Jeff Ross, Shawn and Shane Green, and What I Want to Do Next with JWT

NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION...

That's how I feel like I should start this article. I say that because, one, we've had over 15,000 people read the stuff on Just Win Today already. So we definitely have people's attention. Or two, because if you know who Shane and Shawn Green are at all, that headline probably got your attention.

Let me start at the beginning.

I was scrolling Facebook on Sunday afternoon. I saw this article, posted by my buddy Jeff Ross on Facebook. I checked it out. One, it was about Bobby Hurley, who is one of my favorite players ever. That's honestly why I clicked on it. Then as I read the article, it was really about Shawn and Shane Green, the twin sharp shooting guards from Bernie High School that I remember watching play when I was a kid.

I met Shawn and Shane when I was in 8th grade. I was playing for an AAU Team with some kids from Stoddard County MO, where Bernie High School is located. We practiced most Sunday afternoons at the Bloomfield Gym. I had heard of Shawn and Shane, and I knew they were good, but I had never seen them play.

So one Sunday night we are scrimmaging against a bunch of older guys. Jeremy Snyder from Bloomfield, was there. He averaged about 200 points a game (okay that's exagerating, but only a little bit LOL). Shawn and Shane showed up to play. I was in the 8th grade. They were juniors. I thought I was pretty good. I'd heard they were good. I wanted to see where I stacked up.

The short version of this story is that by the end of the night, I knew the Green twins were really, really, really, really (just say really about 12 more times) good, and I had a LONG way to go if I was ever going to be on that level. They were FUN to watch!

The following year, 1993, would be their senior year at Bernie. That year in MO Class 2 Boys Basketball, Portageville, a team in the same district as Bernie, would finish the year 33-0. They were AWESOME. Bernie finished that year 29-2. Their only two losses? You guessed it, to Portageville, once in the finals of the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament and again the the finals of the district tournament.

Both of those games were barn burners. Portageville killed everybody else. Bernie would finish the season ranked #2 in the final state basketball poll. Shawn and Shane Green and that Bernie team still have that semi-legendary status with old school basketball fans from Southeast Missouri. They just had the misfortune of being in the same district as another "all time great" team.

So what does this have to do with Just Win Today? Well as I read the story Jeff posted, it talked about Shawn Green losing his battle with brain cancer. I remember hearing that Shawn got sick, but I didn't know he had passed away. As I started to google it, I found so many articles about Shawn and Shane (here, here, and here just to name a few). This led me to my next thought.

Follow me here. I know I'm jumping around a bit.

So I had a reporter contact me last week to do a story on JWT. He's a local reporter here in Central Missouri, and he picked up on the site and was interested. It's just another example of how fast the site is spreading. He asked me a few questions, and then he closed the interview with this question...

"What could be the future of Just Win Today?"

SO NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, now that we have this platform that so many people check on a daily and weekly basis, this is what I want to do...

I know JWT helps people indirectly, by giving you some feel good news, by putting a smile on your face as you read about somebody you know, etc etc etc. But I want to directly help people. Just like the Green family went through a terrible, unforeseen family crisis, I know a lot of other people that go through the same thing.

Whether that means helping people raise money, or just raising awareness, that's what I want to do with JWT. We will continue with the feel good stories. I think we all need to hear and see good things happening in the world. But I want this site to be more than that.

So here is what I'm asking you to do... If you have a need that you want me to put a spotlight on, just email me (coach.david.heeb@gmail.com) or inbox me on Facebook. If you know somebody else that has a need, just let me know. Once I have that information, I'll throw all of my contacts and resources at it.

I don't make any money off of this site. I'm not doing this to make money. I started this site to help people, and after I read that story today, I don't know why... maybe because I'm a basketball junkie, this is somebody I looked up to as a kid, who knows??? But it struck a nerve with me. I know we all go through hard times. Maybe we can use this site to help people get through those hard times.

So please share this article. Help me take this site to another level. Maybe we can help somebody who really needs it.

#JWT #JoinTheRevolution