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Message: [QUOTE="DoctahLexus, post: 4224190, member: 6798"] I'm late to the party, but had the pleasure of listening to the man himself read the audio book. What a life. If I was surrounded by the amount of negative influences in his environment, there is simply no way I would have fared as well. To go from Red Hook, Brooklyn in the 90s to West Baltimore and still remain disciplined enough as a young kid to hone your craft with basketball and get to college...many of us would fail, no matter what level of talent we possessed. Crime and the temptations of street life were not just things he observed from afar. His own brothers and close cousins were directly involved in serious violent incidents and legal trouble. One thing to avoid negative influence from people outside your house, but when your own flesh and blood get involved that is another obstacle entirely. Melo even claims to be very familiar with the famous couch from The Wire in real life! I could ramble on for a while about it, but just a heads up for those who have not read it yet, very little is about his time at Syracuse. Vast majority of the book is his childhood/high school experience. Most noteworthy in the Syracuse section is that it makes 2003 feel like an ancient era with different norms. Melo was freely allowed to explore areas of Syracuse that many locals would consider dangerous (essentially the projects just on the other side of 81), and even would regularly play pick up games with Billy Edelin in those areas too. Would even party down there occasionally. Maybe I'm wrong, but I highly doubt today's teams would even venture over there, no matter the background, and you figure there would be more people in their corner and/or the staff advising against it. It sounds like Billy was Melo's closest friend that year, along with Josh Pace. Then there is the treatment of NCAA athletes in general in that era. Melo was returning from a holiday break in Baltimore and got caught in a massive blizzard that lead to PA shutting down the main highway for the night. He was stranded with a beat up car not fit for snow and without a cent to his name! Literally no money of any kind! He had to show a picture of himself on the cover of a sports mag to a guy behind the counter at a cheap hotel, just to convince the guy to let him sleep in some weird back room for a night! I realize living stipends and stuff of that nature have not solved all problems for NCAA athletes, but imagine that happening to a cuse bball player today, let alone Carmelo freaking Anthony! Just less people watching out for you in that era, for better or for worse. Melo is a compelling writer who does a great job illustrating his mental/emotional state at challenging times in his life, of which there were many. Think it is worth it to get the audio version and hear it from the guys own voice. Highly recommend it and my admiration for the guy (which was already extremely high) has grown even more. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?