Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Jack Taylor Presentation
BB: Thank you for joining us today. Jack, first of all congratulations to you on setting
a new NCAA men’s scoring record. You all know Jack’s story, but Jack you and Grinnell
College had a very good Thanksgiving this year. Your amazing feats on the basketball
court brought a lot of individual attention to you, but also a lot of very positive attention
to Grinnell College. A lot of you are familiar with the shot heard around the world, which
was the battle of Lexington-Concord, but your shots were heard around the world and quickly
became an internet sensation. I know you met a lot of new twitter fans as a result of your
achievement. I wanted to do something to honor that very important achievement. It was the
talk of my colleagues in Congress when I got back after Thanksgiving. I have something
to present you, but before I do I want you to know I’m a hard guy to impress when it
comes to basketball. My brother-in-law is standing over there and he’s married to
my sister Brenda who once scored 79 points in a basketball game before the 3 point shot
was invented. Even though I certainly have never done anything to rival your record-breaking
achievement, I did for a short period of time hold the single game field goal percentage
record at VGM? high school, for I game where I shot 10-11 from the floor. For a statistical
percentage that’s 91%. I applied that shooting percentage to your night and if you had shot
at the same level, you would have made 71 three point shots,, 37 two point shots, and
then add your seven free throws, and you would have ended up with 270 points. So as impressive
as your game was, just think of what could have happened if you’d been shooting at
that same rate. I’m very proud to represent you and Grinnell College and Congress and
I’m going to offer you this copy of the Congressional Records, which includes the
remarks I have entered into the Congressional Records honoring your achievement. I hope
that this is something that will be meaningful to you as you finish your college career here
at Grinnell and go on with the rest of your life. You’ve made us all very proud and
I wanted to make sure that I presented this to you, just one more symbol of your great
achievement, so congratulations.
(Applause)
BB: I just want you to know my colleagues in Congress from Wisconsin where you’re
from are of course trying to take all the credit for your great athletic achievement.
We know without great coaching here at Grinnell none of this would have happened. Would you
like to say a few things.
JT: Yeah sure. Yeah this is one of the coolest things about this, just hearing back from
so many people, both NBA players and now a Congressman. It’s been really cool how this
has had a ripple effect across the country and across the world. I’m really grateful.
BB: Coach I just added that last part because I know coaching after an event like this how
hard it is.
DA: All I can tell you is when you talked about going 10-11 from the floor my first
thought was you didn’t shoot enough that day.
(Casual Conversation)