Morrison mania gets bloody

Gonzaga’s junior basketball sensation Adam Morrison is on his way to becoming an icon. In addition to leading the country in scoring and powering tiny Gonzaga to the No. 5 ranking, he’s inspired a bizarre eBay auction, a sure sign that he’s arrived. One zealous fan tried to sell a gauze Morrison stuffed up a nostril to stop a bloody nose during a game against Pepperdine earlier this week. The fan under the basket apparently scooped up the bloody wad when Morrison discarded it. (Bloody nose and all, the Gonzaga forward dropped 26 points on the Waves, a so-so performance by his recent standards.) Bids apparently reached $64. (The auction was disabled because eBay doesn’t allow the sale of items with blood on them. Check out the helpful restrictions in the “human remains” section of eBay sellers’ policy. Who knew?) Zags coach Mark Few was hardly amused by the auction, claiming, “The stalkerazzi have reached an all-time low.” Now that Jake Plummer and Ben Roethlisberger used their sports fame to show off the charms of beards, Morrison has an opportunity to spruce up the decidedly déclassé image of mustaches. All season he’s sported a wispy stache reminiscent of Larry Bird, porn stars and middle-relief pitchers. The furry lip has become an object of derision for opposing teams’ fans. During a recent game against Loyola Marymount, Morrison was showered with “Shave your mustache!” chants during an uneven 7-point first half. He responded in the second half with a 37-point outburst, perhaps spurred on by the need to defend the mustache. Morrison, a fan of the mustachioed Che Guevara, is amused by the attention the upper-lip noise attracts. “It’s kind of funny that some people make a big deal about it, he said last month.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

February 24, 2006 in Morrissey | Permalink