Feb. 18, 2005
www.guilfordian.com
Daze of Campus life
Rachel Chaff in
Cartoonist
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SPORTS
The shot heard 'round the wortd
Jake Kalos
We have all heard about sopho
more basketball guard Jordan
Snipes' miraculous full-court, game-win
ning, buzzer-beater shot by now. It's been
everywhere.
By the time I caught up with him he had
already been interviewed by the News
and Record , ESPN radio, News 12, Fox
8, CNN, USA Today, The Roanoke Times
and The Associated Press , to name just a
few.
So, how has Snipes' long shot traveled
around the world in such a little amount
of time?
"It started the day of the game when
the videographer from WRIC was there,"
said Dave Walters, Guilford's Sports
Information Director. "He stayed through
until the end of the game and got the pic
ture. He took it upon himself to send it on
to the CNN Pathfire service."
Walters describes the Pathfire service
as "a video news feed service that broad
cast medias subscribe to."
After people saw the feed, Walters said,
they wanted to learn more about it. The
next day alone Snipes conducted 11 inter
views.
"It's been crazy," Snipes said. "You play
Division 111 basketball, so you don't
expect to be on Sportscenter, or even the
local news."
Not only was Snipes' shot aired on
Sportscenter, the video clip is appearing
all over the Internet.
"It's more than just a sports story,"
Walters said. "It's one of those incredible
videos." It is similar in this sense to the
clip of Randy Johnson hitting a seagull
with his 90 MPH fastball, or Vince Carter
leaping over France's 7'2" Frederic Weis
for a slam dunk at the 2000 Olympics.
With everything that Snipes has experi
enced since making the shot he said the
most exciting was recreating the shot for
WFMY News 2. "They gave me a rack of
16 balls," he said. "I made the eleventh
one."
Despite his busy schedule of inter
views, on top of his ordinary classes and
practices, Snipes has still found time for
his family.
The day after the shot, when Snipes
had 11 interviews, "he still found time to
come to his brother's game," said Chuck
Snipes, Jordan's father. "Justin (Snipes's
brother, a high school senior) was
thrilled."
"There were a lot of little kids asking
for Jordan's autograph," Mr. Snipes said.
"We all thought that was pretty amazing."
This sort of recognition has not been
uncommon over the last few weeks.
Staff Writer
Greensboro. N.C.
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"When I go to sports bars around town
people will start pointing and talking
about me," Snipes said. "Then they come
over and say congratulations. People
know me now, it's weird. I like it, but it's
kind of crazy."
Other members of the family have
experienced this as well.
"Guys who I played college basketball
with called me up," Mr. Snipes said.
"They say 'I saw your son on the news."'
Although the buzzer beater shot was
the highlight of the game, Snipes was
dominant throughout. He was 9-12 shoot
ing, going 6-7 from behind the arc. He
was also a perfect 10-10 from the free
throw line, totaling a career-high 34
points.
"I just got into the zone," he said. "My
teammates were giving me open looks,
setting screens. They kept running plays
that would give me open shots and luckily
I just knocked them down."
Emphasis on team play is something
that Mr. Snipes has always taught his
son. "I coached the boys when they were
younger," he said. "Team play is always
something I stressed. Individual accom
plishments are great, but you can't do it
without the team."
"We told him to enjoy it," Mr. Snipes
said when asked about him and his wife's
advice to their son regarding all the
attention. "Just don't get too cocky or big
headed about it."
Snipes has done just that. "I've learned
be grateful for what happens," he said.
"Stuff like that only happens once in a
lifetime. Try not to get overwhelmed
about it. Just take it in stride. Just thank
God for it happening."3€
Page 11
MATT GOLDMAN/GUILFORDIAN
Guilford basketball player
Jordan Snipes