The Tallest American

[Deeman3]

Officials said Igor Vovkovinskiy, 27, traveled to New York to meet with them on the set of "The Dr. Oz Show," which aired in syndication Monday, and he was officially certified as the record holder, beating George Bell of Virginia by a third of an inch.

"Igor had been on our radar for awhile, so we were eager to measure him and see if he was, in fact, the Tallest Living Man in America," Guinness World Records adjudicator Danny Girton Jr. said. "Following stringent Guinness World Record guidelines on measurement, we're pleased to confirm that Igor is now a part of record-breaking history."

Vovkovinskiy said it "feels good to finally have proof that I am the Tallest Man in America. Everyone is always asking me if I'm certain that I'm the tallest and I was never able to prove it. Now that I have this certificate to hang on my wall, I could finally show it."

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).

<span style="color: #FF0000">In Memphis growing up, we had the tallest basketball player in America in high school! His name was Steve Turner and was 7'4" as a senior. I played against him for two years. I am telling you, for a 6'3" guy, he was TALL! He could dunk flat footed and had with him the two other best basketball players in the state. Morris, Conn and Turner. They usually won by 35 points when they were not even serious. I would love to tell you we beat them, we did not. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif Our tallest guy was 6'9" but while he did a respectable job against Turner, the two others scored at will.

Chopstick may remember them. Turner went on to Tennesse where the beafier guys slaughtered him. </span>

[wolfdancer]

I think I mentioned this before but John "Red" Carroll lived in our neighborhood and was on the tallest men's list, in the Guiness book of records...even with spinal curvature.
He drove a small car, but from the back seat with the front one removed. He was changing a tire when the jack slipped and broke his leg. He died from a resultant infection.
He could barely walk....had a cane as I remember,,,,so no basketball records for him.
[url=http://www.thetallestman.com/johnfcarroll.] One of the "tallest" men in his day to play basketball was George Mikan, at 6'10" Big George was unstopable in the paint, as he could hook with either hand, or pass off. They changed the rules due to him...introduced the shot clock...
You can now find 6'10" guards at the HS level....
At 5'10" with a 6 inch vertical leap....I have never dunked a basketball.....but it's on my Bucket list.

[Chopstick]

I don't remember him. We had a guy in the band who was 6'10" as a freshman. He played the bass clarinet and made it look like a regular clarinet. We called him Lurch after the Adams family butler. I once played the Trumpet at a party lying on my back with Lurch standing on my stomach.

I believe he came to a bad end. He was involved in the Richard Austin thing. The cops came by the pool hall asking about him. I shot pool with the hitman the day he did the hit. Roll into town, grab a sandwich, shoot some pool, and go kill a cop. All in a days work. I couldn't believe it when I found out.

[Deeman3]

Jack, I last dunked a basketball on the day before my 30th birthday. I promise, I played a week later and the ball came off the back iron and went to midcourt! After that, I guess I lost my confidence and never again was able to dunk in a game. I stopped playing a year later.

Chopstick. Was that guy at Whitehaven? I remember a "Lurch" we knew from there that played with us at the Whitehaven Gym in the Summer. Wow, I'd like to hear more about the Austin thing as I only heard bits and pieces years later, not hainv many ties back to the old place. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif You actually shot with the guy on the same day? Wow!