Quote :

"DENVER - The shock, the horror, the despair came rushing back to Denver Nuggets guard Julius Hodge when the phone rang with word that Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams had been killed in a drive-by shooting. "I was [darn] near crying, honestly," said Hodge, a former N.C. State standout. "It's a horrible tragedy." One that hit close to home for Hodge, who was wounded in a drive-by shooting last April in circumstances very similar to Williams' slaying on New Year's Day: He was leaving a Denver nightclub and was shot by a gunman who pulled up alongside and sprayed his vehicle with bullets before speeding away into the night. Police searching for Williams' killer say they have no indication the two cases are in any way related. Williams was shot in the neck and two people were wounded when at least 14 bullets were fired into a stretch limousine following a New Year's Eve party. Williams, 24, was buried Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Both cases remain unsolved. Hodge, a 6-foot-7 point guard, missed the rest of his rookie season last year after five bullets sliced into his legs on April 8 while he was driving on Interstate 76. He returned to the Nuggets last week with a heavy heart over Williams' killing, played one minute Wednesday night against Philadelphia in his first action since he was shot and then made his first start Friday night against the Lakers. "I'm blessed to be here," Hodge said. Not just in the NBA, he means, but on this Earth. That point was driven home anew when he got the news about Williams. He was awakened at his hotel in North Dakota, where he was wrapping up a stint in the NBA Development League for the Colorado 14ers. He said he knows how close he came to a senseless death. "It just shows that I'm really blessed to be here still and I never take anything for granted," Hodge said. "Not a minute, a second, a millisecond of my life." Three bullets sliced right through his legs and two lodged in him. "The first one I took out myself when it happened, in my right leg," Hodge said. "And I had one in my left thigh they took out not too much later." One of the bullets narrowly missed his femoral artery, and doctors told Hodge he was five minutes away from bleeding to death. Although no suspects have been arrested in his shooting, Hodge has quit fretting. "I have to move on," he said. "I feel like I'm blessed to be here. Anything I'm doing, I just see it as a blessing." His appreciation of life, he said, only deepened with Williams' slaying. "It's just very sad. I pray for him every night, for him and his family and friends," Hodge said. "They haven't found who shot me and I've pretty much let it go, but I pray that they find whoever shot him." Hodge wishes away no days now, not even those that were filled with agonizing rehabilitation or the ones bring flashbacks. And now, he's celebrating a new life, too. "I have a little girl on the way within two weeks," he said. "I'm happy. I'm about to be a father. It's a blessing.""

http://www.newsobserver.com/752/story/530289.html


Maybe the mom is Melvin's estranged girlfriend...

[Edited on January 9, 2007 at 11:20 AM. Reason : .]

1/9/2007 11:13:58 AM

congrats jules
please to be a good dad

1/9/2007 11:18:52 AM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=448513

1/9/2007 11:21:27 AM

"as soon as i found out i could still have kids, i was alright with it" (to that effect)


THE SHOOTER WAS CHRIS PAUL, WHO OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T WANT HODGE TO HAVE THAT CHILD!!

[Edited on January 9, 2007 at 11:25 AM. Reason : ]

1/9/2007 11:25:23 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKx8lFkQbDA

1/9/2007 11:34:34 AM

Quote :

"The first one I took out myself when it happened, in my right leg,"

wtf

1/9/2007 11:38:09 AM

they must teach that first day of school in harlem

1/9/2007 11:38:51 AM

Recruit Jules' daughter Kay Yow!

1/9/2007 12:29:20 PM

baby daddy

1/9/2007 1:24:14 PM

I miss getting to see Julius play. :/

1/9/2007 2:49:17 PM

How can you not LOVE this kid.

1/9/2007 3:25:39 PM

he's actually the father of anna nicole's baby.

2/14/2007 3:27:16 PM

h0ngry

2/14/2007 3:28:45 PM

Awesome, another unemployed black guy is gonna be a daddy.

2/14/2007 3:35:53 PM

eh. it'll be europe's problem soon enough.

2/14/2007 3:40:12 PM

ouch. to jhodge? that's rough.

2/14/2007 3:43:34 PM

good thing europe has good socialized healthcare

2/14/2007 3:48:51 PM

Quote :

"good thing europe has good socialized healthcare"

2/14/2007 4:03:01 PM

hahaha

2/14/2007 4:11:17 PM

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2235502703

2/14/2007 4:28:43 PM

the title of this thread kicks ass

2/14/2007 5:00:48 PM

^^packguy381!!!!

Heeeeeeeeey!

2/14/2007 5:41:48 PM

I thought he was MootDuff

2/14/2007 8:32:53 PM

I really wonder what he is gonna do now that he is out of the NBA. NBA Europe isn't very likely. He better game up and try to find a real job, but something tells me $10/hr isn't gonna be enough for him. And thats prolly all he can get.

2/14/2007 8:58:21 PM

na hodge will get somethin in europe..he was pretty good in the D league. alot of people in the D leagues get offered hundreds of thousands to come to europe but turn it down.

2/14/2007 9:30:07 PM

i saw a thing recently that his goal is to one day coach ncsu. maybe he gets a low assistant job somewhere?

2/14/2007 9:56:09 PM

hahahah, well everyone has goals, the only ones that matter though are the ones that are obtainable. Hell, its my goal in life to fuck Jessica Simpson. Is it going to ever happen? Prolly not, but we can all dream. Its nice Hodge has dreams, its what keeps the poor alive.

2/14/2007 10:04:36 PM

^Go fuck yourself. If you said that to me in person, I'd spit in your face. And you would deserve it, fuckface.

2/14/2007 10:24:53 PM

^gg

2/14/2007 10:28:16 PM

Well....it is true. Other than basketball, which he doesn't really have anymore, he doesn't have much going for him. Maybe TA can hire him to work the drive through window.

And he brought all this on himself. It all started when he got shot...FIVE times. Upstanding people do not get shot 5 times. They don't put themselves in the situation for that to ever happen.

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 10:43 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2007 10:40:34 PM

^Or maybe you can go fuck yourself?

See how that works?

2/14/2007 10:42:54 PM

Are you really that mad that another NCSU player failed in the pros? Wow, you have issues.

2/14/2007 10:44:01 PM

^Issues with your ass right now, yes.

Again...

Go fuck yourself.

2/14/2007 10:45:10 PM

dont hate on Hodge

2/14/2007 10:47:56 PM

^^Awwww, is the little bitch getting mad?

^Im not, I'm just tired of seeing idiots like im piss away their future because they are total fucking morons.



[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 10:48 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2007 10:48:03 PM

^You're still hating on hodge.

I'm not little.

Go fuck yourself.

2/14/2007 10:49:50 PM

HOW DID I NOT REALIZE BOB RYAN WAS PACKGUY?


I FAIL AT LIFE.

2/14/2007 10:50:25 PM

Is that the only thing you can say? Its really getting old.

2/14/2007 10:50:35 PM

well leave Bridget alone

i understand your point about pissing away a chance

2/14/2007 10:50:51 PM

He finshed college, folks. Quit acting like he was some gangsta thug just asking to get shot.

Shit happens, and folks who don't understand that can...go fuck themselves.

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 10:54 PM. Reason : ^Thanks... ]

2/14/2007 10:53:16 PM

they could not go out to clubs with all their boys and all their flashy jewels and take all the attention of the girls away from the real thugs in the joint

they could stop doing that

2/14/2007 10:55:01 PM

Thank you, I am not hating on the guy, I am just tired of seeing this over and over, a guy with tons of talent pissing it all way, and not to be racist, its almost ALWAYS with black players, no matter what the sport. Sure, I know they are the majority, and its only natural they are gonna pop up more in the news for shit like this, but god damn, you pretty much NEVER see white players involved in career threatening shit like this. When is the last time you heard about a white player involved in a shooting, or caught with guns, or got in some huge fight at a club. I suppose its where they come from. The hard streets of urban America don't teach people the rules of life I guess. Hodge was doing fine till he got shot 5 times and pretty much ended his career. And its sad when as a 1st round draft pick, your biggest headline is getting shot more times than points you scored in the NBA.



[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 10:58 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2007 10:56:59 PM

well id rather not make it a black white issue

i love the NBa, and i wish the guys would act like they deserve to make all this money

and i dont think Hodge was trying to get shot, i seriously doubt he did anything directly to anyone

2/14/2007 11:00:49 PM

I'm not just talking about the NBA, the NFL is almost the same way. Either way, they should never put themselves in the position to get shot. If they all weren't out trying to live a real life rap video, shit like this would never happen.

But yeah, its mainly the NBA.

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 11:03 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2007 11:02:25 PM

^^^^You're right. In America, we really shouldn't exercise our freedoms. You might get shot, you know.

^^^White people never make mistakes. I see your point.

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 11:04 PM. Reason : sss]

2/14/2007 11:03:02 PM

When is the last time a white player in one of the major sports got shot/stabbed? Link me to it. I wanna see.

Lets up it to the ones who actually shot and stabbed.

Jason Williams
OJ


Come one, hurry up and search, I have a huge list lined up just from SportsCenters I remember.

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 11:06 PM. Reason : .]

2/14/2007 11:04:22 PM

you have to be smart about it when you go out

2/14/2007 11:07:32 PM

Lets not forget Ray Caruth.

2/14/2007 11:08:05 PM

Kobe

2/14/2007 11:09:47 PM

^^^^AHA, you think I'm going to take the time to respond to you seriously?

You characterized Hodge as a fucking idiot moron who pissed away his future. That's what you said.

Quote :

"TheOffice: ^Im not, I'm just tired of seeing idiots like im piss away their future because they are total fucking morons."

Own up to it, bitch.

And if you wanna talk race, sports, class, and culture, meet me in the Soap Box.

'Til then...

...go fuck yourself.

(The fact that you just mentioned Ray Caruth means you get no response from me ever again.)

[Edited on February 14, 2007 at 11:10 PM. Reason : Come out the closet, racist.]

2/14/2007 11:10:05 PM