Taylor Hicks - Overzealous FanBase

Apparantly, we had some angry fans who felt compelled to come down rather hard on Dennis Velasco, a blogger who in his commentary on the NBA Celebrity All Star Game wrote about Taylor - "the guy can sing, but can't ball".

I don't know exactly what was written to him, but he felt compelled to apologize in today's blog. He said he's actually a fan of Taylor's, so I feel a bit bad about those who needed to do this. Sometimes I agree with the outside world when they say the SP is a bit nutty and way overly protective of Taylor. Come people, Dennis IS a fan and gave Taylor some nice props and free mentions! Let's stop being so sensitive, okay? It's totally counter-productive and doesn't help Taylor at all.

Dennis, if you're reading this, I apologize for some of Taylor's over zealous fans. They mean well, and sometimes the anger is justified, but not in this case. Peace, dude! :)

His blog reads:

From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Soul Patrol, You Have My Apology

It all started with what I thought was an innocent joke - "Taylor Hicks? The guy can sing, but he can't ball." Little did I know my well-intended joking jab would come back to haunt me. Yes, Hicks' fans came here in droves with several people leaving comments and several more personally e-mailing me.

Other than learning this weekend that two seven-footers can shoot way outside from the post area (Tim Duncan and David Robinson during the Shooting Stars competition to lead Team San Antonio to the win), it's that you do not, I repeat, DO NOT mess with the Soul Patrol!

However, I hope that you will allow me to give you the reason why I chose Taylor Hicks for my "jokey" comment. Obviously, in the world of sports and entertainment, there is some crossover. Or rather, attempts at crossover. As an example, I will use Deion Sanders, a player I mentioned I would rank at the top if all the participants in the Celebrity Game were to be ranked. In any case, does anyone remember, "Must Be The Money"?

Yeah... pretty bad.

In any case, when I mentioned Mr. Money and Terrell Owens, I instantly thought - "Dennis, who would be the total opposite of Primetime and T.O.? In other words, whose talent would be one that these players will never reach?" Acting... some athletes can do that. Rapping... well, there have been albums put out by Allen Iverson and Ron Artest. We all know how those forays went.

So, I was left with singing. And along with Ne-Yo, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks actually sang... well! (Full disclosure, I voted for Hicks over Katherine McPhee during the 2006 contest... just thought I should mention that.) So, in about a nanosecond, not the few sentences I just took, I instantly thought, HICKS! Yes, I will use Hicks as the polar opposite of Sanders and Owens in my attempt at humor!

So, really, Soul Patrol, I'm actually giving props to the guy. The dude can sing! And, he is obviously a great human being to take time out for a charity game and put himself out there. However, he did shoot as well as Shaquille O'Neal from the charity stripe, you gotta give me that. But, that's neither here nor there.

Soul Patrol, I apologize... let's be friends.

http://probasketball.about.com/b/2008/02/16/soul-patrol-you-have-my-apology.htm