SPORTS
For weeks leading up to his Africa trip to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, John L. Smith was asked many times about his sanity for climbing a mountain in his off-season to which he responded, "Oh, it's a Gucci climb."
When he returned from his six-day climb to the top of the largest freestanding mountain in the world, the words out of Smith's mouth are not quite so calm.
"I joked about the ease of the climb ahead of time, but the truth is - it's not all that Gucci," said Smith with a chuckle.
"When this group got done with the climb, they said it's the hardest thing they've ever had to do."
For a man who has sky-dived out of a plane, barrell-rolled in a fighter jet, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain and starred in his own rap video, that is no small statement.
Smith and 10 other climbers made the journey to climb to the top of the 19,340-feet Uruhu Peak in Tanzania and reaching the summit on July 21.