The best inspirational sports stories are the ones that take a sharp turn, right at the end.

A 77-year-old liquor store owner is in critical, but stable, condition at University Hospital after police say he was shot in the eye during an armed robbery Wednesday night.

The victim — Thomas Dotterer – not only owns the liquor store, he is also a baseball coach at Christian Brothers Academy and a member of the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.

Earlier, police mistakenly told NewsChannel 9 that Dotterer was listed in serious condition. (via News Channel 9)

How great is that? The guy gets shot in the eye and the info that he’s “in serious condition” is a mistake.

Listening to him talk is wonderful. He speaks candidly about the value of optimism, how all things happen for a reason and how to deal with such a violent, life-altering moment of cruelty. Then, in maybe the best swerve in local interview history, a guy who has a bruised, bandaged hole in his face reveals that BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD WITH A GUN AT HIS FAMILY’S LIQUOR STORE wasn’t the worst thing that happened to him this week.

I’ll let you discover that for yourself. Video is below.

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I’m not sure I could recognize Philadelphia 76ers guard Lou Williams if he passed me on the street, so it’s good news that I wasn’t the guy who tried to rob him on Christmas Eve. For both of us, I guess.

Maybe the guy recognized him from his weird shirtless, pensive-stare-at-probably-porn background on Twitter. Regardless, Williams seems like a cool guy and I wouldn’t wish Holiday Murder on even my least favorite sports celebrities (even the Kardashians get a “kill them on a less wistful day” nod). It also allows me to use my two best armed robbery pop culture references, the episode of Fresh Prince where Will gets shot so Carlton flips out and buys a gun for revenge and the episode of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ where Joey gets held up but the robber gets hit by a car so she takes him to a hospital and gives him all her money there, but I’m not going to make them.

Maybe Lou didn’t get robbed at all, and this is just a worked cautionary tale to get players to bail out their hoods, like ‘Christmas Shoes’ for basketball players. Who knows?

[by way of Larry Brown Sports]