Imagine a guy who was probably the best basketball player on his high school team. Now, imagine he was recruited by Harvard, but that deal ends up falling through. So instead, he goes to a huge state school, starts off as the manager of the basketball team, and then ends up walking on to the team. So he’s on one of the best college basketball teams in the country (playing with 2 future first round NBA picks, who he also happened to play with on an AAU team), and spends the next 2+ years averaging about one minute per game. So, this guy might have a reason to fade into obscurity, maybe have a chip on his shoulder, or at the very least not be dealing well with going from being a top player to being a benchwarmer. And there are thousands of players just like him all over the country, every year. And a lot of them can’t stop telling you how great they were, or how they got screwed over, or complaining about their playing time.
But Mark Titus didn’t react like that at all. He and two of the other bench warmers start calling themselves “Club Trillion”, in reference to their boxscores for these games: 1 minute played, followed by a string of a bunch of zeros for points, rebounds, assists, turnovers, etc. [It reads like this: 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 (depending on what stats are used).] Mark has a sports blog called Club Trillion, and he writes about what it’s like to be a minute-per-game guy on a top college basketball team. And he does it all with a self-deprecating sense of humor and great attitude. He’s my new favorite basketball player, and I wish Mark all the best in securing a trillion in lots of Ohio State games this year. I read the entire archive of the blog today, and it’s hilarious (he only started posting a couple of months ago, so there’s not much there). If he keeps it up, it might even fill (some of) the void left by Fire Joe Morgan’s departure.
A sampling:
We beat Butler yesterday in a squeaker that featured my former high school teammate Gordon Hayward putting points on our team's collective face. Brownsburg High School was easily the best represented high school in the game, as Gordon and I combined for 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists. Because I didn't even get in the game, Gordon shouldered most of the productivity, but I looked really good with the towel around my neck on the bench. Seriously. I looked REALLY good. Despite Gordon's best effort, in the end my good looks obviously weighed much more heavily in the outcome of the game than his 25 points, because my team came out victorious.
…
Butler is a team that understands a fundamental truth about every Caucasian basketball player--we love short shorts. You could be saying to yourself, "But Mark, I'm white and I like baggier shorts" to which I respond with "You are not only a liar, but a disgrace to Kurt Rambis." The length of shorts is serious business to me, which is why I had to untangle my jaw from my shorts when I saw how perfect Butler's were (Note: I would have picked my jaw up off the floor, but on its way down my jaw got entangled in my absurdly baggy shorts). They weren't quite as crotch-suffocating as the shorts from the '60s, but these bad boys gave me my first look at a basketball player's knees since I was in high school.
I actually think Mark Titus is a role model; a smart kid, a good writer, an athlete, and with a great perspective on life to boot. I also happen to think he’s funny as shit.
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