smile, you get a free T-shirt! How is a T-shirt handed out by a Heat dancer supposed to replace a house? That isn't help or respect. It's pity.

I understand that kids are overjoyed to see professional athletes. But they all realize that they wouldn't be there if it weren't for the tragedy.

You might argue that it is like any other tragedy when long-distant relatives and friends come to pay homage and respect to the survivors. But it's not. Would you want professional athletes showing up at a funeral handing out T-shirts? Of course not.

Maybe you might say this is just an attempt to lift their spirits, like an old friend you haven't seen in a long time coming by to commiserate and share your misery, and by sharing it, make it go away. It doesn't replace the house and it isn't meant to. It's just to let you know you aren't alone, and there are people out there who care for you.

If so, then tell me, if you were a distant friend of a person now in a shelter, would you visit them with some T-shirts and candy, essentially making your presence a gift to them? Wouldn't you instead look to help them in some direct way? Even a phone call to a displaced person usually ends with a request to let the caller know how they can help. A neighbor stopping by after an accident invariably asks if there's anything they can do.

Without that offer, it becomes merely a reward for being unfortunate. Hey, we lost our house, but at least I got to meet Burnie, the Heat mascot.

I would feel so low about myself if, as a child, I allowed myself to rush over there and greet such people. I might do it, but it would be a mistake.

I didn't want to write this article. It's so much easier just to say -- look at all these nice things these nice people are doing!

To be sure, I don't think the players are at fault. They are indeed nice guys who, like many of us, are at a loss of what to do to help people in trouble. It is not an easy problem to solve in general or specifically. But their default solution ends up being: let's visit them and give out T-shirts. Because it's an unquestioned solution, it gets done. And it's unfortunate.

Because it's not necessarily the right thing to do. Good intentions alone do not make an act good. Sometimes, even though you want to reach out to people, and those people do like you, it may be better, at times, to stay silent.

TEAM NOTES
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NEWSLINES

Cristina Ledra ofThe South Florida Sun-Sentinelwrites: Malik Allen, Dorell Wright and Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat, along with Burnie, the Heat's mascot, the Heat Dancers and the XTreme Team, brought smiles to the faces of Arcadia residents sheltered in DeSoto County Middle School's gymnasium in a visit organized by the American Red Cross.The players signed autographs and gave out mini basketball hoops and Miami Heat T-shirts, hats and shorts. 

Ryan Hiraki ofThe News-Presswrites: Javier Cardona extended his tiny right hand to someone three times his size. The 4-year-old had just shaken hands with Udonis Haslem, one of three Miami Heat professional basketball players who came Thursday to the shelter at DeSoto Middle School in Arcadia, to help cheer up residents whose rural homes were ravaged by Hurricane Charley.Javier was too shy to speak, but he smiled. His mother, Carla Whigham, 41, said this means everything to him, to all the children.

Raymond Duncan ofThe Heraldwrites: At 6ft 9in, he tended to stand out among his school friends in West Lothian. But it was Jason Clark's basketball skills that recently led to him being singled out. Now the teenager has jetted off in pursuit of a dream in the land that invented the sport and team names like the Miami Heat and the Memphis Grizzlies.Spotted at a Scottish training camp by US basketball scouts, the 17-year-old with size 16 feet and clothes mostly bought over the internet now hopes to rub shoulders with the sport's giants who earn a minimum salary of about £170,000.

The Associated Press writes inCNN International: Even NBA big man Shaquille O'Neal, the Miami Heat center who's also a rapper and actor, brags about being able to walk naked on the beach in his new city.

Citing the Associated Press,NBC6writes: The Miami Heat took members of its high-powered offense to Florida’s west coast Thursday to help lift the spirits of the thousands affected by Hurricane Charley.Malik Allen, Dorell Wright and Florida native Udonis Haslem joined Heat mascot Burnie and the team’s dancers to visit several locations on the state’s west coast.

The USOC Press Release writes inPlayPositive: For three quarters the U.S. Men's Olympic Team (2-1) chased Australia (1-2) and still heading into the final 10 minutes the Americans trailed 67-65. Stepping up its defense, the U.S. reeled off 10 consecutive points to take control of the game and went on to outscore the Aussies 24-12 in the fourth quarter to earn an 89-79 victory Thursday afternoon in Athens... The two teams battled evenly for the game's first 7:50 and after Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) made both free throws with 1:50 to go in the opening quarter, Australia held a 21-18 advantage.

Wayne Scanlan ofThe Canada Gazettewrites: It looks so simple on paper. The Americans play for teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat.The Aussies play for the Sydney Kings, Perth Wildcats and Wollongong Hawks. But, like NHL players adjusting to European ice surfaces and styles, the Americans face a different game. The rules and approaches are different. The 3-point lane is 20 feet, six inches from the rim. In the NBA, it's 23 feet, nine inches. The foul limit here is five instead of six and players can plug up a lane without getting called for a three-second violation. The latter promotes stacked defences and challenges the Americans to shoot - something they hadn't done with much success before yesterday. "We're not used to playing against so much zone defence," guard Stephon Marbury said.