It is an impossible task to follow in the footsteps of legends

Andrew Joseph, USA Today:

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James had a stern message for LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. Last week, LaVar criticized James’ 12-year-old son, LeBron James Jr., claiming LeBron Jr.’s basketball future would be held back because his father is an NBA superstar. James was not pleased.

LeBron Jr. is a 12-year-old basketball sensation who stars for the North Coast Bluechips AAU team. LaVar, though, doesn’t think LeBron’s son will grow up to be a superstar, and he made his case with some terrible logic. You got LeBron, it’s gonna be so hard for his kids, cause they gonna look at them like ‘you gotta be just like your dad.’ And after a while that pressure starts sitting on you like ‘why do I gotta be like him, why can’t I just be me?’ And then they’re gonna be like ‘aw, you’re soft, you’re not that good.’ Because the expectation is very, very high.”

In the 1987-1988 basketball season for Washington State, Lavar Ball appeared in 26 games, averaging 2.2 points.

At the meeting on Tuesday, I met Jim Thyng. He told me that I probably had heard of his father. I had.

Wikipedia:

Brigadier General Harrison Reed Thyng (April 12, 1918 – September 24, 1983) was a fighter pilot and a general in the United States Air Force (USAF). He is notable as one of only six USAF fighter pilots to be recognized as an ace in two wars.

General Thyng, who retired from the Air Force in 1966, shot down five or more enemy planes in both propellor-driven and jet planes. Flying a Spitfire in 162 missions in World War II, he downed nine enemy planes. Flying F-86 jets in 113 missions in the Korean War, he shot down seven planes. He was awarded a Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart. On retiring from the military, Thyng became a New Hampshire candidate to the United States Senate.

On July 17, 2004, the towns of Pittsfield and Barnstead, New Hampshire, dedicated a granite memorial to a local hero. The winged obelisk was inscribed with the words, "Brigadier General Harrison Reed Thyng, Patriot, Leader of Men."

Spear-headed by the Pittsfield Historical Society, it took 3+ years to raise the funds necessary to put the monument in place. The obelisk is flanked by four granite stones, one each for the four campaigns in which Harry Thyng fought. During World War II, first he flew out of England, then North Africa, then to the Pacific; finally to Korea in 1951, where he commanded the famed 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing. Gen. Thyng had over 650 hours of combat flight time on 307 sorties in three wars, with operational experience flying the P-40, P-39, Spitfire Vb, P-47N, F-80, F-84, F-86, F-89, F-94, F-100, F-102, and F-106 fighter aircraft.

As the son of Harrison Thyng, I am extremely grateful to all those who helped make the memorial come true. He was a man who will now be forever remembered in granite. He, like the memorial, was a man of granite.- James Thyng

I had the privilege of flying successful missions in VietNam. I had no intention of matching him.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy