It appears as if Kevin Love has started a twitter account.
Following up on their unsuccessful bid to get center Al Jefferson selected to the NBA all-star game, the Timberwolves today launched a media campaign to boost forward Kevin Love’s rookie of the year candidacy.
Touting his rebounding prowess, Mr. Love Miracle Glass-Cleaning Kits were sent to the approximately 120 media members who will vote on this year’s award.
Included in each packet are an actual spray bottle of glass cleaner and a DVD featuring Love as pitchman in a 4 1/2-minute infomercial that also contains cameo appearances by assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff and veteran forward Brian “The Custodian” Cardinal.
There also is a pamphlet entitled Guide to Backboard Maintenance and a Mr. Love sponge and shammy bearing his name and number 42.
Veteran Wolves forward Brian Cardinal picked up the nickname “The Custodian” for his blue-collar work in college at Purdue. He shows up in the informercial as a custodian who endorses Mr. Love Miracle Glass Cleaner, and has watched the 20-year-old grow up as the season has worn on.
“Unfortunately he’s had a lot of opportunities with Al being out,” Cardinal said. “At the same time, it’s fortunate, because he’s had those opportunities and done well and he’s played hard, played aggressive. That’s what we need from him.”
The kit the team is sending out to media members across the country also includes a sample size of the glass cleaner, a Kevin Love shammy and a “Mr. Love Sponge.”
From Jonah Ballow/Timberwolves site: Thursday Practice Notes (includes audio from Kevin McHale, Fred Hoiberg, Kevin Love, and Craig Smith).
These empty references range from the basically innocuous–Kevin Love gets “All You Need is Love,” get it?–to the staggeringly ahistorical and oblivious. For instance, before Al Jefferson hurt himself, the theme from “The Jeffersons” would often play before he shot free throws, as the words “The Jefferson” in that familiar ’70’s script (Al Jefferson also has ‘Jefferson’ in his name, see) scrolled over that familiar Manhattan high-rise apartment. Remember now that “The Jeffersons” is a show about a black family that moves on up from working class Queens to a “deluxe apartment in the sky.” And that Jefferson (Al) is from Prentiss, Mississippi (population: 1,158, per capita income: $18,486) and is now being paid to use (and use up) his body to entertain Minnesotans. And then let me suggest that this little snippet of cleverness is, at best, hilariously ignorant of and, at worst, pretty close to an outright mockery of the history of African-American upward mobility and its tangled, tense relationship to sports.
From the Timberwolves site:
The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that the team will play a 2009 preseason game at the Sioux Falls Arena, home of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Timberwolves’ NBA D-League affiliate. Minnesota will host the Toronto Raptors on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
“We’re thrilled to be returning to Sioux Falls and showcasing the NBA game for a great group of basketball fans,” Timberwolves President Chris Wright said. “Not only will this game give fans an opportunity to see South Dakota native Mike Miller in action, but it continues our wonderful partnership with the Skyforce organization, which has been a great asset for us both on and off the court.”
The Wolves’ preseason game vs. Toronto this fall will be Minnesota’s fifth exhibition visit to the Sioux Falls Arena…
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