I'd been thinking about opening up Throwback Thursday to more varieties of music for a while. While Hip-Hop is definitely my favorite genre there is a lot of great music from the same era I've been getting my rap tracks that I like just as much. Then when I was thinking about which basketball player to feature in this weeks segment I decided on former Hawk Mookie Blaylock, a fun fact is Pearl Jam, particularly Eddie Vedder is a huge NBA fan, so much so that their album "Ten" was called that to pay homage to Blaylock, because the number 10 is what he wore on his jersey, in fact Pearl Jam's demo tape was called "Mookie Blaylock". After thinking about that I was thinking how much I would like my Throwback Thursday song to be "Porch" from that great "Ten" album, even though it wasn't Hip-Hop. Wether you've noticed or not I like my song of the week and NBA player to have something in common, like Will Smith's "Summertime" and Robert Horry were one throwback entry because they favor each other so much. Or DMX and Latrell Sprewell were in one weeks throwback Thursday because both DMX and Sprewell share anger issues (one raps with a an angry tone, the other choked his coach). So I could think of nothing more fitting to go with with this weeks throwback NBA player better than Pearl Jam, seeing as how much of their early career was named after Blaylock. Also the fun thing is now it opens up Throwback Thursday to pretty much any genre, which personally I'm excited about.
"Ten" is obviously Pearl Jam's best and most memorable album, while they had great albums since that one none has compared. The first time I heard "Ten" I don't think it left my CD player for several weeks, every song is so great and amazing. It was also a colossal hit with rock and pop radio as well, songs like "Jeremy","Alive", "Black", and "Evenflow" got almost around the clock radio play. While there's no question that those songs are great, at this point I've just heard way to much. However, one of my favorites from that album that never got overplayed as much as I listened to it is "Porch", my favorite song off of "Ten" (to be fair I also really, really like "Why Go" and "Once"). "Porch" for many years was the song Pearl Jam used to close their shows, and for good reason, it's one of the most energetic songs off or "Ten" and one of the most energy-filled songs they've ever made, energy, remind you of anything, a certain Hawks' point guard maybe?
Mookie Blaylock played for 3 NBA teams, the Nets and the Warriors are two, but is best remembered for his time with the Atlanta Hawks, where under coach Lenny Wilkins, Blaylock ran one of the most potent offenses of that era. Blaylock was a speedster who always pushed the tempo of the game running more fast breaks than any team at that time. But as great a passer as he was Blaylock is most known for the lockdown defense he played, twice he led the league in steals. He was also a solid shooter, and is the all-time Hawks franchise leader in 3-pointers.
With a great coach in Wilkins, and Blaylock running the offense the Hawks had several great years, in 1993-1994 they won 57 games, finishing as the best team in the Eastern Conference, and thought by many to be a serious threat to win the NBA Finals. However, as happened many times before and since in Atlanta, the Hawks would fail to get past the 2nd round of the playoffs, losing to the Pacers. That team was Blaylock's best chance at an NBA Title. Blaylock finished his career with the Warriors, but will be remembered for his time with the Atlanta Hawks...that and that Pearl Jam named their best/first album in his honor.
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