Congratulations, J-Mac!

Photo by CHRIS CARLSON The Associated Press

All of Rochester is proud of Jason McElwain being awarded the ESPY Award for best moment in sports. As Wayne Drehs wrote in J-Mac's meaningful message for autism, Updated: June 14, 2006, 11:55 AM ET at ESPN.com:

"It took four minutes. Four measly minutes for high school senior Jason McElwain to morph from a relatively unknown student manager of the Greece Athena basketball team into a nationwide inspiration."

{Snip}

"But hope is only the beginning. For many in the autism community, McElwain's story provides a much-needed template for the right way to integrate a special-needs child into the mainstream community.

When Lee Grossman, president of the Autism Society of America, first saw the clip of McElwain's magical night, he was blown away -- not by the frequency of 3-pointers swishing through the net, but by the frenzied students who jumped up and down and waved their arms back and forth and held up pictures of McElwain. Before he had even checked into the game."

Congratulations to J-Mac, his family, teammates, the Spencerport Rangers who played against the Greece Athena team that eventful night and, of course, Coach Jim Johnson.

A special thank you and a big {{{HUG}}} to my *virtual* friends who voted for J-Mac after I posted "J-Mac, A Special Teen".