Facebook Gives Dozens of Former Classmates Access to Local Sports Legend
Vintage photo of Ricky Davis (Number 7), local sports legend who uses Facebook to re-establish his dominance over former classmates.
NEW YORK (Sportsman’s Daily Wire Service) Ricky Davis was a legend. At the age of eight he’d effortlessly scoop up grounders and in one fluid motion whistle the ball on a line to first. He developed an unstoppable fade away at the age of 10 and commanded a football field with the authority of quarterback great Y.A. Tittle.
If you were part of his charmed retinue, you were there to entertain, amuse and keep the unworthy at bay. To everyone else, he was a distant god: “Davis once called me an asshole in sixth grade study hall,” recounted Dave Sachs, a former classmate, “and I remember thinking, wow, he knows my name.”
Since he joined Facebook six months ago, many have been shocked — and thrilled — at the speed with which the previously unapproachable legend has accepted friend requests.
“Boy, back in the day seeing Davis chuckle in your direction when one of his goons knocked your books to the floor was a life-altering experience, you’d go over in your head for days on end whether it was a chuckle, a sneer or a sadistic grin — all the while just thrilled that he noticed you,” said Sam Edelman, who was in Davis’s homeroom from the 6th through the 11th grade. “When I saw him on Facebook it took me four weeks to screw up the courage and send a friend request. I never in a million years expected him to respond. I mean, it’s been over 35 years!”
Edelman, like many others since, was delighted when Davis almost immediately responded.
“Not to be crude, but it was like finally getting Debbie Koppelman to let you cop a free feel,” said Edelman. “I had no idea what I was getting into.”
After a couple of friendly, innocuous emails, Davis offered a series of unsolicited critiques of Edleman’s “game.”
“He vividly remembered the hitch in my swing and my inability to drive left or hit clutch foul shots, among other things,” said Edelman. “I was flattered that he even took notice, we weren’t remotely in the same league as far as ability was concerned. At first I kind of laughed it off and tried to move past it, but once he established the various ways in which I sucked, I didn’t hear from him again.”
Others recount similar experiences.
“The guy has an uncanny ability to recall your weaknesses,” said Stuart Rothenberg, who’s known Davis since the third grade. “Not to mention the ability to remember your most humiliating moment. Like I really needed to be reminded of the time I hit the pommel horse groin-first.”
While the unprovoked, withering critiques and full-frontal put-downs awaken old wounds, most of those on the receiving end are happy just to get a few moments of attention from the fabled Ricky Davis.
“It’s kind of sad in a way, the classic story of the faded golden boy desperately clinging to past glory,” said Edelman. “But it keeps things in perspective. If guys like Ricky Davis actually went on to become very successful, I don’t know…I’d find that very depressing.”
When Edelman learned that Davis, contrary to the standard story line, went on to amass a fortune as the owner and operator of a chain of parking garages, he fell silent for a full thirty seconds, emitted a long, defeated sigh and excused himself to practice his free throws.