An Andy Katz geography lesson

Xavier McDaniel went to Wichita State, which why everyone should know what state it's in. :

 

Songbird — Don't come yet!

 

What ever happened to Fennis Dembo?

 

I was never much of an academic star. Did enough to get by in HS and college. But this reminds me of one of the low points of my academic career.

In high school, I had our defensive coordinator for a history class. One Friday, after taking a test, he asked us if we wanted a bonus question. We all said yeah, and he started in on a question about what actors played the lead roles in the recent PBS airing of some play - a question obviously none of us knew. We shouted in protest, and he asked if we wanted an easier question. We, of course, said yeah.

"OK then. Why is that when you look at an old map, Harpers Ferry is in Virginia but on today's maps, it's in West Virginia? How do you explain that?"

I had no idea, so I wrote the first thing that came to my mind.

The following Monday, he starts class with a stern look on his face. "One of our esteemed classmates gave me the most dumbass answer I've seen in all my years of teaching.

"You remember the bonus about Harpers Ferry on the map? [He pulls out my test and begins reading.] This brainiac wrote, 'Because Harpers Ferry sailed into West Virginia.'"

 

"One genius thought a patella is a cigar."

"Hey, he just called me a genius!"

 

Bill Parcells is a graduate, too, if you can believe it.

 

My point of posting it wasn't to belittle Katz for an error -- we've all made them.

It was just a funny sentence on so many levels. Besides the obvious geography, calling Nebraska and Wichita State rivals is pretty funny.

And even if Katz was referencing Butler, that's not in Nebraska or Kansas. It's in Indianapolis.

 

I would have given you partial credit -- the answer, while obviously incorrect, is at least clever.

 

I"m guessing he brain locked and thought Butler was in Butler, Kansas hence the Butler-Wichita St. "in-state" rivalry.

 

Name: Fennis Dembo

Age: 40
Residence: San Antonio
Claim to fame: Dembo was the leading scorer in the 1987 NCAA Tournament with 27.8 points per game to help Wyoming advance to the Sweet 16. The Cowboys' march to the West Regional semifinals included victories over Virginia and UCLA. Dembo scored 41 points in the 78-68 triumph over UCLA. Dembo appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated's college basketball preview issue the following season. He remains Wyoming's all-time leading scorer and ranks second in career steals and third in career rebounds.
How often he's reminded of his college career: "I still hear a lot of it. People enjoy talking about it. You go to Cancun and people recognize you. I just went down to Progreso, Mexico, over the weekend, and a guy remembered the UCLA game."


Pro career: The Detroit Pistons selected Dembo in the second round of the 1988 NBA Draft. He averaged 1.2 points per game for the 1988-89 Pistons team that won the NBA title.

"I was just so lucky to be in the right place at the right time," Dembo said.

But that was the only season he would play in the NBA.

"You have to work on your game because everybody's talented at that level," Dembo said. "I was very immature. I didn't know what it took to be in that type of league. I had the talent, but it's discipline and work ethic that separates people. I didn't put anything into it. That's the quickest way to the exit, and that's what I got."

Dembo continued to play professionally in Italy, South America, France and in the United States with the Continental Basketball Association's Rapid City Thrillers before retiring in 1998.

"By that time, I had caught on,'' Dembo said. "I was working hard. I knew what it took to prepare yourself to play a basketball game to the best of your ability. I'd matured by that time. It gave me a chance to play and not worry about anything but wins and losses."

What he's doing now: Dembo works for the San Antonio Water System and is back at school studying civil engineering.

He had studied criminal justice at Wyoming and worked in juvenile justice for a few years before deciding to pursue a career in engineering. He eventually would like to open his own engineering firm.

"Since I'm not playing basketball, this is my challenge," Dembo said. "This is my sport now. I just like putting it all together and making something work. When you play basketball, all the pieces have to come together to make it work. It's the same thing with building something."

 

Katz was just doing Wichita a favor -- no city wants to be condemned to living in Kansas.

[/mizzoufanboy]