Sports Poets Society

https://vault.si.com/vault/1971/09/20/for-now-the-answer-is-not-in-the-stars SI STAFF TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT Earl Manigault, once one of the basketball superheroes on Harlem's playgrounds, sat resting briefly during a scrimmage at the Utah Stars' training camp and pulled his red practice jersey up under his armpits to let air circulate around his sweating chest and belly. In the middle of his lean black torso a knot of scar tissue the color and breadth of a Ping-Pong ball emblazoned a grotesque reminder of his despair, a badge of the degeneration that made him an unlikely and, ultimately, unsuccessful pro rookie at the age of 25. "It's a burn," he explained in the soft, matter-of-fact voice with which he discusses his past. "It happened one day after I shot up. I got high and was smoking a cigarette. Then I started noddin'. When I came down from the stuff my room was all smoked up and I was burning up. My sweat shirt had caught fire and my skin...

https://web.archive.org/web/20080506204250/http://hoopshype.com/articles/greatest_ferranti.htm by Seth "Soul Man" Ferranti / September 3, 2005 When dudes talk of the best ballers out of Baltimore, cats like Carmelo Anthony , Sam Cassell , Juan Dixon and Muggsy Bogues are brought up. These B-More natives all made it to the NBA and enjoyed success . From Carmelo's superstardom to Cassell's rings to Dixon's solid play and NCAA chip to Muggsy's stature and playing in the land of giants, each of these players are unique to the league and unique to the city. And just like Dunbar's famed high school basketball program, the playgrounds and streets of East Baltimore are famous for breeding awesome basketball players.  Some say the greatest ever to come out of B-More was Allen Harper Wise Jr. aka Skip Wise . "He was one of the best dudes to come out of East Lafayette projects," says Choke, Skip Wise's homeboy. "I was like 13 when I met him. He...