One Time
Indiana Legend resorts to signing autographs at the Clinton McDonalds
By Staff Correspondent
Former Indiana high school legend Damon Bailey has had a
rough go of it since his graduation from college nearly ten years ago. The
tryout with the Pacers didn’t work out. His stint in the C.B.A. didn’t pay
nearly enough. Even Bobby Knight didn’t want him.
Life sure has been tough for the former basketball
phenomenon. No matter the past failures, Damon still has bills to pay and
mouths to feed. So how does a former Mr. Basketball who graduated high school
13 years ago support himself?
Well this question was apparently answered on November 12
at the Clinton, Indiana McDonalds. Mr. Bailey was there for an autograph
session. “I knew I wasn’t going to get a real job once my basketball career
ended,” said Bailey. “I’ve got to support myself some how, so that’s why I came
to see all of my fans in Clinton.”
There are two questions resulting from Wednesday’s event:
first, why would anyone go to this? And second, couldn’t Damon get a better
venue than the Clinton McDonalds?
The local townsfolk did not see anything wrong with the
autograph session. Clintonian Martha Busher said that having Damon come to
Clinton was “the biggest event this city has every seen.” Life-long Vermillion
county resident Cecil Epworth thought very highly of the former overrated
player. “I don’t know why he didn’t play in the NBA. It seems as if them folks
don’t know talent when they see it. The Pacers did the same thing to Stevie
Alford, just totally overlooked what kind of player he was. Instead they took
that Reggie Miller. What did he ever do in the league?”
How humbling it must be for Damon to have to push back his
pride and appear at McDonalds to sign autographs. Bailey was Lebron James
before there was a Lebron. His every move was watched as he caught the
imagination of basketball fans across the state of Indiana. After all, Bob
Knight said he was a better player in the eighth grade than the contemporary IU
point guard, Steve Alford. The only difference between the basketball careers
of Bailey and James is Lebron can actually play.
The moral of this story is twofold. First, if you try to
live off of past glories in high school, you’ll probably end up spending some
time working at McDonalds. Secondly, if you fit the mold of what an Indiana
basketball player should be (Caucasian, short, slow, from a small town), even if
you had a mediocre college career and non-existent professional career, the
state will still love you and there will always be a place for you in small town
fast food restaurants.
