Steve Blake: An Idiot

Mike Gillis has a philosophy: a smart person will make a smart hockey player. More than raw talent, he believes a player's intelligence will boost their work ethic and their ability to adapt and evolve their game. This is the reason he took Patrick McNally of Harvard with the Canucks first pick, 115th overall. McNally will finish his degree before pursuing professional hockey, a reason many teams shied away from picking a player whose talent level pegged him as a top-50 player in the draft.

Sam's beloved Los Angeles Lakers, however, have a different strategy. You may have read Sam's glowing article praising the signing of Steve Blake as the role-player pickup of the summer. Well, Blake is up for an another award over at Deadspin: America's Dumbest Student-Athlete, for an essay he wrote during his stint at Maryland. An excerpt:

"A young couple was walking down Main Street arguing with each other. The young lady got frustrated with her boyfriend and just walked away from him and went into a restaurant. He wanted to make up with her so he went in there after her. He met her inside and they waited for someone to help them find a seat. They where greeted by a young lady who was very kind and friendly. The hostess found them a comfortable booth and told them to have a good time. As they were sitting, they heard a song by Elvis being played throughout the whole restaurant. The couple looked at each other and smiled because they both really liked that song. The restaurant that this couple went to is in Florida and is called Johnny Rockets, a restaurant that brings people happiness."

You can enjoy the full article penned by a sixth grader writing about his summer vacation an apparent college student over at Deadspin.













UPDATE: I Write Like has performed its scientific analysis, and determined that Blake writes like famous author Stephen King. So I must issue my apologies. Here's the official badge of certification.

Steve Blake writes like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

FYI, both Sam and I write like David Foster Wallace. Yeah, that guy.