Ode to the Unsung Hero

We've all been overshadowed at one time or another -- by someone smarter, more talented, or maybe prettier. Okay, well, maybe not me, but I'm sure the rest of you have.

Regardless, some of us don't take it so well, so in the spirit of the holidays and of good sportsmanship, I would like to honor one of the most recent, uncrazy, unsung heroes. So unsung, in fact, that when we clicked on the "News & Notes" section on his Yahoo! page, of the whopping six articles in which he's mentioned, he headlines none (ESPN.com says simply, "no news available").

Meet Ivan McFarlin, the 24-year-old forward who got to tag along with Allen Iverson to Denver, Colorado. Even two unkown players in the form of draft pics get a higher billing than McFarlin. Poor guy. But as they say, one person's baggage is another's "team player." And so we honor the life of Ivan McFarlin. With what little information we could find.

[Note: any information that could not found has been assumed and added by me. This information is in italics. Think "historical fiction."]

Ivan McFarlin was born on April 26, 1982 in Missouri City, Texas, a thriving suburb of Houston that boasts as the "antenna farm" for the area's radio and TV outlets -- seemingly as much an unsung hero as Ivan himself.

McFarlin was the youngest of three brothers and spent his childhood on the blacktop. He went on to a successful basketball career throughout middle school and highschool and went on to play at Oklahoma State. After college, he chose to stay under the radar and opt out of the draft, finding a team as a walk on instead -- and from what we can gather, this seems to be his first year. He was brought on by the Sixers where he averaged 1.4 points in 11 games. He has now been uprooted from a city that he loves, to cheer on Iverson and warm the bench in Denver.

And so we salute you, Ivan McFarlin, without who this historic trade may never have happened, because clearly Iverson alone wasn't enough.

Now, we feel the need, not only to fill content, but to spur on the Christmas Spirit by inviting you to donate to the Missouri City Police Officer's Association Toy Drive. For more info, click here.

Read more!