Holy S@%t!!!

Issue: What gives?

Short Answer: This video is unreal.

Reasoning: It's March Madness, so I figured I'd roll with it.  The video at the bottom of this post features Jacob Tucker.  Jacob just finished his senior year at Illinois College, where he was a member of their basketball team.  Illinois College is a Division III school that competed quite well this year, finishing 16-8 (12-4 in conference).  Jacob averaged 14.8 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game.  Not bad.  But, playing basketball at a Division III school means that you have never heard of Jacob Tucker, nor should you have.  But, soon, you may.  You see, Jacob can jump.  Really, really high.  That doesn't make him any different than most other basketball players, but there are a certain few things that do.

The first thing that makes Jacob different, and the first thing that one may notice when they watch the video, is that he is white.  Now look, I don't want to make this a racial thing, but a white boy that can jump is an oddity.  It's like a white wide receiver, or a black swimmer, or a female athlete (before anyone gets upset, again, I am just kidding - female athletes don't fit in this list because there has never been one, but there have been white wide receivers and black swimmers - just very few).  "White Men Can't Jump" is one of the best, and most appropriately named movies, of all time.  The movie title may have ticked a few people off, but I am not among those.  I am white, and you should see me try to jump - it ain't pretty.  Jacob, however, looks white in the video, but after watching the entire thing (for the 17th time), I am convinced that his whiteness is a well-conceived camera trick.  Or, this dude is a freak.

The second thing that makes Jacob different, although it is tough to tell from the video (apart from the beginning, where it tells you this) is the fact that he is 5'11".  Seriously.  The dude is under six-foot tall and white.  He shouldn't be able to do the things he does in this video.  But he does.  You may remember the video I posted about Johnny Mac "trick shot quarterback", where I basically called b.s. on the content of said video.  My entire being wants to do the same to this video, but, after careful deliberations, I have come to the conclusion that Jacob Tucker is just a complete freak-of-nature.  At 5'11", Jacob sports a 50" vertical leap.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I would have to jump twice in order to reach 50" (alright, maybe three times).  I'm pretty sure, in a dunk contest, I would take Jacob over Blake Griffin.  Never underestimate the shock-and-awe of a short guy dunking (remember Spud Webb?).  Add in the fact that he is white, and I think the judges would be hypnotized along with everyone else.

By the way, Jacob put this video together in order to get into the college slam-dunk contest.  You can vote for him here: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/6197777/dunk-contest-resume.  I know I will.