ESPN:Amare Stoudemire, On a mission

[MaryvalesFinest]

Via ESPN

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-3 ... ssion.html

Amare Stoudemire, on a Mission

August 29, 2008 3:06 PM

There's a lot of reality in the world these days -- and while it's not all bad, plenty of it is.


In that setting, something entertaining like basketball can be a welcome departure. It can also be, sometimes, missing the point.

We can act sometimes like missed shots are crises, when of course they are little tiny things in the big picture.

It's good to be reminded of that, and Amare Stoudemire is the latest player to drive that point home.

Remember he was interviewed on Suns TV the other day? He was a little bit coy, in that interview, but he definitely said he was going to be doing some travelling. And the exact way he was coy gave the impression is was something pretty big.

Turns out it's kind of huge.

Stoudemire has already left for Sierra Leone -- by all reports a beautiful place, but one where the life expectancy is miserable. In 2000, a report found that healthy humans born in Sierra Leone can expect to live, on average, just under 26 years. 26! Pathetic. That was the worst life expectancy on the planet at the time, and it was not all that close.

Quoting from the BBC, at the time of that World Health Organization report:

Alan Lopex, co-ordinator of the WHO Epidemiology and Burden of Disease team, said: "Healthy life expectancy in some African countries is dropping back to levels we haven't seen in advanced countries since Medieval times."

Amare Stoudemire will be turning 26 this fall. Who knows if that's what motivates him. But he's there now -- with the singer Angelique Kidjo (who has a song lyric saying "you don't have to be old to be wise") as part of an effort to bring new wells with safe drinking water to as many people as possible.

Although since that report the vast conflict of Sierra Leone has subsided, there is still widespread premature death, from causes like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Many also die from diseases related to a lack of clean drinking water and sanitation, which is Stoudemire's particular focus.

In a press release (the entire thing is after the jump) Stoudemire says: "This is a trip that I've been looking forward to taking my whole life. We've already begun to help the communities in Sierra Leone, and it will be great to see the efforts in person. One water well built can provide water for 450 people, so as you can see, the impact will be really great."

NBA STAR PHOENIX SUNS' AMARE STOUDEMIRE HEADS TO SIERRA LEONE TO BUILD WATER WELLS

(Los Angeles, CA)- NBA Star Phoenix Suns' Amare Stoudemire is taking a trip to Sierra Leone, West Africa on behalf of his foundation, Each 1, Teach 1, and the Zee Community Development Foundation (ZCD) on September 1-4 to unveil various project sites where he has donated money to rehabilitate wells. In this visit, which will include meetings with the Minister of Sports, Vice President, and President of Sierra Leone, the famed power forward will visit water well sites in Gao Village and Makereh and meet with community members.

"This is a trip that I've been looking forward to taking my whole life, said Stoudemire, "We've already begun to help the communities in Sierra Leone, and it will be great to see the efforts in person. One water well built can provide water for 450 people, so as you can see, the impact will be really great."

Grammy-Award winning singer and UNICEF ambassador Angelique Kidjo, will also be making the trip to appear with Stoudemire, on behalf of her organization, Batonga, which brings education to young girls. The two of them will visit the children and women that are aided by organizations such as the Children Associated With the War (CAW), UNICEF, and FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationalists).

"I am greatly delighted to have Amare come to this post conflict country," said ZCD Founder and Director Zainab Beckett, "and support my foundation's effort in promoting the welfare of the devastated and impoverished Sierra Leoneans. The work we have started with Amare's Foundation in providing clean drinking water is a high priority for majority of the populace and has created a real impact on the lives of at risk communities that have benefitted."

The high death toll, particularly with women and children, caused by preventable water- and sanitation-related diseases is being combated with Stoudemire and ZCD's collaborative efforts. Stoudemire's visit will not only be a motivation for youth in sports, but it will give a new face to ZCD's goals in providing all households with safe and clean drinking water, improving the health of the average Sierra Leonean. "WATER IS LIFE" is the motto that the people there live by.

[rsavaj]

Awesome. Go Amare.

[Miklo]

Amare is a pretty impressive guy considering how much he has been through in his personal life and being able to rise above it all to star in the NBA, give back to the community, etc.

[stood-amire]

Thats why we all love Amare!

[SunsWinSunsWin]

This is very good for everyone involved. I'm proud of Amare and I hope this shows his critics that Amare does a lot of good deeds off the court.

[lilfishi22]

Good for Amare.

[walkingart]

Amare does a lot of good deeds for the community in whole.

One of favorite stories about Amare is:

"Phoenix Suns superstar Amare Stoudemire will work with Toyota and the NBA to tour New Orleans on Saturday, meeting with Hurricane Katrina victims and giving away a Toyota car at the end of his stay. Ten individuals, who have been directly devastated by Katrina, have been selected as finalists for the car giveaway."

And then he pulled a fast one and gave all 10 of them cars for their hard work in the New Orleans community.

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/family_ho ... icanes.htm

And he payed the taxes and title fees as well.

[garrick]

As much as people like to criticize Amare for being arrogant and selfish on the court he does a lot to help others off the court.
I find that admirable.

[arizonatribe]

When the summer hits each year and the offseason once again brings us steady silence from our resting players, coaches and local cheerleading broadcasters, we die hard fans take off our Suns blinders and listen to the numerous analysts and bloggers with less reserve, trying to get a better feel of the state of the entire league. Basketball withdrawal. Ironically, these experts we listen to have often watched only a fraction of the Suns games we fans have, yet we often give an undeserving level of respect for their opinions, sometimes accepting them as unreversable verdicts that signal our team's impending downfall.

If someone reads Jack McCallum's "07 seconds or less" or listens to an analyst like Dan Peterson diss Amare's character, non-Suns fans tend to set this in their minds pretty easily. Those of us who've watched him develop from a lucky young rookie out of a troubled home to where he is now, are harder to convince. The biggest irony is that while many types of people in the world have static character, not really changing who they are, professional athletes are almost always the exception to this rule and defy analysts "rock-solid" predictions of success or failure each season.

Whether becoming more skilled and maturing athletically, or getting older and displaying only a shadow of their former abilities, players do change each year. Look at the beginning of last season: who expected the Lakers to win the West? Not even Kobe felt they had the personnel to contend when their season began, yet they were one of the few dominating teams even before the Gasol donation.

As Kobe's maturing this last season proved, character maturity is very hard for fans and critics to measure. While not impossible to make assured statements about it, we are usually more cautious in proclaiming a formerly immature and wild player with attitude problems to be the type of player to carry their team psychologically and emotionally on their back.

So what are the chances that with the uncertainty the Phoenix Suns will be going through this season that Amare Stoudemire may lead his team in more than scoring. Does he yet have the incredibly high level of maturity to efficiently power his team? We could all easily guess what the "experts" would say who've either accepted McCallum's assessment, or remember only the dirty accusation he made of "those we don't speak of", or maybe accept Dan Peterson's new "primadonna" label. But what about those of us who've watched him play hundreds of games, not just dozens of games and a handful of youtube and sportscenter highlights?

Pretty soon training camp and preseason starts and most of us will zone-out the naysayers and put our Suns blinders back on as players, coaches, and local broadcasters come out of hibernation and remind us the glass is indeed half full and the state of the Suns is strong. At the moment, while most of us still have our unbiased and searingly critical perspectives alive and well, what do you guys think the chances are that Amare will establish the kind of presence and have the kind of effect on this team that guys like Lebron, KG, and Kobe have on their own?

[eastsidecrossover]

There are some on this board who talk about his ego and bag on him. The guy has IMO come a long way. Hes no way perfect, but what I am impressed with is that he is thinking of others, reach out, and doing good with what he has been given. He continues to mature I think.

[ChrisTheFuturePaul]

Sorry, but I couldnt read that article... Any writer that starts off by saying "There's alot of reality in the world today." Should be shot..