A FALLEN NRF MEMBER.
These were words taken from the last game of the NRF Season...the Finals at Madison Square Garden. They highlight a player by the name of Jesse Thompkins III.
....That wouldn't last long though with the explosive Jesse Thompkins (8 pts/4 rebs/2 blks/1 stl) playing the way he was on both ends of the floor, appearing to be one of the few players who actually seemed more comfortable with the longer court.....
....The inbound found Ricardo Viramontes, who looked up court and somehow found Jesse Thompkins with a pass. Thompkins caught the ball with 1 second left. When the ball left his hand, it felt as though the air in the room had been sucked out of it. The silence in the arena seemed to testify to the drama of the moment: We were all witnessing a potentially game-winning shot. The ball seemed to float towards the rim in slow motion as the Uptempo players looked on in disbelief and the Huarache players looked on in wild-eyed prayer. The entire season was a synthetic leather orb floating through Madison Square Garden. The backboard lights ignited red as the ball started to descend towards the rim. The buzzer sounded. And as the ball caromed off the backboard and Thompkins crumpled to the parquet in utter disappointment, the Uptempo bench erupted in one sudden ecstatic moment of realization: they were the new champions of the NRF....
It's fitting that Jesse took the last shot of the entire NRF Season. Today, it was informed to me that Jesse Thompkins III has passed away. Details of the cause are sketchy at the moment but it involved Jesse being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Apparently he was caught in the middle of a multi-car accident while he was out jogging....probably training hard for the next NRF Season.
Jesse's a 3 year veteran of the NRF and graduate on Columbia University. He's been with Team Huarache since the beginning under the coaching eyes of Andrew Simon. This year, they finally made it to the NRF Finals and the floor of MSG. In January 2006, Jesse was voted Player Of The Week. He had 14 pts / 3 rebs / 2 blks and 1 stl in one game.
Jesse was in the film industry. He did work for Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule as a production assistant on "INSIDE MAN". He also worked on such films as "Michael Clayton", "Munich" and more recently "Definitely, Maybe". He even acted briefly on the TV Show "Homicide: Life on the Street".
Jesse and I got to working together recently as we were putting together a sizzle reel for the NRF. Basically we were compiling video and photo footage of the playoffs to create a little 1 minute clip. It's been a while since I heard any progress and I was going to hit him up this week, in fact. Truth be told, I even have a check sitting on my desk made out to his name for his video editing services. I mean....the way Jesse went...he literally had to be at that exact spot at that exact second. Maybe if the video took 10 more seconds to render...or if he re-tied his shoelaces while he was jogging...he would still be here. It's obvious someone in heaven needed him.
Rest. In. Peace. Brooklyn's Finest.
October 1981 - August 2008
Jesse Thompkins III
+++++
PS: Attached are some photos I have of Jesse. In a few days, I will post a video clip on www.nikerecessfederation.com. It's the video he showed me to pitch the idea for an NRF sizzle reel. He used himself and made it look like a video game. It was dope and it won me over. And in doing so, Jesse created a memorial for himself. We'll miss you homey.
....That wouldn't last long though with the explosive Jesse Thompkins (8 pts/4 rebs/2 blks/1 stl) playing the way he was on both ends of the floor, appearing to be one of the few players who actually seemed more comfortable with the longer court.....
....The inbound found Ricardo Viramontes, who looked up court and somehow found Jesse Thompkins with a pass. Thompkins caught the ball with 1 second left. When the ball left his hand, it felt as though the air in the room had been sucked out of it. The silence in the arena seemed to testify to the drama of the moment: We were all witnessing a potentially game-winning shot. The ball seemed to float towards the rim in slow motion as the Uptempo players looked on in disbelief and the Huarache players looked on in wild-eyed prayer. The entire season was a synthetic leather orb floating through Madison Square Garden. The backboard lights ignited red as the ball started to descend towards the rim. The buzzer sounded. And as the ball caromed off the backboard and Thompkins crumpled to the parquet in utter disappointment, the Uptempo bench erupted in one sudden ecstatic moment of realization: they were the new champions of the NRF....
It's fitting that Jesse took the last shot of the entire NRF Season. Today, it was informed to me that Jesse Thompkins III has passed away. Details of the cause are sketchy at the moment but it involved Jesse being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Apparently he was caught in the middle of a multi-car accident while he was out jogging....probably training hard for the next NRF Season.
Jesse's a 3 year veteran of the NRF and graduate on Columbia University. He's been with Team Huarache since the beginning under the coaching eyes of Andrew Simon. This year, they finally made it to the NRF Finals and the floor of MSG. In January 2006, Jesse was voted Player Of The Week. He had 14 pts / 3 rebs / 2 blks and 1 stl in one game.
Jesse was in the film industry. He did work for Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule as a production assistant on "INSIDE MAN". He also worked on such films as "Michael Clayton", "Munich" and more recently "Definitely, Maybe". He even acted briefly on the TV Show "Homicide: Life on the Street".
Jesse and I got to working together recently as we were putting together a sizzle reel for the NRF. Basically we were compiling video and photo footage of the playoffs to create a little 1 minute clip. It's been a while since I heard any progress and I was going to hit him up this week, in fact. Truth be told, I even have a check sitting on my desk made out to his name for his video editing services. I mean....the way Jesse went...he literally had to be at that exact spot at that exact second. Maybe if the video took 10 more seconds to render...or if he re-tied his shoelaces while he was jogging...he would still be here. It's obvious someone in heaven needed him.
Rest. In. Peace. Brooklyn's Finest.
October 1981 - August 2008
Jesse Thompkins III
+++++
PS: Attached are some photos I have of Jesse. In a few days, I will post a video clip on www.nikerecessfederation.com. It's the video he showed me to pitch the idea for an NRF sizzle reel. He used himself and made it look like a video game. It was dope and it won me over. And in doing so, Jesse created a memorial for himself. We'll miss you homey.
posted by jeffstaple | 3:07 AM
4 Comments:
Jeff, I have the final version of the NRF spot....he used to show me his progress everytime i came over to his house. i was a good friend and a neighbor to Jesse. We studied film together at Columbia and lived around the corner from each other in BK. he even dragged me to a couple of your games, which i ended up enjoying despite not knowing a thing about basketball. give me a shout if you want to see the final cut, as it was really fabulous, just as jesse was!
I think you put it best: somebody in heaven needed him. nice memorial. very sad when somebody with so much life gets it cut short(er).
damn, thats rough. really sorry about your friend man. looks like he was good peoples. you know what to do with that check.
-m
cool guy. deeply missed. RIP.
-SiN
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