Shammond's Stories
FACT or FICTION? You decide!
Shammond stories:
1. Maybe you didn't know it, but Shammond is a local hero in his
hometown of Greenville, SC. What seemed like a normal Columbus Day,
turned out to be an adventure. Shammond was filling his car up at a local
gas station when he went inside to get a thirst-quencher. While selecting
a beverage, two guys in ski masks burst in to the store and demanded the
cashier to give them all of their money. With his cat-like reflexes,
Shammond threw candy bars at the criminals until he was able to jump both
of the guys and wrestle them to the ground. The next day he was rewarded
by the mayor of Greenville when he was presented the key to the city.
2. A couple summers ago, Shammond went to Australia to work at a
basketball camp for underpriveleged children of the Outback. On his way
to the village, the jeep overheated and stalled. His driver went to a
small stream to get water in the hope of cooling the engine. Shammond had
almost dozed off when the jeep began to rock to and fro. He jumped up to
witness a band of kangaroos kicking the sides of the jeep with their
feet. Now, these weren't just any kangaroos. They were seven feet tall
when standing fully erect, and one blow from their powerful legs could
render a man helpless. Shammond knew of their prowess, so he climbed out of
the jeep and leaped over these monsters of lore carrying his exercise
weights. With his superior speed, he stuffed his weights in their
pouches, so they could no longer jump around. Then, using his
street-hardened boxing skills he danced around the kangaroos and boxed
them senseless. The driver returned in the knick of time with water for
the radiator, and they sped away, leaving the kangaroos in bewilderment.
3. On his way home from the ACC Tourney, Shammond and Touche came up to
a lowering gate of a railroad crossing. Amidst the flashing lights and
ringing bells, they heard a plea for help. The train had come to a
screaching halt over the torso of a young boy from the nearby town.
Shammond and Touche jumped from his car to come to the boy's aide, but
Shammond knew from watching 911 that if the train were to move, the boy's
innards would spill across the rails without the help of the wheels to
hold them in place. Shammond looked down on the ground where he saw
sunlight gleaming off a stainless steel 20 gallon bucket. Touche pulled
the boy back from the wheels, while Shammond replaced the wheel with the
bucket at a speed that would humiliate lightening. The boy appeared to be
intact and without much pain, so they popped the trunk and hauled him home.
4. A little known fact:
While flying to the Final 4 last year in Seattle, both the
pilots of the chartered jetliner succumbed to food poisoning
and were incapasitated. Shammond, exhibiting the poise that has helped him safely bring
the ball upcourt amidst frightening full-court pressure in hostile
ACC arenas, calmly went to Coach Smith and asked him if he could
"get in the game" because he'd successfully landed an F-16 on an
aircraft carrier once using 'Microsoft Flight Simulator'.
Deano, looking a shade paler than his normal healthy glow, looked
down the aisle at his "bench" (which was even slimmer than usual, what
with everybody writing wills, crying, wailing, and throwing up) and
told Shammond to check himself in.
Seizing control of the doomed Boeing 727 somewhere over Utah, Shammond
radioed air traffic control and advised them of the situation. Rather
than risk losing precious practice time on Friday prior to Saturday's
showdown with Arkansas, Williams told them to forget about emergency
landings and vector him directly to Seattle.
With police, ambulances, and fire trucks waiting beside the runway,
Shammond brought the "heavy" in for a feathery landing that the seasoned
flight attendant later described as "softer than a baby's bottom - the best
touch down she'd ever experienced".
(Most inside observers feel that the trauma of the flight is the ONLY
thing that kept North Carolina from their 2nd Title in 3 years ...)
[Story Submitted by cknorr@hops.com.]
shammond@email.unc.edu