bballbeadle
Woman of a certain age
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
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Dear Fiendly Fans, I spoke to Gary late last night. He was pretty exhausted and incoherent, but happy as a - - clam? (Where does that expression come from? I must google it.) I have a great anecdote, but first will give you some back fill. The structure of the camp is quite ambitious and some of the things that were advertised didn't happen, like Gerry giving a talk and showing some film of his plays. The food was fantastic, and since Gary is a gourmand, he was delighted. The players and campers all ate together and hung out together. The players were very accessible. At supper last night Boeheim gave a talk and took questions. He defined his leadership style as "flexible" and acknowledged that if a player is extremely good, he might cut him a little slack. (Reeeeally?) He said that Coach K has "unbelievable" management style and that "countries should call him in" to manage them.
The main reason Gary chose to do this was because he wanted to luxuriate in the marinade of SU basketball. Actually playing basketball was not that important to him. But for many of the men who signed up, it was. Although middle-aged, these guys take their play seriously and Gary found himself not playing very well within his team. He was the oldest in the camp, and pulled a groin muscle on Friday. He played tentatively, while many of his team members played aggressively. They were dismissive of him, and he was dismissive of himself.
Now, here comes the good part. Yesterday afternoon the players went 5 on 5 with the legends for 5 minutes each. Something magical happened with Gary. He scored 8 points, had 1 assist and 1 rebound. He scored more than any other camper! He shot a mid-range jumper over Lawrence Moten, someone goal-tended one of his shots, and he made baskets against the defensive efforts of Wallace and Hakim! Hakim went to block his shot, but Gary did a little move and made the basket against him. Hakim was so peeved that on the next play he took the ball down the court, did a 360, and stuffed the ball on top of 3 of Gary's teammates! Gary felt he had entered an alternate universe. Almost all of the legends and Boeheim himself complimented Gary and were talking about his play. They seemed delighted. He said, "Peggy, I might not believe this happened myself, but they have it on videotape!"
Someone on the board hoped most of the money was going to charity, and it is. Which charities, I'm not sure, but I imagine they would be Boeheim charities. I don't think any of the players received any payment, but couldn't swear to it. Gary doesn't have a great deal of money, but he very much wanted to do the camp last year and stewed about it. This year, his wife said, "Just do it!" So, he did. Probably #1 on the Bucket List. Mission: accomplished.
If there is a third installment after today, I will try to post it before I leave for Maine on Independence Day. I am so happy people enjoy this information, and Gary was tickled as well. Stay cool, everyone!
The main reason Gary chose to do this was because he wanted to luxuriate in the marinade of SU basketball. Actually playing basketball was not that important to him. But for many of the men who signed up, it was. Although middle-aged, these guys take their play seriously and Gary found himself not playing very well within his team. He was the oldest in the camp, and pulled a groin muscle on Friday. He played tentatively, while many of his team members played aggressively. They were dismissive of him, and he was dismissive of himself.
Now, here comes the good part. Yesterday afternoon the players went 5 on 5 with the legends for 5 minutes each. Something magical happened with Gary. He scored 8 points, had 1 assist and 1 rebound. He scored more than any other camper! He shot a mid-range jumper over Lawrence Moten, someone goal-tended one of his shots, and he made baskets against the defensive efforts of Wallace and Hakim! Hakim went to block his shot, but Gary did a little move and made the basket against him. Hakim was so peeved that on the next play he took the ball down the court, did a 360, and stuffed the ball on top of 3 of Gary's teammates! Gary felt he had entered an alternate universe. Almost all of the legends and Boeheim himself complimented Gary and were talking about his play. They seemed delighted. He said, "Peggy, I might not believe this happened myself, but they have it on videotape!"
Someone on the board hoped most of the money was going to charity, and it is. Which charities, I'm not sure, but I imagine they would be Boeheim charities. I don't think any of the players received any payment, but couldn't swear to it. Gary doesn't have a great deal of money, but he very much wanted to do the camp last year and stewed about it. This year, his wife said, "Just do it!" So, he did. Probably #1 on the Bucket List. Mission: accomplished.
If there is a third installment after today, I will try to post it before I leave for Maine on Independence Day. I am so happy people enjoy this information, and Gary was tickled as well. Stay cool, everyone!
