Thursday, August 31, 2006
Maybe you've been able to guess that the weather has changed lately. Gone are the days of warm and fuzzy sunshine, making room for the grey and gloom of the past two weeks. Could it be that this is the cause for my utter lack of posts? Well, either that or the fact that not a whole helluva lot's been going on 'round here. Or, simple laziness. I don't know about you, but I'll opt for door number one or two.
Remember about a million years ago I wrote something to the effect that it would be cool to do a documentary on the American basketball players here in Finland? Well, last night I met with one of the pioneers. A guy, Leon, who grew up just outside of St. Louis, who moved to Finland - after a year in Israel and one in Turkey - in 1975 to play basketball in Joensuu of all places. 31 years later, he is a Finnish citizen, with grey frazzled hair, his son plays for the national team as well as for Valparaiso, and he coaches his step-son and his friends in their younger league.
I met him in Malmi, not the best place I've ever been. I didn't ask what he looked like, but that's because I had a pretty good feeling that I could spot him in a crowd. And I did. I walked with him to practice and chatted with him the entire time. Every few minutes he would break conversation, order the kids to shoot 50 baskets, then stretch, then play 2-on-2 full court, and then resume our conversation.
Now, I knew a lot about this guy, because after two years in J-town, where this guy started and where the urban legends started, and after 30 years grew and grew, I had heard the lot of them. He had too and was quick to set them straight. And then tell the kid that he's training to be a point guard to throw 100 passes at a metal plate on the wall, because as he puts it, "The kid can't throw for shit."
I think we hit it off. Now I have to make contact with the other 5 guys from his generation. I hope they're all as interesting as he is.
Remember about a million years ago I wrote something to the effect that it would be cool to do a documentary on the American basketball players here in Finland? Well, last night I met with one of the pioneers. A guy, Leon, who grew up just outside of St. Louis, who moved to Finland - after a year in Israel and one in Turkey - in 1975 to play basketball in Joensuu of all places. 31 years later, he is a Finnish citizen, with grey frazzled hair, his son plays for the national team as well as for Valparaiso, and he coaches his step-son and his friends in their younger league.
I met him in Malmi, not the best place I've ever been. I didn't ask what he looked like, but that's because I had a pretty good feeling that I could spot him in a crowd. And I did. I walked with him to practice and chatted with him the entire time. Every few minutes he would break conversation, order the kids to shoot 50 baskets, then stretch, then play 2-on-2 full court, and then resume our conversation.
Now, I knew a lot about this guy, because after two years in J-town, where this guy started and where the urban legends started, and after 30 years grew and grew, I had heard the lot of them. He had too and was quick to set them straight. And then tell the kid that he's training to be a point guard to throw 100 passes at a metal plate on the wall, because as he puts it, "The kid can't throw for shit."
I think we hit it off. Now I have to make contact with the other 5 guys from his generation. I hope they're all as interesting as he is.
// posted by Howard @ 8:27 PM 
