Anthony flying high right now

I am sick and tired of no one talking about the developing story in this city that is Joel Anthony.

I just got back from Las Vegas (and yes, I can still stand up), the town where Montreal's Joel Anthony played his college ball. The current Miami Heat player does not get much fanfare here in town, but that's only because every media outlet believes we only care about hockey. Now, I'll tell some Vegas stories on my return to Game Points this Sunday night at 8pm, but this blog posting is about the shameful non-coverage of Joel Anthony.

At any rate, the former UNLV Runnin' Rebel is slowly making quite the name for himself. I wrote an article about him for the Montreal Gazette back in October, when the NBA season had not yet begun. Joel was undrafted and signed by the Heat.

However, as the Heat's season went down the tubes, seemingly so did the dream for Joel of playing some meaningful minutes in the NBA. He languished in a suit on the sidelines, waiting for his chance to play. The defensive specialist, who some have compared to Alonzo Mourning's body type, was even optioned to Iowa of the D-League.

And that was supposed to be the end of the story. Joel was going to have to apply his trade in Europe or earn his stripes in the D-League this season and next. Fortunately, things don't always go according to plan in life. The Heat were mired in one of their worst seasons in franchise industry in part to due to injuries and so Joel got recalled.

Since being recalled, Anthony has been dressing. He was praised for his performance against Dwight Howard, some saying it was the best defence played against him all season. And then this past weekend, Anthony made the SportsCenter (that's the American SportsCenter) top 10 for a monster 'poster' dunk against Milwaukee. He scored 11 points and collected 7 rebounds in 29 minutes against the Bucks and has shown he can hang in the league.

It sickens me when stories like the Roy fiasco make the headlines and a feelgood story like that of Joel's gets virtually no recognition in the very city he is from. We're not talking about a transplanted athlete who passed through Montreal, folks. Joel is born and bred here. His roots are in this city and he has the chance to be a decent NBA player. How are we not talking about this story? Oh wait, I forgot, we need to know what Alex Kovalev ate for breakfast, what Patrice Brisebois bought at the Gap and where Guy Carbonneau gets his circa 1985 haircuts. Ridiculous.

Yes, we are a hockey city and I LOVE hockey. Heck, I am giving up softball this summer to continue playing hockey all year round (think Michael Ryder's shot and Mike Keane's defensive awareness and heart). So don't mistake my passion about this story to mean I am a hockey hater. I mean, come on, I am not American! But there is something to be said for covering a story with a Montreal angle in one of the continent's top four major sports.

The plight of covering stories outside hockey continues. I will continue to battle for basketball and football coverage because more and more listeners are thanking me for it. So tell your friends about this blog and about the Anthony angle. It truly is a Montreal sports success story.