Melvin Comes To

October 16, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Vermont Frost Heaves News Release


By Alexander Wolff

It happened around 5:45, most of the way through our afternoon workout. We revived Melvin almost immediately. Pressed, he confessed he'd had nothing but a cup of yogurt since 11 that morning, right at the end of our skills and conditioning session-so we were 99% sure that he had passed out because of poor nutrition. Another fine point guard, former NBA star Maurice Cheeks, used to eat nothing but chocolate-chip cookies, and suffered migraines as a result. Besides, Melvin is hard-wired to run 'til his tank empties, if that isn't a mixed metaphor. (Actually, with hybrid vehicles all the rage, gotta craft more sentences like that one. Hey Toyota, want a product-placement opportunity?)

But Mel said something similar had happened to him before, and that raised an alarm that we might have a Hank Gathers or Reggie Lewis case on our hands. So we arranged for him to have a cardio workup at Fletcher Allen, the huge teaching hospital attached to the University of Vermont.

All told Melvin spent nine hours in the hospital, all of them with Coach V by his side. It was no fun, especially for a hoops-dependent guy like Mel. Supportive instant messages like the one from teammate Antonio Burks-JUST CHECKING UP ON MY ROOM DOG-only partly lightened the atmosphere. The day's battery of tests ruled out any problems, except for an EKG that left open the possibility of a congenital condition. An MRI a few days later put that to rest too. We all breathed easy, if only because, now cleared to play, Melvin had an outlet for his nervous energy.

A clutch of good-hearted physicians and nurses-including Dr. Peter Moses, Dr. Peter Spector and phalanxes of support staff in and out of the E.R.-went out of their way to see that a guy from the toughest part of Newark got the best health care his new home in Vermont has to offer. I've long since moved beyond the notion, if I ever really believed it, that the Frost Heaves are some romp or lark, but this was a lesson for all of us.

Lesson for me: We have 15 guys in our care, and anything could happen to any of them at any time.

Lesson for havoc-wreaking point guard: Wreak no havoc on thyself.

Lesson for Coach V: When you spend nine hours alongside a player, make sure YOU eat something, lest we all start to fall like dominoes.

* * *

Many of you have inquired about single-game tickets and when they'll go on sale. The answer: Very soon--we'll let you know when they're ready. Meantime, season-ticket plans ARE most emphatically available for purchase. We've got Barre-only, Burlington-only, and the ever-popular I-89 Plan. Go to vermontfrostheaves.com/tickets for the full skinny. And please make note of our home openers: Thursday night, Nov. 16 in Barre against Quebec City; and Saturday night, Nov. 18 in Burlington against Buffalo.

For more information about the Frost Heaves and to order team gear, go to vermontfrostheaves.com.

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.



American Basketball Association Stories from October 16, 2006


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