Francis visited his sisters grade school on Friday. The visit was taped and will appear on Inside Stuff on NBC Sunday. Old School FRANCIS VISITS HIS FORMER GRADE SCHOOL AND CHECKS ON LITTLE SIS Big Brother Returns By Lina Balciunas NBA.com About half an hour away from Washington's MCI Center, the fourth- and fifth-graders of Cannon Road Elementary School gathered for a typical assembly. You know, your basic gig — everybody Indian-style on the floor, waiting to hear the results of an essay contest in which they were asked to write what it would mean to them to attend the 2001 All-Star Game. The curious sort might have wondered about the presence of local television cameras and a certain aura of excitement among the increasing number of grown-ups sneaking into the room. And sure enough, the students had a surprise coming ... in the form of Maryland native Steve Francis, who arrived to present the essay contest awards. A collective squeal rose from the crowd as the Rockets guard — who was in town for the Schick Rookie Challenge — walked through the door and the eyes of a small group of girls near the front widened in a different sort of recognition. Later, the first question asked of Francis from the audience was, "Can you tell us who all are you related to here?" A handful of cousins and Francis' younger sister, Tiffany, would be the answer. "My friends were screaming, 'Your brother's here! Your brother's here!'" said the fifth-grader, with a smile that slightly echoed the familiar grin of big bro. "I had butterflies in my stomach and my heart was beating really fast. It was like, OK, he's here ... I thought he was coming later — at home." "This came about for two reasons really. The main one being that Steve Francis' cousins and sister go to school here, and his grandmother is one of our parents," said school principal Judy Theiss. "The second reason is that I've followed Steve's footsteps ever since he became famous because, as I said to the assembly, I used to be his music teacher for three years. Those two things came together. I've been annoying Steve for quite a long time to come out and do a program for our kids." Francis' music teacher? Do tell. "Well, he was an excellent music student most of the time. Let's just put it that way," Theiss explained. "He was a good singer, he was an excellent dancer and he appeared in all the shows that I produced." Which must have translated into basketball moves and stayed there, because after the program Francis insisted he had lost his rhythm and refused to do a demonstration. But back to the assembly. The three winners of the essay contest had to read their work to the group and Francis presented each with prizes -- video games and a PlayStation, with two tickets to the All-Star Saturday events and All-Star Sunday events going to the first-place winner. While the students appeared a little hesitant about reading aloud in front of such a prominent audience, the most jittery might have been Francis himself. "I was nervous. My hands were sweating a little bit," last season's Schick co-Rookie of the Year admitted. "Just because it's a change of pace, a change of atmosphere. When you're on the court, you're not looking around. But here you're talking to a crowd and all the kids are open -- their ears are open, their eyes are wide and they want to hear what you have to say. That's a lot of pressure. I was a little shaky." After the first question about the Francis family tree, the rest followed the usual inquiries until Francis called on his little sister. Tiffany rose to her feet, looked him squarely in the eye and asked (much to the amusement of the grownups in attendance), "So, how long do you plan on playing in the NBA, anyway?" Francis gave a startled laugh and a solid answer about playing for as long as he could and making the most of the time he had. Cojones evidently run in the family. After the students had gone back to class and Francis could finally break away from the media throng, his sister and cousins pounced on him with delight, pulling off his hat and teasing him about an impending haircut. He might be the great Steve Francis to the rest of the world, but here he was home; here he was your basic big brother. "We made up our own handshake for when we see each other," Tiffany said. "And sometimes he'll punch me around and I'll hit him back, but it doesn't hurt because he won't hit me hard. We just wrestle." More photo ops beckoned as Francis prepared to depart his childhood stomping grounds, much to the consternation of his little sister. "Now they want me to go outside and wave goodbye to him. But I'm going to miss lunch!" Big bro's gonna owe her for that one. ------------------ I voted YES!
Indian-style?? Wow, I haven't heard that phrase since I was in elementary school in the mid 80's...I think all those PC people like to use "Native American Style" or "cross-legged" or something.... Expect a heavy protest of NBA.com from our friends of Native American heritage... ------------------ If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!!
I have a Half Brother who is 5 and a Step Sister who is 32 , They have the same Father. ------------------ Moe's Classic Signatures "Will Work for Clutch 101 Book"
Wait a minute , that didnt sound right . oh well heres another picture . (I finally figured out how to post a picture ) ------------------ Moe's Classic Signatures "Will Work for Clutch 101 Book" [This message has been edited by moestavern19 (edited February 10, 2001).]
What time Sunday? ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
Well You right click on the picture , Some options will come up , Down at the bottom is Properties , click on that , There it will display the URL , place the URL between . You can Practice on the one I posted . ------------------ Moe's Classic Signatures "Will Work for Clutch 101 Book"
I'm 28 and my little brother is 11. If I don't post for a while it's because I have to beat up a couple of his friends' big brothers. ------------------
i ------------------ http://www.democrats.com [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited February 10, 2001).] [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited February 10, 2001).] [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited February 10, 2001).] [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited February 10, 2001).] [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited February 10, 2001).] [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited February 10, 2001).]
I'm surprized that Francis didn't move his family to a more upscale part of New England after making it in the NBA. I would have figured his sister would be attending private school. ------------------
Sabirk .. u know I have thought about that myself but the more I thought about it the more it makes sense for them to remain the way they are.... regular folks living a regular life, I am sure they do not lack a thing though ! ------------------ If you are a positive thinking person but yet you listen to country music, isn't that odd?
What's to comment? That's about a 12 year difference among siblings. It's not like it's unheard of. I have a friend that's 23 and her sister is 12. Big deal. ------------------ "what if my aunt had balls?" -- in one fell swoop, bbs member verse expresses his dislike of "what if" scenarios and shows he has far too much idle time on his hands.
That was a fun piece by Inside Stuff. Those kids were trying to rip his arm off. You can't beat the combination of Somer Sanders and Steve Francis. ------------------ WHAT ARE YOU DO-ING!?
I didn't know Sanders was that fine. I thought she was flat but I guess I was wrong. ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
Just wanted to join the picture party. ------------------ Kenny Thomas had a foul called on him in the Western Conference Finals.
Thats one ugly Mo-fo ------------------ President of the Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford,Larry Hughes, and Charles Woodson fan club.
