dukefive

On the next heartwarming episode of Shark Dad…

In an elaborate ruse to get people to quit hating Duke for a second, a few sportswriters focused on the fact that Nolan Smith’s father, who was a key member of the 1979-1980 national champion Louisville team, died when Nolan was only 8 years old. Nice try, guys, but Duke can still get stuffed with a marlinspike.

But learning about Derek Smith has been fun, mostly because he once claimed to have invented the high five, according to Paul Dickson.

“The origin of the gesture and the term were claimed by Derek Smith of the University of Louisville basketball team, which won the NCAA championship in the 1979-80 season. Smith was quoted [widely] to the effect that he and two fellow Georgians on the Louisville squad, Wiley Brown and Daryl Cleveland … [created the] high five during pre-season practice and introduced [it] to the nation in 1979.”

You mean to tell me the high five is only about 30 years old? Sounds a little iffy to me. I mean, I could have sworn I’ve seen cave paintings depicting hunters swapping fives next to a felled mammoth. The move is just one of those things that existed since time immemorial, like fire and racism. Still, even if Nolan Smith’s dead dad was a dirty liar, at least Nolan got to experience what every son has from time to time: the embarrassment of a father’s obvious falsehoods. THE DENTIST’S OFFICE WAS NOT LOCATED IN DISNEY WORLD, DAD!