By: Kevin Cottrell, Jr. Surprise! Surprise! Wednesday the NBA announced that Chris Paul, dynamic PG for the New Orleans Hornets was a near unanimous selection as Rookie of the Year (1 vote went to Deron Williams, Utah Jazz). Over the course of the 2005-'06 season Paul averaged 16 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals per game, all in which he led the rookie class, except for rebounds. Many have compared first season to the likes of Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson. Sure, his season was exciting but Magic won a championship in his rookie season, and the Big "O" is Mr. Triple-Double. During the course of the season, Chris won all six rookie of the month honors, leaving the Bucks, Hawks, and Jazz green with envy for passing up on the Hornets "Floor General" eventually falling 4th to New Orleans, a city that would soon experience one of the greatest natural disasters in American history in Hurricane Katrina. Paul then improved a Hornets team (which relocated to Oklahoma City) from 18 to 38 wins, remaining in the hunt for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs till the last game of the year. How will this affect the city of Houston you ask? Well, On April 29th they may have made the biggest mistake in their "young" organization's history by passing on USC running back Reggie Bush. It's been said that history tends to repeat itself and in the case of Chris Paul, history was echoed. In the 1984 NBA draft the Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers passed up on the opportunity of drafting the G.O.A.T, Michael Jordan. The Rockets selected Hakeem Olajuawon (eventual two-time champ) and the Blazers; with their selection of Sam Bouie let's just say their scouts and or GM were eventually fired. As for Jordan, we all know that he eventually won 6 titles, 10 scoring titles, ...but his rookie season he too walked away as the NBA's rookie of the year. One may be thinking that while it's true that Jordan and Paul was an example of history repeating itself in the NBA, Bush is a member of the NFL. And my reply would be continuing reading. In 1998, the NFL draft featured talent like Ryan Leaf, QB Washington, and Curtis Enis, RB Penn State. Okay stop laughing, both of these guys obviously didn't fair too well in the NFL but they were both selected in the top 5 of the draft, in which a Wide Receiver by the name of Randy Moss fell to Minnesota at #21. Yes, 20 teams actually made the mistake of passing up on a guy who caught 25 touchdowns (NCAA record) and posted 1,820 yards (school record) in a single season. After free falling to the 21st selection, Moss took it personal. He caught 69 passes for 1,313 yards (19 ypc) and 17 Touchdowns as a rookie. Did I mention he too finished the season as the Rookie of the Year? As for Reggie Bush it was said by many that Bush was a shoe in to be selected #1 overall. I mean who would have ever thought that a guy name "Bush" would be overlooked by the state of Texas, then embraced by the city of New Orleans. In Mario Williams defense (Texans #1 overall selection) he did finish his junior season at North Carolina St. with 14 1/2 sacks (25 1/2 career sacks) and standing 6'7 285 pounds he could be the ideal Defensive End to build your defense around. But who am I kidding he's no Reggie Bush. In Bush's final collegiate season he racked up 1,740 rushing yards on just 200 carries (8.7 avg.) with 18 touchdowns (2 rec.) In connecting Paul to Bush, its ironic how the two were passed up in consecutive years falling to the city of New Orleans. A city that is in desperate need of any form of excitement that can lift the spirits of people in and around Bayou nation. Not to mention Wednesday morning, as Paul was being officially presented as the NBA's rookie of the year, the Texans General Manager, Charley Casserly, announced his resignation. I guess it would be easier to simply walk away, than to stick around for the Texas size disaster.