THE ORIGINAL AIR CANADA

Many people remember MJ and Pip powering the Bulls to NBA Championships in 95-96, 96-97 and 97-98….and who could forget Ron Harper stumbling through interviews, Scot Williams’s Championship t-shirts (he should’ve used that money on a trip to the dentist to fix those teeth) and even Dickey Simpkins’s high socks….I missed them every year in the playoffs after he got cut from the roster. All the Superstars and sideshows (Rodman) and somehow most people forget about a 7 ft. Canadian named Bill Wennington.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but yesterday I mentioned the three headed monster from the 94-95 season (Wennington, Luc Longley and Will Purdue) and my roommate and I needed to lookup Wennington’s name to finish off the trio. I was shocked and appalled by my failure to remember a man who impacted my childhood so much. As a tall awkward child, I looked to Bill Wennington as a source of inspiration… “One day I’ll be able to rock thunderous dunks with only .5 seconds of airtime!” I thought to myself.

After a throwing down an 11.7 ppg clip and leading the St. John’s Red Raiders to a final four, this simple Canadian was ready to show the NBA what he was all “a-boot”. In the 1985 NBA draft, Dallas got a STEAL with Wennington at the 16th pick (none of the first 15 picks in the ’85 draft EVER had their own McDonalds sandwich…..if that’s not vindication, I don’t know what is). After 5 solid seasons in the Big D, Wen-dog averaged a solid 4.5 pts a game with at least 10 dunks where he never technically left the ground. In 1990 the Mav’s, obviously smoking something, traded Bill to the Sacramento Kings for Rodney McCray (Rodney McCray!) and two second round draft picks. California obviously wasn’t the place for Air Canada as his numbers dropped. It started to look as if his career might be coming to and end when the Kings dropped him after a single season.

In 1993, between a Italian beef and cheese fries, Jerry Krause managed to sign Wennington to a 3 yr contract for the league minimum. During the 93-94 Season, a rejuvenated Bill averaged a career high 7.1 pts (at least 60% of those pts came from 15 ft baseline jumpers....he practically invented that shot.) and became an integral part of the playoff and championship runs. In 6 seasons with the Bulls, Bill spelled key players and chipped in 4.6 pts a game.

When Bill left the game in 2000, he walked away with 3 NBA Championships and two appearances with the Canadian Olympic team in ’84 and ’92. Bill was also honored with elections to the Canadian, Qubecian (?) and St. John's Halls of fame. Currently Bill sits alongside Neil Funk (Rodman, Pippen, Jordan, Pippen, PIPPEN, RODMAN, JORDAN………GOOD!) during Bulls broadcasts.


BIG BILL DOIN HIS THING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MxqCQX0NNM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0xq9DX0dQ