The Front Row: Tough times in Sahuarita

SOMEONE SPECIAL: I didn’t know Daniel Figueroa very well, but I did have the pleasure of speaking with him on a few occasions.

What stood out most was his relentless enthusiasm. This was a young man who genuinely loved the game of basketball and loved talking about it.

It’s easy to become jaded in this business. Not enough people remember how sports, at its core, has one sole purpose: to entertain.

Figueroa never forgot that.

Every time he entered a Sahuarita basketball game this season, his coaches and teammates pulled so hard for him. Everyone wanted to see him nail a 3-pointer before the buzzer sounded.

I remember one game in particular—it must have been the Dec. 11 game against Cholla. The Mustangs were ahead comfortably when Figueroa checked in at the scorer’s table.

He entered with one mission in mind: to put the ball through the net.

Figueroa was flying around the floor, even though Sahuarita ended up winning by 28 points. He was boxing out, playing strong man-to-man defense and crashing the boards with every ounce of determination he could muster.

His first shot attempt rimmed out. So did his second, third and fourth—each one closer than the last.

Each time Figueroa set his feet for a jumper, his teammates stood and prepared to scream out their lungs in approval.

His fifth one finally fell—a 3-pointer that didn’t even scrape the rim. Nothing but net.

His teammates cheered as if they had won the state title and Figueroa excitedly pumped his fist.

I might not have known Figueroa as well as his family, friends, teammates and coaches, but I’m going to miss him. Genuine enthusiasm is a rare and precious trait.

My condolences go out to all of Figueroa’s loved ones.

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TURNING THINGS AROUND: Maybe it’s time for all of us to stop doubting Eli Manning.

The younger Manning has embarked on one of the most memorable “quieting the critics” runs in recent football history.

He and his New York Giants stormed into the historic Lambeau and brought the place to its knees—in Siberian conditions, no less.

Manning was rifling the ball confidently and squeezing passes into miniscule windows.

On the flipside, future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre performed as if he was a nervous rookie playing his first playoff game.

I know it’s bordering on blasphemy to publicly criticize Favre, but he was five steps beyond terrible during Green Bay’s 23-20 defeat.

He completed nine passes after halftime for 21 yards and threw the single-worst pass of the post-season—a floating out route into the welcoming arms of Corey Webster on his first pass in overtime.

Can you imagine the types of things that would’ve been said about Manning if he had thrown that pass?

Meanwhile, Favre gets a relative free pass, because he’s, well, Brett Favre.

Thanks to Favre’s struggles and Lawrence Tynes’ gut-wrenching field-goal adventures, Manning—yes, Eli Manning—will be participating in Super Bowl XLII.

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GET WELL, NENE: In 2002, my beloved Denver Nuggets owned the fifth and seventh picks in the NBA Draft.

The fifth pick, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, might be the worst player to ever wear an NBA uniform.

The seventh pick, however, is a completely different story.

Nuggets’ general manager Kiki Vandeweghe took a flier on Brazilian big man Maybyner “Nene” Hilario.

He would later drop the first and third names and simply identify himself as Nene. When you’re as big and athletic as Nene, you can go by anything you want.

These were tough times for Nuggets fans, but anytime Nene burst into the open floor and exploded for a rim-shattering dunk, it was a sight to behold.

He was a physical specimen in every sense—just a mind-blowing athlete.

However, his body has repeatedly failed him, capped by yesterday’s announcement that a malignant testicular tumor was removed.

Doctors say the cancer is isolated, but it is yet another scary moment in a short career that has been filled with medical difficulties.

I can only hope that one day, Nene’s body begins to cooperate so we can catch another glimpse of that athletic marvel that stormed into the NBA nearly five years ago.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747