Re: 'That guy … knows it all'

[Guest guest]

This is a nice story - I like reading positive stuff :-)

I think it shows how truly good/great things can be when people are

accepting rather than rejecting.

> http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

> AID=/20050704/COLUMNISTS02/507040408

>

> 'That guy … knows it all'

> 18-year-old, who is autistic, has encyclopedic knowledge of sports

>

> The smartest sports fan in this city, and maybe beyond, speaks so

> proper that one ought to wear a bowtie just to meet him. His voice

> sounds computerized, only a computer could not copy his inflections

> of excitement.

>

> Wesley Eversole has his arms crossed and his eyes focused on some

> spot safely out of the way. He is about to show off his superior

> memory.

>

> Tayshaun Prince scored 41 points in a second-round game against

> Tulsa in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. It occurred in the same city,

St.

> Louis, that Jack Givens scored 41 points against Duke to help

> Kentucky win the 1978 national championship.

>

> And both players were left-handed and wore the same jersey number,

> 21.

>

> It is just a nibble of his knowledge. The 18-year-old memorizes

> everything about sports, especially his beloved University of

> Kentucky Wildcats and Trinity High School Shamrocks.

>

> Within 10 minutes of saying hello, Eversole discusses Trinity's

> recent 29-4 boys' basketball season, its best ever, and explains

how

> point guard Zach Berry was the team's steadiest player.

>

> He examines the season-ending loss to Ballard and then transitions

> by comparing it to Kentucky's Elite Eight loss to Michigan State,

> which leads to a memory of the Wildcats dominating the 1995-96

> college basketball season and winning the national title, which

> leads to the UK football team beating Louisville 68-34 in 1998,

> which leads to how Blanton Collier replaced Bear as the

> Wildcats' coach in 1954.

>

> Eversole offers exact dates and statistics and even play-by-play,

> but newspapers still abide by laws of brevity.

>

> He is amazingly obsessed.

>

> " That guy is an encyclopedia, " said Vito, his best

> friend. " He knows it all. "

>

> Thanks to his handy neurological disorder.

>

> My favorite baseball teams are the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston

> Red Sox. Before the Red Sox won the World Series last season for

the

> first time in 86 years, they went to a Game 7 with the New York

> Yankees in the 2003 American League Championship Series.

>

> In the bottom of the 11th inning, Boone, who now plays for

the

> Cleveland Indians, took the first pitch from Tim Wakefield, who

> ironically beat the Cleveland Indians today, and sent it into the

> left-field stands for a solo home run that gave the Yankees a 6-5

> win and their 39th trip to the World Series.

>

> Call him Wes now because he has gotten more comfortable. Wes has

> Asperger Syndrome, which is in the autism family. It affects his

> motor skills, coordination, speech and ability to interact with

> others. It also causes him to become fixated on certain things.

>

> He was not diagnosed until he began high school, but the signs

> always existed. His parents, Jack and , gave him a puzzle of

> the 50 states when he was 3, and shortly thereafter he memorized

> them all. He could sing nursery rhymes along with his folks. At 4,

> he learned the calendar. Really learned it.

>

> " What is your birthday? " Wes asked me.

>

> " Jan. 21. "

>

> " Your birthday falls on a Saturday next year. "

>

> I looked it up later. He was right.

>

> " President Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. That was on a

> Friday. "

>

> He just knows these things.

>

> " He could go out in the yard and shoot hoops and know that a

> program's coming on at 6:30 that he wants to see and not have a

> watch on and walk in the door at 6:29, " said. " It's like a

> feeling or something he has. "

>

> Difficult early days

> Only once has Wes' inner timer failed him. He was born at 28 weeks.

> A preemie. He weighed 2 pounds, 10 ounces and was 16 inches long.

He

> spent his first 157 days in a hospital and came home with a feeding

> tube and tracheotomy that remained until he was 1.

>

> " Fortunately, I don't remember any of that, " he said, smiling.

>

> His adolescence included about 15 surgeries. Eyes. Ears. Lopping

off

> pre-cancerous moles. It never seemed to stop.

>

> remains amazed Wes could absorb so much pain so early in

life.

> During his teenage years, he has been healthy. He rarely gets sick.

>

> " Well, I did throw up on Matt Deeds that one time, " Wes said.

>

> Yes, it is true that Kentucky has not won the national championship

> for seven consecutive years. In 1999 we lost to Michigan State in

> the Elite Eight. In 2000 we lost to Syracuse in the second round.

In

> 2001 we lost to Southern California in the Sweet 16. In 2002 we

lost

> to land in the Sweet 16. In 2003 we lost to Marquette in the

> Elite Eight. In 2004 we lost to Alabama Birmingham in the second

> round. In 2005 we lost to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

>

> I can defend Tubby , however. Besides Tubby , Rick Pitino

> is the only UK coach to win a national championship by winning six

> games. The other two, Joe B. Hall and Adolph Rupp, needed no more

> than five. And twice, Adolph Rupp did it in just three games.

>

> Deeds forgave Wes for vomiting on him their freshman year. It is

> easy to forgive someone you admire.

>

> Wes and his senior class recently graduated, but no one has

> forgotten him. Just read some of the messages students left in his

> Bible.

>

> " You've never met me before, but I want you to know you're my hero. "

>

> " I thought I had life rough. You have gone through 10 times what I

> have, and I don't ever think I have seen you without a smile. "

>

> " I'm not lying when I say you are my biggest idol, not Brohm

> or Brett Favre. "

>

> Deeds, who played football and baseball at Trinity, recalled Wes'

> joy after he scored a basket in physical education class. Deeds

wept

> that day.

>

> " I wish I could live each day like you, " Deeds wrote in Wes' Bible.

>

> Wes came to Trinity as a shy boy whose parents stressed over

whether

> he would be able to readjust his tie after gym class. He left as a

> star.

>

> Vito befriended him and made him part of his lunch crew. Of

> course, Wes dominated any lunchtime sports debate. Later, students

> and teachers started quizzing him during lulls in class. They tried

> to stump him. They never could.

>

> " But it's more than how well Wes knows sports, " Vito said. " Wes is

> the kindest person I've ever met. He's never been mean to anyone. "

>

> OK, I will name Kentucky's seven national championships and who we

> beat in the title game: 1948 against Baylor; 1949 against Oklahoma

> A & M, now known as Oklahoma State; 1951 against Kansas State; 1958

> against Seattle; 1978 against Duke; 1996 against Syracuse; 1998

> against Utah.

>

> In 1970, 1997 and 2003, we should have won the championship. And I

> think in 1983, if Sam Bowie had not been hurt, we would have beaten

> Louisville in the regional final.

>

>

> Thanks to Trinity

> Vito set it up for Wes to take his friend, Wallis Burks, to the

> prom. Wes later discovered she was a Duke fan. After some

> wisecracking, he forgave her and had a good time.

>

> " This story could have had a lot of bad things in it, "

> said. " We've just been so blessed that everybody who's come in

> contact with Wes -- teachers, church, kids -- have been so great.

He

> could've been an angry, frustrated, depressed kid, but he's not. "

>

> After Wes' freshman year, wrote a letter to Trinity president

> Rob Mullen praising the school.

>

> There were so many people to thank. Basketball coach Mike Szabo for

> being so welcoming. English teacher Debbie Sweitzer for helping

Wes'

> peers accept him. Business and math teacher Joe Fowler for being

> patient with Wes' horrible handwriting.

>

> " As it turns out, every teacher, every student, everybody up there

> just took care of him, " said.

>

> That incredible time is over now. Wes will attend Lexington

> Community College in the fall. The goal is to transfer to UK, watch

> his Cats up close and earn a degree.

>

> In what? Wes is not sure. He hopes he can turn his sports knowledge

> into a career. Perhaps he could be a researcher for the Elias

Sports

> Bureau, the nation's foremost stat haven. Perhaps he could become

> the Elias Sports Bureau.

>

> The young man has a rare dedication to sports. His parents like to

> tell the story of Trinity's football Senior Night last fall. It was

> cold. It was a blowout. Their 5-foot-5 son was the only one who

> remained in the student section until the end.

>

> Following a tradition, the Trinity players went to the student

> section after their victory and sang their fight song.

>

> To Wes, just Wes. Their encyclopedia. Their hero.

>

> Fortunately, he does remember all of that.

>

> Jerry Brewer can be reached at (502) 582-4373 or jebrewer@courier-

> journal.com.