Second Thoughts

TCU guard just fine now in own skin

TCU sophomore point guard Jaylen Fisher used basketball to overcome his anxiety about being an albino as he was growing up. He even used it as motivation during an AAU game in Arkansas when an opposing player doubted his ability because of his albinism.
TCU sophomore point guard Jaylen Fisher used basketball to overcome his anxiety about being an albino as he was growing up. He even used it as motivation during an AAU game in Arkansas when an opposing player doubted his ability because of his albinism.

For anyone who ever hated that they didn't look like everybody else, listen to Jaylen Fisher.

Fisher is a sophomore point guard for TCU who was raised in Bolton, Tenn., about 30 miles from Memphis. He's an albino, a condition that affects one in 20,000 people.

"I was first aware of it when I was around other kids," Fisher said. "The question didn't stand out until the question was repeatedly asked, and that's when I thought, 'Wait -- I am kind of different.' "

Albinism is an inherited genetic condition that reduces the amount of pigment formed in the skin, hair and/or eyes, according to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation.

People with albinism are expected to have normal lifespans. Vision problems are typically associated with albinism, and people with the condition are more sensitive to sun exposure.

Fisher said the only symptoms he has are his white skin and hair.

By the time he was a freshman in high school, he accepted that he simply does not look like his peers. At first glance, a lot of people think he's white.

"Then they hear me talk," Fisher said. "I really don't know how I came about [being at peace with it]. I was so nervous going into high school. ... I didn't want to be the center of attention. I would just do what I do."

Making the transition easier is the fact that Fisher has been an outstanding basketball player since he was a youngster. The guys who might make fun of him were not laughing when he lit them up on the court.

Before an AAU game in Arkansas, he heard an opposing player say, "They've got an albino -- he can't play!"

"I heard that and thought, 'I'm fixin' to kill this guy,' " he said. "It's just a chip on my shoulder."

Fisher is the highest-ranked recruit to ever sign with TCU. He has basically been a starter since he arrived.

"I do want to lay low," Fisher said, "but how can you miss a black guy who is blond?"

Restroom stall

WWE wrestler Heath Slater found himself in an awkward position on a flight the day before New Year's Eve.

Slater was on his way to Miami for Monday Night Raw. At some point during the flight, Slater, 34, got up to use the restroom, where he became trapped after the door lock stuck.

A team of crew members on the flight had to break out the wrestler by unhinging the bathroom door and then forcefully unlatching the lock with a screwdriver. Fellow WWE wrestler Curtis Axel, who was traveling with Slater to the event, filmed the crew members trying to help save Slater from the tiny commode.

"Don't let him out. He's a vicious animal," Axel narrated as a flight attendant asked Slater to help unlatch the door's hinges.

At one point, Axel jokingly accused his friend of staying in on purpose and ordered him to "stop playing around" and "open the door."

Finally the crew got the door open. In the video, Slater is seen leaning against the sink, shaking his head.

"I locked it and then I went to unlock it and the knob came off and I'm like, 'Oh you gotta be kidding me,' " the wrestler explained in the video once he had been rescued.

He didn't appear to be claustrophobic, but he did write that the pint-sized lavatory was "getting so hot" while he waited.

Sports quiz

When was the last time TCU basketball team reached the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight?

Sports answer

1968.The Horned Frogs lost to Houston 103-68 in the Midwest Region finals.

Sports on 01/11/2018

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