Felgen, Fahrwerk » s Tonights not your night from the 3-point line," s

The email dropped in my box a few weeks ago. Almost lost it in the endless stream of playoff-related info (Rangers Availability, 5:00pm, JW Marriot) and reminders from Shutterfly about my daughters upcoming soccer practices. This note was from a friend made a few years ago, in the worst possible way you can make a friend. Paul Frustaglio just wanted to let me know they were having a golf tournament on June 26th for his son Evan. "Drop by, if you can make it," he wrote. I couldnt. Would be in Philadelphia for the NHL Draft. So I sent along my regrets and said that Id at least try to get a prize sent over from TSN. "I should have remembered that was draft week," Paul wrote back. "Evan was a 96." Thats the first way every hockey parent describes his/her kid; by their abbreviated birth year. When someone asks,"What is your boy?" We know instantly what they mean. "Oh, hes a 98." There will be a slew of 96s who have their names called Friday night and Saturday in Philadelphia who will remember Evan Frustaglio. He was part of an elite group of Toronto area hockey players growing up. From minor atom on, he battled against top prospects like Sam Bennett, Robby Fabbri, and Josh Ho-Sang. He played on summer teams with Bennett, Sunny Milano and Connor McDavid, next years draft prodigy. When the Grade 8 team from Vaughns Hill Academy, a sport-focused private school north of Toronto, played its opening game in 2008, Evan scored the games first three goals. His linemate Michael Dal Colle, a likely top-five pick Friday, scored the next six. "Evan had sick hands," Dal Colle says, waiting for his luggage at the Philadelphia airport. "He wasnt big but his skill level was off the charts. Great player, great guy. So sad." Evan Frustaglio was 13 when he started to feel sick at a hockey tournament in London. His Mom, Ann-Marie brought him home after the Saturday games, thinking there was no point staying over if he wasnt likely to be better for Sunday. Dont want the flu to spread around a dressing room. And it looked like, felt like, had to be, the flu. Thats what the doctor at the walk-in clinic said Sunday. "Probably just a mild virus... give him lots of fluids." But his parents were worried, and Paul stayed up all night watching him. The next morning, Evan told his Mom he was feeling OK, so she went off to work. Paul took the day off to stay home with Evan, and catch up on sleep. He gave his son a bath, and noticed an odd rash, but couldnt reach his family doctor to ask about it. Evan went back to bed, and Paul left the room briefly. When he called Evans name just a few minutes later, there was no answer. Paul found him sprawled on the bathroom floor, limp. The rest, four years later, is still a painful blur. A panicked 9-1-1 call, the operator giving Paul instructions on how to do CPR, the medics arriving and trying to revive him. Too late. Evan died October 26, 2009, the same day they started giving H1N1 shots to the public. That virus, the one supposed to prey on the vulnerable, the elderly and the very young, had killed a strong, healthy teenage athlete. "It attacked his heart," Paul says. "He was... too healthy. From what they told me, the best laymans way to put it is that his heart literally beat itself to death." Evans death triggered H1N1 hysteria across Canada. Instantly, there were line-ups that queued for hours at immunization clinics. Three thousand came to Evans wake. Hockey people, mostly. Entire teams that played with and against him. Some who did neither. Hockey is like that. I met Paul there. He was remarkable, thanking me and everyone else over and over for coming. The ultimate Canadian, overly polite even when his world was crumbling around him. He proudly showed me the flowers Sidney Crosby had sent. Evan had touched people. You hold on to that to keep you going, I guessed. Doctors would thank Paul for doing interviews, for talking about Evan, for encouraging people to get immunized. That helped him a little too, he supposes. But soon the H1N1 story faded, and the Frustaglios were left to figure out how to continue their lives without their first-born. Theyre still working on it. Evans younger brother Will, a 99, was too young to grasp the loss of his best friend. Its only started to really hit him hard in the last year or two. But hes done remarkably well. He is a top student and athlete at The Hill, his brothers old school, working out everyday in the same gym as Dal Colle. Will got the size gene Evan didnt, and enters his junior draft year as a solid prospect. Any parent who has lost a child tells you the grieving never really ends. But after four years, Paul and Anne-Marie finally felt ready to celebrate Evans memory. So as you read this, The Hill Academy is holding the first Evan Frustaglio Memorial Golf Tournament at The Glen Eagle Golf Club near Bolton, Ontario. The school is naming its gym after Evan. Money raised from the tourney will be used to set up a scholarship, and the plan is to designate a different charity every year to support. Would Evan have been in Philly Friday? Would he have gotten the chance to walk up on that stage and put on some teams sweater and ballcap, while Paul and Anne-Marie and Will and aunts and uncles and friends cheered and cried a little in the stands? Useless hypothetical, I suppose. His size was starting to be an issue by the time he was a teenager, so the odds were probably against him. But with those hands, that skill, and a fearlessness to boot, who knows? A couple of growth spurts... and... maybe. No. Was right the first time. Useless hypothetical. Paul Frustaglio would prefer to celebrate the life his son had, instead of the one that might have been. And so Friday night, he will do what he does every year. "I will watch the draft for sure," he says. "Im sure it will be bittersweet and a little sad this time because it is Evans class. But these kids are great kids. Some of them I watched since they played minor novice in the North York Hockey League. Ill be incredibly happy for all of them." Click here for more information on the golf tournament. Kyrie Irving Shoes Friends . On Thursday theyll learn even more. Despite the cloud of uncertainty that has followed them around from the moment general manager Masai Ujiri was brought in to put his stamp on the franchise, the Raptors have surpassed all pre-season expectations. Wholesale Lebron James Shoes . Perhaps their first trip to the city of Winnipeg in 16 years can serve as the shakeup they need. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.com/cheap-kyrie-irving-shoes.html . And it showed Thursday night. The Canadiens, playing in their second game in as many days, however, got a good performance in the end from their backup goaltender as he filled in for an injured Olympic gold medallist . Fake Air Max 1 For Sale . -- Downcast before the final game of what had been a difficult road trip, the Ottawa Senators found a way to dig out a little momentum in the desert before heading home. Air Max 97 Clearance Cheap . Noah finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes. He was headed for his fourth triple-double of the season, but sat down with about three minutes left because of the lopsided score. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points for Chicago, going 5 for 6 on 3-pointers, Carlos Boozer added 18 points, D.PORTLAND, Ore. -- Last month when the 76ers hosted the Trail Blazers, they were embarrassed by a barrage of 3-pointers. Since then Philadelphia has made some defensive adjustments. It showed on Saturday night when the Sixers paid back the Blazers in Portland by beating them 101-99. It was Philadelphias fourth straight win to conclude a six-game road trip. "I give the guys so much credit for fixing the things that were so poor when we played them the last time," coach Brett Brown said. Thaddeus Young matched his season high with 30 points and the 76ers (12-21) displayed vastly improved defence in holding off a furious late rally by the Blazers (26-7). Evan Turner added 23 points and rookie star Michael Carter-Williams had 16, but fell hard on the court at the final buzzer when he was trying to keep Damian Lillard from scoring the game-tying basket. Carter-Williams appeared to hit his head and stayed down for several moments while his teammates held off their celebration. When he finally rose, he held his hand to his head. "He got hit in the head by Thaddeus," Brown said, adding that Carter-Williams was undergoing concussion tests and his condition was not immediately available. Portlands LaMarcus Aldridge had 29 points and 14 rebounds for his 20th double-double this season. Robin Lopez added 14 points and 15 rebounds in just the Blazers fourth loss at home this season. Portland led 76-69 going into the fourth quarter, but Youngs layup tied it at 84 and Spencer Hawes added another to give the 76ers the lead. Tony Wroten hit a pair of baskets to make it 90-84 for Philadelphia, but Wesley Matthews, Lillard and Lopez all made free throws to tie the game at 90 with 2:32 left. Philadelphia held off the Blazers and Youngs tip-in gave the Sixers a 96-94 lead. Spencer Hawes made a pair of free throws to give the 76ers a 99-95 lead with 19.3 seconds left. But after Aldridge hit a layup and Turner made free throws, Lillards layup closed Portland to 101-99 with 7.9 seconds left. A steal by Robin Lopez gave Portland back the ball but Lillard missed a layup at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime. "I had a good look," LLillard said.dddddddddddd "Off-balance or not, Ive got to make that." On Dec. 14 when the Blazers visited Philadelphia they drained a franchise-best 21 3-pointers en route to a 139-105 victory. Carter-Williams did not play in that game because of a skin infection on his right knee. Portland matched the franchise record on Thursday, when they had 21 3s in a 134-104 rout over the Charlotte Bobcats. It was the first time a team has had at least 20 3-pointers in two games in a single season. The NBA record for 3-pointers in a single game is 23. It appeared that this game could be similar 3-point clinic. The Blazers ranked atop the league with 349 3s this season and a 40.5 3-point percentage. But Portland made just three of 22 3-point attempts. "When I heard they hit like 21 the other night, you think of the law of averages. Sometimes the basketball god says Tonights not your night from the 3-point line," said Turner. The 76ers jumped out to an 18-4 lead midway through the first half on Thaddeus Youngs dunk. Portland was sloppy, with five turnovers in the first seven minutes, and had trouble adjusting to Philadelphias energetic tempo. But the Blazers chipped away, pulling to within 39-32 on Mo Williams long jumper. He added a 3-pointer to narrow the gap to 47-45, before Wesley Matthews fast-break layup tied it. Portland pulled in front on Aldridges jumper but the Sixers led 52-50 at the half. Portland led by nine points late in the third quarter, but the stubborn Sixers wouldnt let the Blazers go up by double digits. Wroten made a pair of free throws that got Philadelphia within 78-77 early in the final period. NOTES: With his first six points, Aldridge became the fourth-leading scorer in Trail Blazers history, passing Jerome Kersey (10,067). ... Portlands Nicolas Batum has had at least seven rebounds and seven assists eight times this year, second only to LeBron James with 11. ... After the game the Blazers said Batum sustained an avulsion fracture of his left middle finger, meaning a fragment pulled away from the bone, but he is still listed as probable for Tuesdays game at Sacramento. ... Young has at least 25 points in six of his last seven games. ' ' '