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DevilHorns
12-03-2009, 05:09 PM
Dec 3rd-8th is the 3rd annual Jimmy V week.

I feel like its a great time for everyone and anyone to remember him and watch his incredible 1993 ESPY speech, which introduced the V foundation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

Carolina_Blue
12-03-2009, 07:03 PM
good post...cry every time I see that speech

JBDuke
12-03-2009, 07:08 PM
There are lots of great quotes from Jimmy V, but my favorite is an exchange with a referee that's been quoted here many times, but can stand one more:

Valvano: "Hey ref, can you give me a technical for what I think?"

Ref: "No, Jimmy, I can't T you up for what you think."

Valvano: "Good, cause I think you suck!"

DukieBoy
12-03-2009, 08:14 PM
This speech gets me teary-eyed every time. One of the most touching moments in the history of sports.

BlueintheFace
12-04-2009, 12:38 AM
nooooooo i search functioned!!!! I am so ashamed


truly a great speech

-bdbd
12-04-2009, 12:45 AM
One of my favorite V stories that I like to tell....

I attended Duke undergrad in the early 80's. (K and V weren't as tight as they would later become.) In fact I remember more than one Duke fan back the, after "State College" won their National Championship in '83 ," complaining why couldn't we get this Valvano guy (who was hired by State at the same time as K at Duke) instead of this K guy (who was busy insisting on playing man-D against much more talented/quicker teams, and winning 10-11 games a season)???" But I digress...

One of the State players -- if memory serves it was Lorenzo Charles -- around '82 was caught stealing pizzas from a delivery guy, and soon after that came to play at Duke. The crazies showed up with about a thousand pizza boxes, planning to throw them on the court at the kid's introduction, of course. Twenty minutes prior to game time Coach Valvano, who must've had a million things on his mind preparing for the big game against a rival school, at their place, walks onto he court before his team comes out and starts making his way towards the visitor's bench. A bunch of us were smiling and held up our pizza boxes as as a mild taunt of what was to come. His reaction was classic V -- he stopped, stared for a moment at the boxes, and then made a "horrified look" face, and then started laughing. He resumed walking to the bench but pointed at us and gave a big "thumbs up signal." I've liked him ever since. Just a real good guy.

:D

Kedsy
12-04-2009, 01:19 AM
My favorite V story I heard when I was in school and also I think it's in one of Feinstein's books. V had just started at State and he's setting up his office when the janitor walks in. V says hello and the custodian says something along the lines of, "Good luck to you, coach. I hope you can do better than Norm Sloan. He was pretty good but he was no Dean Smith."

V is flabbergasted. He says, "Wait a minute. Didn't Norm Sloan have a team that went 57 and 1 over two seasons including a national championship?"

"Yes he did," the janitor says. "But just think what ol' Dean would have done with that team."

aro24
12-04-2009, 10:13 AM
between NC State and Houston as that may have been his most memorable game.........

Have those 2 schools played again since that game in 83 ?

ARo24

davekay1971
12-04-2009, 11:07 AM
One of the great characters in the history of the ACC. That '83 tournament run is one of my best sports memories. I was 11, my Mom (a State grad) was going nuts the whole time, and I don't know if a team will ever have that kind of run again. I absolutely in that ESPY speech where he recounts his pregame talk to his Rutgers basketball team. Classic.

Bostondevil
12-04-2009, 11:28 AM
About 3 weeks before my first Boston Marathon run I was in something close to despair. I had been training for nearly a year but in late January my knees gave out on a long training run. A mile from home I could not run anymore without them buckling. Luckily I was able to walk and I hobbled home. I didn't want to give up running the marathon so I slapped knee braces on and kept going. During the final super-long training run, it happened again. I didn't have time to rest and recover and build up again. I honestly didn't know how I was even going to make it to the starting line and I knew my dream of 'beating Katie Holmes' (5:29 at the New York Marathon) was a complete fantasy. I was at home, close to tears, when the ESPY speech came on. "Don't give up, don't ever give up" was my mantra for race. I asked him if he wouldn't mind having my back. I wrote Jimmy V just above the team logo on the back of my jersey and I decided that no matter what happened, I wouldn't give up. My knees gave out at Mile 14 and I basically had to walk it in from there. I never stopped. It took me over 6 1/2 hours but I finished. I came back and ran it a second time, any of you who read the Off Topic Board have probably seen the picture. I wrote Jimmy V on the back of my jersey then too.

For those of you who don't read the Off Topic Board. I'm a charity runner. I run with a team from Mass General Hospital to raise money for cancer research and pediactric cancer care. My youngest son was succesfully treated for a brain tumor at MGH. We are rapidly approaching the third anniversary of my son's diagnosis, Dec. 21st. I'm not running this year but I'll probably be back out there in 2011. I'll write Jimmy V on the back of my jersey once again if I do.

Devil in the Blue Dress
12-04-2009, 06:20 PM
One of the humorous things I remember about Jim Valvano was how he'd jump around so much during games that he'd rip his slacks or his jacket at least once a year and sometimes more frequently than that. One measure of the intensity of a season was how early in the season the ripping would occur. The Duke - State games in Cameron were the scene of many a rip......

chrisheery
12-04-2009, 09:21 PM
I have been trying to find this online, but I cannot find a clear answer. What type of tumor did Jimmy V have? Some links make reference to metastatic adenocarcinoma, which is completely non-specific as the vast majority of metastatic cancers are adenocarcinoma. Other sites make reference to bone cancer, but bone cancers are extraordinarily rare, and are usually sarcomas.

Most likely scenario is a metastatic adenocarcinoma to the bone, which is frequent in prostate, lung, kidney, thyroid and some other types. It may have been very poorly differentiated making it difficult to identify the primary site.

Anyone know?