We stumbled across this blurb today and hadn’t seen it anywhere else.  Ken Mink is a sweet-shooting guard from Tennessee who hopes to see a few minutes a game this season for his new school, Roane State (TN) Community College.  He transferred in from Lees (KY) Junior College, but his route between the two schools was more than a little unorthodox.  You see, Mink, a self-described adventurer and athlete, last played college ball when it was whiter than snow in 1956, and he is now 73 years old.  From the Knoxville News-Sentinel:

Ken Mink was shooting baskets in his driveway about this time last year when he had a sports epiphany.  “I had been knocking down shot after shot, so when I came in the house I told my wife, ‘I’ve still got it,’ ” said Mink, a 73-year-old semi-retired journalist. “She said, ‘You’ve got what?’ I said, ‘I can still play.’ ”  Roane State coach Randy Nesbit took Mink up on his offer.  “I’m not very good at saying no,” said Nesbit, who just turned 50. “It’s a gesture of good will to help a fine man find closure. Why not?”

(photo credit:  Saul Young)

Hey, we just think that’s great.  We’re sure that the Raider players will love the daily routine of ridiculous touch fouls, razor-sharp elbows, 60-lb metal knee braces and standstill corner jumpers, but the important thing is that everyone gets to live their dream, right?

Seriously though, if we’re puttering around half as well as this old codger at his age, we’d be thrilled.  Although from the looks of it in the video here, Mink needs to step it up on D… 

rtmsf (3998 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 9:20 pm by rtmsf and is filed under randomness. Tagged: ken mink, old man ball, randy nesbit, roane st, transfers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.