Believe at furrybasketball.com

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 cooner is a hero.

Just a week before Further Confusion 2011 started, I was asked by the fans of the FBA to hold an FBA panel at the convention. The con staff was very accommodating and gave me a room and time slot for the panel. Only problem was, I didn't know what to do with the time I'd been given.

I figured a trivia contest with prizes would be fun for everyone, and some of the FBA posters I'd commissioned were popular, so I went to Zazzle.com and ordered poster-sized prints of some of the best art in my gallery. Among those prints was the LeBron James satire I had made using a sketch Cooner had drawn for me at Midwest FurFest 2010. Before I placed the order, I sent an e-mail to Cooner to sure he was alright with me printing out his sketch.

Not only did he give me permission, he offered to make a fully inked and shaded version. With FC just days away, I figured there was no chance he would find the time to squeeze in the project with all the other things he was doing, but I sent him the references he asked for and then had the sketched version printed as a backup.

Within a day, Cooner sent me this. I sent it to Zazzle that same day and had them mail it directly to the hotel for me.

The sad thing in all this is that while the package did reach the hotel in time (way to go, Zazzle!!), the Fairmont apparently lost the package. The front desk never found it, and they've since not returned my calls or e-mails concerning it. So regrettably, I've yet to see the prints.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that Cooner-- with FC2011 breathing down his neck-- redrew this image, found a matching font, laid out the elements and sent me an ultra-high resolution PNG with enough time for me to get this printed for my FBA panel.

There's a word in basketball for guys like you, Cooner. Clutch.

Thanks, dude.