NBA rookies receive primer on soap, soup

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The NBA's newest crop of rookies were in New Jersey last week for the annual Rookie Transition Program. Designed jointly by the league and the NBA Player's Association, the program attempts to educate young players on the off-court rigors they will meet in their new profession.

Rookies were offered guidance on everything from the importance of charity work to financial advice, how to eat healthy and remembering to rest. Prepare for a difficult transition and be ready to adapt, they were told.

Sarah Lyall of the New York Times also passed along her advice to the young players via Twitter.

Some of the highlights:

• "Every NBA gentleman should have a peacoat, a baseball jacket, a raincoat and an overcoat in his closet, apparently."

• "Style consultant to nba rookies: Do not use the same Irish Spring soap under your arms that you use on your face."

• "If you come to an interview with your pants hanging off your behind, you probably won't get a good post-NBA job."

• "After a game, sign the damn autograph. You never know whose kid is who."

• "If you can't articulate how you want your clothes to look, cut a picture out of a magazine."

• "Lindsay Lohan is irresponsible."

• "Her name is probably not really Sparkle Smith."

• "Many guys think you don't have to introduce yourself, but that's not true."

• "If your soup is too hot, do not blow. Stir."

Can he spell playoffs?

The J-E-T-S chant is in the hands of the F-A-N-S.

The New York Jets are holding an online contest to pick eight season ticket holders -- one for each home game -- to lead the team's familiar rallying cry this year.

Season ticket holders will be able submit a video of 15 seconds or less of themselves leading the chant. Fans will then choose their favorite entries on the team's website, and the eight top vote-getters will get the crowds at MetLife Stadium fired up.

"I don't want to put a number out there, but if people go nuts for it and really embrace it, wonderful," said Seth Rabinowitz, the Jets' senior vice president of marketing and fan engagement. "We'll be ready and we'll look at every single video. The more the merrier."

Ed Anzalone -- also known as "Fireman Ed" -- used to lead the cheer, but stepped away from the role in recent seasons. Last year, the Jets had fans in each of the stadium's four stadium sections -- one for each letter -- shout out the J-E-T-S chant in the season opener, and the team's drumline ensemble -- The Aviators -- did it for the other seven games.

"This idea was really borne out of feedback from season ticket holders," Rabinowitz said Monday. "We've been, through a variety of different forums, approached by season ticket holders over the past year or so and there was a variance of the same theme: 'What can you do to help us keep the chant going?'"

The Jets examined various options and came up with the video contest, which runs Aug. 26-29, with winners announced no later than Sept. 2 -- five days before the season opener against Oakland. Fans can enter themselves or nominate somebody else, but the entrant must be a confirmed season ticket holder. They also must include a few sentences on why they're an ideal candidate.

"It takes a special someone to get 80,000 people to quiet down and then have them go crazy," Rabinowitz said.

The Jets recently spoke about their plans with Anzalone, who became a bit of an icon with his firefighter helmet and emphatic style of cheer.

"He was obviously a huge part in keeping the chant alive and came to embody it in many ways," Rabinowitz said. "Somebody passed the torch to him and, now, I think his preference at this stage is to kind of remain in the background."

Sports quiz

Who won the first official NBA Rookie of the Year award in 1952-1953?

Answer

Don Meineke of the Fort Wayne Pistons

Sports on 08/12/2014