During a conversation with Nolan Reimold this morning, I was chiding him for being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and -- despite his Pennsylvania roots -- accusing him of being a frontrunner when he proved he was not a frontrunner with the revelation that he's a big Cleveland Cavaliers fan.
When I stopped laughing, he told me about the time he was assigned to cover some kid named LeBron James in a high school showdown between Kennedy Catholic (Hermitage, PA) and St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
"He was a sophomore and I was a junior,'' Reimold said. "It was right before he got huge. We lost by one point, 51-50. He had 20 points, but he was averaging 28."
Pretty cool memory. Reimold said that he was a big LeBron fan right up until "The Decision," then he started choosing his words carefully.
"Let's just say I was disappointed,'' he said, with an expression that signalled that he was making a tremendous understatement and struggling to hold his tongue. I'm just going to guess that his second-favorite NBA team right now is whoever is playing the Miami Heat.
If you're wondering, Reimold said he dropped 17 points in that game, which isn't bad for a baseball player.