I'm sure the experience will change Tracy forever. A long time ago, I spent a year in West Africa and haven't been the same since. While I saw poverty and disease that was heartbreaking, it was nothing at all like what's going on in Darfur. MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR PROPS to Tracy for using his resources to broaden his horizons this way. Most people who live in fantasy land just stay there because it's more comfortable and easier on the conscience. At a minimum, even if Tracy never goes back, this will gnaw at him the rest of his life and give him a proper perspective on how fortunate he is and to be thankful for everything he has. Hopefully it will inspire him to use his vast wealth to try and make a difference in this world like very few can.
Very gald to see this report. Really appreciate what T-mac did. He is not only a great basketball player, but a great human being.
Do you expect NBA players to not have life outside of basketball. You think Tracy will be terrible because he wasted his offseason spending time with refugees in Africa? Will Yao be terrible because he goofed off getting married and helping with the Special Olympics this offseason. I bet Lebron tanks his season since he is so focused on hollywood with his MTV and SNL hosting stints. Plus its not like Yao and Tracy have not kept up with their offseason workouts. Our two star players have spent part of their offseason devoted to two very important causes that transcend more then basketball. Anyone who criticizes that is a moron.
If anything, this experience should increase his basketball focus. He's now seen a horrific situation that needs his help. Hopefully he'll realize that financially, he has to take care of himself before he can help others. Deke doesn't really need the money he'll get for playing another year. But that's some more cash to invest for his hospital.
On the contrary, Tracy never worked harder than 2 offseasons ago when he threw his backout and this should only be a catalyst for a stronger desire to be the best he can be. You see I think Tracy sees that basketball is what allows him to have these opportunities. His success will allow him to help more. I also think this could make Tracy a stronger person which could translate into a stronger basketball game. Don't sweat the little stuff when you can see the suffering around the world. People dieing and starving who only wish they had some of your problems. He saw and heard it first hand, the worst suffering that one could imagine... how can he not be a changed forever... how can he ever complain about his lot again. Just suck it up and work harder, don't ever complain again that you were tired in the 4th quarter of game 7. This could very well be Tracy's awakening and his reckoning on the NBA. We now have the greatest humanitarian team in the league, who have a purpose, a cause to fight for. Let them unite on the court to destroy the opposition and aide the world. Go Tracy, Go YAO, Go Deke, Go Rockets!!!
also, tmac please be safe over there! Rebels storm peacekeeping base in Darfur, killing 12 soldiers http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/09/30/sudan.darfur.ap/index.html
When I read the thread title, my mind said "Yikes, what the hell is he doing over there"? Great to see Tmac doing these things. Just be safe man! Hopefully he doesn't think about going to Iraq or something.
uhh, reading comprehension clown. I gave him major props. Look at my first post. "which is fine, because it is for a greater cause". quit lookin to bite someone's head off.
Wow this came out of nowhere but it was a very welcome surprise. Good to see Tracy doing some humanitarian effort, especially the documentary thing. The article really brought things into perspective and was an informative read. We have some real nice guys on our team, we should be proud.
Very, very big of Tracy. Hopefully his work will inspire other NBA players to use their success in a more proactive manner, as Deke did for Tracy.
that's a VERY wrong point to take. how can he take it less seriously when his determination was crazy last yr? when stephen A smith asked him that question b4 the playoffs, u could see his frustration and anger in the interview about the first round losses. if he didn't care, he could have laughed it off. but he looked like he wanted to punch smith in the face when he kept asking that. he was dominant early on b/c he was more athletic, the back spasms weren't as hard on his body... tracy's "disinterested" in play has ALWAYS been in question dude. starting from toronto. to him quitting in orlando. so i don't know where you have been. when you have not been out of the first round, that's what you get. but for him to keep fighting back from back spasms, helping us to the playoffs when yao went out, and putting up a decent playoff series (decent b/c that wasn't him), i see a guy that is still fighting for that elusive playoff success. he could have quit on us last yr when yao went out and folded. but he didn't, esp. w/ the back spasms on the back of his mind. but until he wins, u get those people that say "he's not focused" just b/c a dude does something nice in the offseason and he's not focused? kobe goes to asia to promote his shoe? is his mind not on basketball? c'mon man.
u can do both. he wouldn't have time to focus his time to these types of efforts during the reg. season anyways b/c he's always traveling and playing. so basketball will be his main focus. but during the offseason where he often has a month to himself, he can dedicate his time to do these kinds of things. that's why you have 365 days in a year. but like someone said, maybe doing these types of things will help him open up his mind and not worry about things as much and let things come naturally. this can be not forcing shots when he's not feeling it. this can be small things that can make him a better player. but i'm happy to see this organization has a bunch of great human beings from deke to tmac to yao.
and that has helped us how? we have been the best team during the pre-season going undefeated or something like that 2 yrs in a row and we ALWAYS seem to have relatively slow starts. pre-season is overrated.
I am EXTREMELY proud that Deke and Tracy are Houston Rockets. I always believe that celebrities can best use their celebrity status to bring attention to worthy causes, instead of attention like Lohan and Spears. This will strengthen McGrady. Whenever he feels down or facing adversity that he'll be facing during the season, all he needs to do is to think about Dafur, and he should be able to overcome whatever is in front of him. I can't wait to see the documentary.
This Houston Rockets team has a lot high character guys...Tracy, Deke, Yao, Shane, Luther, and, before, Juwan Howard. Gotta admire that...
Uhh, vocabulary clown. Reading comprehension has nothing to do with not reading your first post. Comprehension means understanding what you wrote and the post I replied to was not giving Tracy props. Sorry I didnt read all of your posts on this topic. You gave him props on one post, then stated he seems disinterested at times on another post, and I dont see how that should relate to anything he did on an offseason trip to Africa.
He also helped write an article in the editorial section: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5174451.html Before Rockets training camp, a refugee camp Trip to Africa lands pair amid many who fled Darfur By TRACY MCGRADY and JOHN PRENDERGAST Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle It all seemed so innocent at first. Last week — just a few weeks before the Rockets training camp begins — we got off a plane in a sleepy town called Goz Beida in the eastern part of Chad, a country in Central Africa that borders the Sudanese region of Darfur. It was during what they call the "rainy season" in that part of the world, so the hills surrounding the town were a deep shade of green. The first signs that things weren't completely normal in the place we visited were the makeshift huts made out of sticks, mud and plastic sheets that we saw right outside of town — literally thousands of the flimsy structures. But it wasn't until we started talking to the people living inside those huts that we had — without realizing it — entered the gates of hell on Earth. Let us introduce you to Isaac, a young man whom we met sitting on a mat in a humble community center in a refugee camp for people escaping the genocide being committed in Darfur. Genocide is defined as the attempt to destroy a group of people on the basis of their race, ethnicity or religion. Isaac happens to be from one of the non-Arab ethnic groups the government of Sudan has targeted for extinction. We listened closely to his story to understand why a government would try to wipe out entire groups of its own people. Before late 2003, Isaac was a student in a high school in West Darfur. His village wasn't wealthy, but his family lived well, growing all kinds of crops, nurturing large orchards of fruit trees, and raising goats and a few cows. He had heard about a few battles between the Sudan government and some rebel groups based in Darfur, but he was concentrating on his schooling and hoped it wouldn't disrupt that. But on Dec. 1, 2003, everything changed. Isaac had just left a wake at his mosque when his village came under attack. The Sudanese government and their main militia allies known as the Janjaweed, Darfur's version of the Ku Klux Klan came into town on horseback and trucks, hunting all the males in the village, whether children, adults or elderly. According to Isaac, at least 150 males were killed that morning, including 42 children, the village was looted, and most of the houses were burned to the ground. Isaac lost two uncles, two aunts and two brothers. Dazed and devastated, the survivors hid in the orchards outside the village. For the next two months, the Janjaweed scouted out their locations and warned them, "If you don't want to turn to ashes, you better leave this place." But for Isaac and the others, "this place" was their home, and they didn't want to leave. But on Feb. 13, 2004, the Janjaweed and government forces attacked again. Many more were killed, and this time many of the women who were trying to hide were raped. It took Isaac and some of his neighbors three months to find their way to the safety of the refugee camp in Chad. There we found him, three years later, trying to make sense of his ordeal. He told us that the government of Sudan had decided to destroy the communities like Isaac's from which rebels were being recruited, even though no rebels lived in his village. And he said the Janjaweed want their land, so they have to get rid of the people on it. This is why there is an alliance between the government and the Janjaweed to destroy the non-Arab communities of Darfur. We met dozens of people from both Sudan and Chad with stories like Isaac's. All of them told us that they just want to go home. They said that to get there, three things were necessary: a fair peace deal; a United Nations force to protect them; and punishment for those who drove them from their homes. The good news is that there has been progress on all three of these recently. Peace talks begin next month; the United Nations is working to help deploy protection forces both in Darfur and eastern Chad, where we were; and the International Criminal Court, which seeks to punish those who commit genocide or other war crimes, issued its first two indictments against Sudanese government officials. Lots more must be done to end the genocidal policies and help people like Isaac go home. U.S. government officials have talked a lot about Darfur, but must do more to support the peace process, the international protection forces and the prosecution of the perpetrators. We don't have to send one American soldier — and we can save billions of dollars in future emergency aid — if we just invest now in a peaceful solution to the 21st century's first genocide. McGrady is the Houston Rockets All-Star forward. Prendegast was director of African Affairs in the Clinton administration.
