WRAL Sports Fan

The Mitchell Report: Izzy, Manning and Hope

By Mandy Mitchell
Mar 3, 2013

This will serve as my weekly column for notes about things I find interesting outside the Triangle. Enjoy my insights. I will enjoy sharing them ..

Izzy Powell

This is a truly heartbreaking story to read. Raleigh native Landon Powell opens up about the death of his baby daughter last month. It is hard to read, but the article explains why he is telling his story so soon. Powell wants people to be aware of what caused little Izzy to die. I really hope he catches on with the Mets. This guy has been through so much. He dealt with his own health issues and now he's coping with the loss of his daughter. It's definitely the kind of story that makes you think.

"Hope" is a bad word

I've always been a huge Bob Knight fan. Indiana was the first college basketball team I followed when I was a kid. I'm not as big a fan anymore, but I still find the guy fascinating. He is coming out with a new book "The Power of Negative Thinking". The New York Times interviewed him about the book this week. He explained why "hope" is the is worst word in the English language. His point is he wants people to work more and stop hoping for good things to happen. It's an interesting message in a world that often encourages "hope". He also talks about how he doesn't plan to return to Indiana at any point. The way he left IU was pretty sad. I'm hoping he changes his mind at some point and makes some peace in Bloomington.

Shabazz Muhammad

UCLA announced Shabazz Muhammad would not be around for another season. That makes him the latest less than shocking "one and done". He's really had a rough year of college basketball. The guy had to deal with an NCAA investigation when at the beginning of the year and he's been questioned about everything including a designer backpack he was wearing after one of UCLA's games. There is one thing I hadn't heard about Muhammad until I saw  this article from the student news paper this week. Apparently he suffers from Tourette syndrome. It was so bad at one point that his father didn't think he would be able to play basketball at a high level. I guess he was incorrect.

Manning: A year later

A year ago this week we were dealing with the drama that was Peyton Manning leaving the Colts. Colts owner Jim Irsay was very open about the process but we never got a chance to hear exactly what went down in that situation. The  USA Today did a great job of detailing the drama this week. The most interesting part of the story is when Irsay claims Bill Polian wanted to trade Manning back in 2004. Probably a good thing they didn't do that.