Remember Luc Longley, the 7’2″ Chicago Bulls center from the back-to-back-to-back championships in the mid 1990′s?

Ever wonder what the NBA’s first Australian player has been up to these years.  Yeah, me neither.

But then I came across this story, and, well, just felt like I had to share.  ‘Tis the season and all that crap.

Seems an Australian grad student by the name of Anna McCallum discovered a new species of shrimp off the coast of Australia.  Most people would name the newly found shrimp after themselves–but McCallum came up with a novel idea for naming the sea creature.

Via an eBay auction.

This is where Longley comes in.  Because if you haven’t figured out that he was the auction winner, well then, you are pretty friggin’ clueless.

For a winning bid of $2900 (I so would’ve put up $3000 had I known about this), Longley won the naming rights to the new shrimp species–which will be called Lebbeus clarehanna, after his 15-year-old daughter, Clare Hanna.

Pissing away $2900 like this seems weird to me–almost like Longley is getting his financial advice from Antoine Walker.  Of course, I’m a cynical prick, who can’t see the loving gesture from father to daughter through the bitter haze of failure and defeat.

Merry friggin’ Christmas, one and all. [Wired, Image]