Smitty from Up North aka Swift Sullivan

Writing transforms thoughts into power

Dylan Harper and Jalen Brunson don’t hoop like second generation NBA guys. Both them dudes hoop like they got full Pell in college. Energy and urgency like they gotta go back to the trenches if basketball doesn’t work out.

Good Friday morning and welcome to June 5th... Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. On this date in 1968, Presidential candidate Sen. Bobby Kennedy was gunned down by a Palestinian terrorist over his support for Israel. Kennedy had just won the California primary and was leaving the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where he'd spoken to supporters. The shooting occurred in the kitchen area of the hotel. Five bystanders were wounded in the attack but all recovered. Kennedy would succumb to his wounds the next day, leaving behind his wife Ethel and eleven children. Kennedy's assailant, 24-year-old Sirhan Sirhan, was originally given the death penalty, yet later had his sentence commuted to life in prison, where he remains today.

Good Friday morning and welcome to June 5th... Did George Washington Ever Eat a Banana? On this date in 1876, at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, bananas were first introduced to the American public. Millions of visitors attended the fair in Philadelphia's Horticultural Hall, where a massive, exotic banana plant was on display. The tropical marvel was so novel that it required its own security guards to keep curious crowds at bay. Because the fruit was completely unknown to most fairgoers, it was treated as a luxury. Vendors sold peeled bananas for 10 cents apiece (roughly $3 today). Following this massive exposure at the World's Fair, the demand for the fruit sparked the mass importation of bananas from Central and South America, quickly turning them from an exotic luxury into an American staple. It is entirely possible that Washington, Ben Franklin, and even Abraham Lincoln never enjoyed the simple act of having a banana which we now take for granted.

Michael Jordan and David Robinson at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game... 📷