I AM CHICAGO BASKETBALL Mag JAN/FEB 2017 | Page 41

WHAT REALLY PUSHED ME OUT OF JOURNALISIM WAS POKER . I LEARNED TO PLAY THE GAME IN COLLGE AND STUDIED THE GAME AND STARTED TO TO TAKE IT MORE SERIOUSLY
ON WHAT YOU ' VE SEEN IN ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ? Only from what I ’ ve seen with my own eyes during my years from the beginning to now : All Highschoolelite . com first team :
Derrick Rose , Shaun Livingston , Andre Iguadala , Darius Miles , and Eddy Curry
Most Fun to watch :
Cedrick Banks and Will Bynum always put on a show There will never be a better back court than Proviso East Dee Brown & Shannon Brown Jon Scheyer scored 90 % of his team ’ s points during high school on the regular WHY DID YOU LEAVE HIGHSCHOOLELITE . COM ? What really push me out of journalism altogether was POKER . I learned to play in college and studied the game and started to take it serious the more I realized it was a skill game . I ’ ve been a professional Poker player living in Las Vegas for the last 8 years now . Q . ANY ADVICE TO THOSE WHO MAY BE THINKING ABOUT OPENING UP A WEBSITE ? FRANK Do it only if you live it . You gotta love it first . Before the money . PROPS DUE To Frank and thanks for laying down the foundation and good luck on your Poker venture ..... This Lefty B . Boyd and you rock ’ n with the best .

BEHIND THE WHISTLE

We at IACB reached out to my Big Bro , Hyde Park Legend Lil Mike Nance to get his point of view of the current state of Officiating Basketball games in this city and here is what he had to say :

MIKE NANCE “ The politics that surrounds Officiating basketball games in this city doesn ’ t bother me . I look at it as a way to be still involved with the game that I love , basketball ... first and foremost . It ’ s like a sanctuary for me through life ’ s ups & downs . Officiating also keeps me running and in some sort of shape .... And by me having some experience in the sport agency field it ’ s nature for me to evaluate the talent so by refereeing these games it gives me a birds eye view of what the young ball players can do in game situations .... So for me , I love Officiating the game of basketball in my city . I feel like it ’ s my way of giving back to the game that I love .”
Each month we will feature a referee in IACB the mag ! The whistle has a voice now too !