Reggie and Carlisle Remember Negro Spirituals

On February 8th, the same week word came out that Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels were involved in a bar fight at the 8 Seconds Saloon, Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson made a joint appearance on WIBC's Rick Carlisle Show. They were on for at least 30 minutes and reminisced, joked, and of course, talked about the issues of the day.

I've been considering different posts on the interview but without the audio or a transcript there's no way my paraphrasing could do it justice. Well, problem solved with HUGE THANKS to Kevin Lee at WIBC. Kevin hosts Sportstalk and Pacer pre and post game shows for WIBC. Recently he's filled in for Mark Boyle on game broadcasts and Carlisle Show hosting duties. What I'm saying is, the man is busy. Yet, after I made one request with my plans for a few posts on the Reggie/Jax interview, Kevin sent me a few audio segments that covered the parts of the conversation I wanted to highlight. Thanks, Kevin!

This is Part 1 of 3 from the interview and will make any Pacer fan long for the days with old pros like Reggie and Jax on the roster. Among the topics discussed in Part 1:

• Reg and  Jax discuss their current announcing gigs and other projects they have going on.
  
• Reg says the TNT studio show producers tell them not to prepare, to just come in and wing it. No kidding.
  
• Reg mentions that when he, Jax and Dale Davis among others were in the back of the bus yelling at Bird and Carlisle, that they were just preparing for their post-basketball careers. Then the following exchange occurred. This gives you a little flavor, but can't do it full justice. You must listen to the actual audio (linked below).
  
  RC: Yeah, I haven't heard any of you guys singing kumbaya on the air.
  Reg: Well hey Coach, I know right now you probably long for them days for our old negro spirituals We Shall Overcome. I bet you would love to hear some of those now don't ya?
  Jax is laughing
  RC: Yeah can you give us a sampling on the air.
  Carlisle then starts strained rendition on one of their "songs" from the back of the bus.
  RC: Ohhh, you know we probably shouldn't have practice tomorrow, kumbayaaa.
  Jax: Hey Coach, you know Reg was the lead singer.
  RC: Oh, no no no no no...hey, listen...
  Reggie then takes the comedy to another level by breaking into his version.
  Reg: We played four games out of five nights can we get a day off...kumbaya my lord, kumbaya. You're working us up and down, kumbaya.
  Jax: Ohhh, why did you get him going Coach.

• Carlisle goes on to discusses how long he's known both guys and his playing days with Mark Jackson in New York. Carlisle had his best game as a pro in the first game he played with Jax.
  
• Kevin Lee then asks the players to assess Carlisle's game. After their first game, Jax thought Carlisle was going to be the next Larry Bird. Then he went on to praise him as a great teammate and student of the game.

After laughing through the Kumbaya songs, I couldn't help but wonder if any player on the current Pacers' roster could pull off the same thing. We hear plenty of bitching and moaning about how tough it is to play for Carlisle and I'm sure the complaining between players in the locker room can drag everyone down. Reggie and crew went through the same thing and they let their feelings be known but in a way that actually brought the team together. They knew complaining wouldn't do any good but the songs got their point across and kept everyone together through the tough times with a little humor.

Part 1 Link: Reggie/MJax on Rick Carlisle Show, 1

Part 2 and 3 coming soon.