It was a first for Amar’e Stoudemire, spending two hours in a prison gym Friday, speaking to about 250 incarcerated adolescents ages 16 to 18.
Stoudemire was part of a panel that also included ex-Knick and Syracuse star John Wallace, NBA veteran Etan Thomas and Malcolm X’s grandson, Malcom Shabazz, rapper Styles P and ESPN’s Chris Broussard. The Rumble went along for the visit.
Stoudemire got a gigantic ovation before getting serious when he took the microphone.
“The plan for us is not to succeed, and it goes back to when there was slavery,’’ Stoudemire told the assembled. “What you got to do is look at yourself in the mirror and say: ‘What am I going to do so I will not be a number?’
“In the school systems, our neighborhoods, it’s a hard situation for us. But you got to be man enough to know you got to be good fathers and stay out of here after you get back home.’’
Afterward, Stoudemire said he had never done this before.
“The message we want to get across is fatherhood,” Stoudemire told The Rumble’s Marc Berman. “A lot of young brothers who are fathers are incarcerated. … We’re going to keep their spirits up.”
“We couldn’t be more grateful to Amare Stoudimire and the other stars for coming to Riker’s Island to inspire today’s young men to stand tall in the face of daunting challenges,” said chief Michael Hourihane.
Thomas, born in Harlem and a former Syracuse star, told the prisoners, “Amar’e and I were on CNN [Thursday] and we told the interviewer we were coming to Rikers Island. She said, ‘Why are you doing that? They’ve already given up on life.’ That’s what she said on live TV. There’s a lot of haters out there.”
Giant’s son ready to run marathon
Chris Johnson, son of former Giants running back Ron Johnson, will run his first NYC Marathon on Nov. 4. Chris will be running the Marathon with one purpose: to raise awareness and money to fight Alzheimer’s Disease — which his father, Ron, has been fighting since 2008.
Ron Johnson played for the Giants from 1970-75 and rushed for 1,000 yards twice with Big Blue. He also played with the Browns and Cowboys. Johnson finished sixth in the 1968 Heisman Trophy race and was an All-American at the University of Michigan. He now lives in a residential care facility in the Tri-state area.
Since beginning his rigorous training, Chris has been groomed by Jeff Dengate, an expert on marathon running who also serves an editor at Runner’s World Magazine, to help prepare him to make sure he crosses the finish line.
Chris and Jeff will be running the Runner’s World Half Marathon together Oct. 21 in Bethlehem, Pa. There will be an exclusive Runner’s World bus leaving Union Square to provide transportation to all New Yorkers to and from the race. For information and registration, please log onto http://www.RWHalf.com.
To support Chris in raising awareness for in his mission to conquer Alzheimer’s disease, visit towww.crowdrise.com/chrisjohnson.
Strawberry helping out Mets staffer
Darryl Strawberry’s last year with the Mets was 1990, four years before Shannon Forde joined the club’s media relations department. The Mets’ home-run leader had no qualms about saying yes to join a fundraiser for Shannon, who recently was diagnosed with breast cancer. Shannon’s family and friends will hold a dinner in her honor Nov. 1, and Strawberry is one of the many former Mets stars who will be on hand.
“I still do a lot of appearances for the Mets and she is always so helpful to me,” Strawberry said. “Anytime I need something she does it for me in a minute. I’m just glad to be able to help out. As a cancer survivor myself, I know what she is going through.”
Tickets for the dinner are available for a $100 donation through the fundraiser’s website at http://www.hopeshinesforshannon.com. There also be will a special autograph session, available for a $250 donation, with former Mets greats Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, John Franco, Bobby Ojeda, Edgardo Alfonzo, Al Leiter, Ed Charles and Ed Kranepool set to attend. Giants two-time Super Bowl champion Sean Landeta is also scheduled to appear.
Seton Hall hoops star in Lithuania film
Arturas Karnishovas was one of the most popular players in Seton Hall history on and off the court, with two academic All-American selections and a slew of on-court awards in helping lead the Pirates to four straight NCAA appearances in P.J. Carlesimo’s final years in South Orange.
Nevertheless, Karnishovas’ biggest contributions to the global growth of the game took place during a standout career in Europe and his time leading the Lithuanian national team. The origins of Lithuania’s rise to freedom as a nation and success on the court are now being told in the documentary, “The Other Dream Team,” which opens in theaters this week.
“We had no idea at the time the impact we would have both athletically and socially on the world during those ’92 Olympics, but looking back it is quite amazing to see how those games used basketball as a way to bring people together and help shape the sport into the amazing global brand it is today,” said Karnishovas, now a scout for the Rockets.
For more information, including where the film can be seen in New York, go to http://www.theotherdreamteam.com.
Prince throws book at illiteracy
Prince Amukamara has teamed with the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) and Books for Africa to promote literacy in Africa. Amukamara’s “Super Bowl” raffle has helped provide 20,000 textbooks for students in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that each book will be read by 50 children over its lifetime, meaning that 1 million students will benefit from the donation. Amukamara recently donated $10,000 in cleats and jerseys to Lincoln High School in Nebraska.