High-waters and Stringbean waistbands

I remember, back in elementary school days, there would always be at least one kid whose pantlegs didn’t reach all the way down to his shoes.  They might stop at the tops of his socks, thus causing the phenomenon derisively known as “high-waters.”  “When’s the flood coming, Charlie?” they’d ask me.  Oh yeah, I should have mentioned, I was going through some growth spurts and my parents didn’t replace clothing until it actually functionally fell apart.

I say that to bring up these images, and hopefully they’ll give you a laugh.

During my recent Canadian vacation, I photographed the National Basketball League of Canada’s All-Star Classic.  And in doing so, I captured the introductions, in which each player received their own special intro, they walked along a staging area, and greeted their teammates.

Everything’s going fine, here’s one player and the next.   The Central Division was introduced…

Now it’s time for the Atlantic Division All-Stars.  Here comes Anthony Anderson of the Saint John Mill Rats, and he’s happy to be there.

Next up… Nick Okorie, who started the season with the Mississauga Power and was later traded to the Island Storm… and…

Umm… wait a minute.  Something looks slightly askew with that uniform.

Let’s get a closer look.

What happened?  Did someone give Nick Okorie the mother of all atomic wedgies?

If Nick Okorie is trying to channel his inner Stringbean… he’s got the waistband in the wrong spot.  Stringbean, for all you country music aficionados, was legendary banjo player David Akeman, and his stage costume looked something like this.

Okay, I figured Okorie would have his laugh, let’s get to the rest of the intro ceremony…

And here comes Okorie’s regular-season teammate, Antonio Ballard of the Island Storm, and…

His shooting shorts are rolled up to John Stockton hems.  Yikes!

Maybe he’s expecting the waters to rise up to his Denver Nuggets…

Thankfully, the rest of the team arrived onstage with their uniforms intact and properly worn…

But I gotta tell you, this certainly brought a smile to the crowd.  A little goofiness in the All-Star Classic is fine in and of itself.

And how well did these players do in the All-Star Classic?  Well, Antonio Ballard finished with 39 points and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Of course, by the time the game started, his shorts had unfurled to their proper length.  Ha ha ha…