Penny Hardaway gives back. Kirk Cameron smacked down by other 80s child stars. And kids save a school bus from disaster

And a happy Friday to all of you; I’m extremely happy this morning since my New York Rangers took step one toward the Stanley Cup, beating Ottawa 4-2 at Madison Square Garden Thursday night…

We begin today with a former NBA star you probably haven’t thought about in at least 10 years.

Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway was once one of the Top 5 players in the NBA, starring in hilarious commercials with Chris Rock before injuries and age took their toll on him. Hardaway had a bad reputation when he left the NBA, for selfishness and helping get a coach fired while with the Orlando Magic. But he’s most definitely turning around any negative attitudes about him now.

Hardaway is coaching in his old hometown of Memphis, but this is no glamour position: He’s leading the 7th and 8th graders at inner-city Lester Middle School, the same school Hardaway first starred at.
He’s coaching at this level because a good friend of his and the former coach at Lester, Desmond Merriweather, is suffering from cancer. When Hardaway found out his old pal needed a hand, he jumped right in.
And now, he’s helping change lives. Growing up without a father himself, he’s become a role model and a hands-on mentor to kids who desperately need a “success story” to give them hope.

He met with gang leaders, asking them not to recruit his players for their gangs. (They complied). He hosted players at his enormous mansion, showing them what’s possible. And he worked each player hard in the classroom, and the team GPA slowly rose under his leadership.

“I wanted to make sure they understood that education is more than sports,” Hardaway says. “A lot of these kids go from home to home to live. I had to make sure they’re doing their homework, make sure they’re going to class, make sure they’re not sleeping in class. … It’s all to make them know that I do care.”

So many NBA millionaires never look back when they leave. Penny Hardaway is back doing good in Memphis, and it’s a wonderful thing.

**This, I thought, was brilliant (but NSFW, use headphones if you’re at work). Kirk Cameron, former star of “Growing Pains” (“As long as we’ve got each other,” come on, you know the words…) has become well-known as a gay bashing, far-right wing infomercial superstar. Well, his former colleagues as TV child stars of the 1980s and 1990s are standing up to try to take him down a peg (Loved seeing one of the twins from “Hogan Family!”)
Enjoy this from Funny or Die…

**Finally we have the story of a couple of brave, quick-thinking kids in Milton, Wash.  While riding the bus to school Monday, the students noticed the driver had a medical emergency and slumped over in his seat.
So Jeremy Wuitschick ran to the front of the bus, grabbed the wheel, and started trying to steer. He pulled the keys out of the ignition, but the bus kept running.
Another boy, Johnny Wood, helped out by trying CPR on the driver, and attempting to bring the bus to a stop.
Nobody was hurt, the driver is recovering, and a couple of 7th graders are going to be awfully popular around school for a while.

A fantastic piece on Ebert, Boner Stabone missing? And 30th anniversary of “Miracle on Ice.”

I don’t link to enough great writing on this blog. I’m going to try do it more often, because in my non-blog life, I’m constantly telling the people I know and love, “You have to read this newspaper article/magazine feature/book.” I’m quite the nag, constantly emailing great stories.

My first step toward highlighting amazing journalism and writing is this Chris Jones feature in this month’s Esquire, on the brilliant, but cancer-ravaged Roger Ebert. I’ve written about Ebert before; the man is truly a brilliant wordsmith, and his genuine goodness and upbeat spirit shines through this piece. Ebert hasn’t been able to eat, drink or speak for years, but his brain and his way with words still carry him through.

Jones is a brilliant writer, and this is a wonderful article. Take 10 minutes and read it if you can. (I posted an old photo of Ebert above here, just so you can see how jarring it is, looking at him now in the photo with Jones’ story.)

**I know this isn’t a funny story, but I’m sorry, part of me had to laugh. If you haven’t heard, a classic sitcom character from my youth, “Boner” Stubone of “Growing Pains” fame, is missing. His parents are looking for him, and say they haven’t heard from him in weeks, and that he’s been depressed for a long time.

That’s not the funny part, of course. This is the funny part; Kirk Cameron, aka Mike Seaver, tried to reach out to Andrew Koenig through Access Hollywood Monday night. And Cameron’s final quote just slayed me: “Andrew, if you’re reading this, please call me. Mike and Boner could always work things out when they put their heads together.”

First of all, as one who watched nearly every episode of the show, NO, that last statement is patently false, Mike and Boner never could work things out.

Mike and Boner were constantly screwing up, getting in trouble or doing bad things to Carol, and it never worked out for them. Mike, Boner and Eddie (the Fredo Corleone of that group, quite frankly) were a bunch of bumbling fools.

And second, please, please, PLEASE tell me Kirk Cameron didn’t really say that. Please tell me he wasn’t trying to liken his old friend’s serious depression with CHARACTERS FROM A TV SHOW that the two were on together 25 years ago! In the tone of Chandler Bing, could you BE more patronizing there, Kirk? Ugh.

I hope Koenig is found safely, and that he gets the help he needs. And that he stays far, far away from Mike Seaver. And Ben, too; I never liked that punk.

One final “Growing Pains” thought: I’m going to say that between characters named “Boner” and Ben’s friend “Stinky Sullivan,” that show had the greatest nicknames of any sitcom, ever. Seriously, tell me what show beats that combo?

**With the hockey buzz in America hopefully growing after Sunday’s remarkable U.S. win over Canada Sunday (and I watched the highlight of that Ryan Kesler diving, clinching goal a few more times Monday, and still don’t know how he did it), I thought this might be nice:

Monday was the 30th anniversary of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game. Here’s some original game footage from the ABC telecast. Gave me chills. Good stuff starts at about 1:55 mark:

And you can bet all the tea in China that the fantastic HBO “Do You Believe in Miracles?” documentary on that 1980 will be viewed by your blogger this week.