Melo tries to encourage inmates in visit to Rikers
http://espn.go.com/blog/newyork-knicks/post/_/id/63180/melo-tries-to-encourage-inmates-in-visit-to-rikers

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Rikers Island is the main jail complex in New York City. On any given day, there are several thousand inmates there. Some are awaiting trial, some are serving short sentences. Hope and optimism are scarce commodities.

So when Carmelo Anthony spent time with a group of inmates at Rikers last month, he wanted to deliver a specific message.

"A lot of encouragement," he said on Sunday. "A lot of the kids that [are] in there, they still have a chance to come home in the next couple of years. ... They still have a life ahead of them."

Anthony visited a group of younger inmates (ages 16-21) at Rikers shortly before the start of training camp. He says he spent time in the cells and dorms of the facility, serving as a sounding board for the young inmates.

"I was just trying to hear their stories. A lot of people don't [give them] a chance to let them voice their opinion," Anthony said. "So getting out there kind of put a lot of things in perspective for myself, talking to the kids. It was touching to me, just to be in there, being in their environment and seeing what they go through on a day-to-day basis."

Footage of Anthony's visit to Rikers will appear in the third episode of his Vice Sports series "Stay Melo."

The jail has been plagued by allegations of violence among inmates and between inmates and correctional officers recently. But Anthony's visit didn't seem to be a commentary on any of those issues.

"It was just something I wanted to do," he said. "... I just went there and walked through Rikers and talked to the youth. It's a deep story."

He added: "Even though it was a tough day for me to kind of be in there, just see that environment and be in there, it was inspiring at the same time."

Good job Melo.