Rare Rose

ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski recently wrote an interesting article about Derrick Rose.  Unlike so many of the articles that praised the Bulls rookie’s play on the court, Wojciechowski spends most of the article touting Rose’s character and his demeanor off the court.  “Emerging young stars such as Rose don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be true to themselves and, if possible, true to sports fans,” he writes.  “We have enough Mannys [Ramirez]being Mannys.  We need more Derricks being Derricks.”

Wojciechowski described a scene he witnessed in the Bulls’ locker room after the team’s playoff run came to an end where Bulls radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Swirsky approached Rose.  “Swirsky shook the point guard’s hand, told Rose what an absolute joy the rookie had been to watch this season, what a gentleman he was, and not to hesitate to call if he needed help with anything, including Rose’s summer camp,” he wrote.  “Then he handed Rose his business card, shook his hand again and was off.  You don’t see that very often.  You don’t see longtime NBA announcers peel back into a locker room, seek out a rookie, compliment the player on his season and his class, and then offer to help him any way they can. At least, I’d never seen it before.”  Rose receives a lot of praise for his play on the court, but we should appreciate his humble demeanor off it as well.

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