We spoke to the UD student who carried a cardboard cutout of Michael Jordan everywhere for a month
‘I peaked in the third grade and have done nothing great since ‘
Today, kids are entirely consumed with their iPhone’s – playing virtual games on a screen – but back in the day, kids enjoyed simpler things: playing outside, toy cars and dolls, and oh, apparently cardboard cutouts of Michael Jordan.
We spoke to Irene Liao, currently 20 years old and studying at the University of Delaware, about her proudest month. She was living in Taipei, Taiwan at the time, and attending an international school. The obsession all began with a Gatorade commercial that M.J. was in. However, Liao wasn’t interested in purchasing any Gatorade; she became fixated on “the basketball god,” as Liao called him.
She was at the mall one day and noticed a store had a cardboard cutout of Jordan. She knew she had to do whatever it would take to get that cutout, so she convinced the sales associates to sell her the un-purchasable item.
Now those are some great persuasion skills for an eight year old. The cutout was literally priceless – just like her story. Liao and cardboard M.J. were two peas in a pod for an entire month.
“I literally brought him everywhere – the mall, the metro-station, my piano and ballet classes, you name it, haha,” said Liao.
Cardboard M.J. really sounds like he was there for Liao through everything. She even brought him to school.
“I brought him everyday – just propped him up next to where I was sitting,” Liao said.
“We never really had a formal sit down dinner with my family, I just ate dinner alone with M.J. in the kitchen a lot.” Man, do they sound like best buds or what?
As Liao mentioned before, cardboard M.J. would accompany her to piano lessons at her grandfather’s house. She urged her grandfather to help her write a song for her special friend – the one and only.
However, this journey had to come to an end. Liao’s teacher wasn’t happy with this distraction in the classroom and her parents were getting a little tired of carrying M.J. everywhere. Her teacher claimed this was an “unhealthy phase,” and stated cardboard M.J was no longer welcome in the classroom.
Liao was upset, but she has since moved on. I even asked if she still has a slight obsession with him.
“I honestly moved on from my obsession with M.J. to Jeremy Lin for a little bit.” She said she enjoys going to UD basketball games and tries to attend Knicks games whenever possible. Maybe she will get a cut out of Lin next.
Years later, looking back, I asked her what she had to say about all of this.
“I peaked in the third grade and have done nothing great since,” she told me. But, since she’s a blue hen, I’m sure there are great things ahead. She’s excited her “J’s” (Jordans, also known as sneakers associated with Michael Jordan) are in the mail, and she will proudly wear them because she will always be a fan of Michael Jordan at heart.