Call Me Boring

The National Basketball Association playoff finals are going on right now. Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs are playing LaBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. I don't watch NBA basketball but the finals are sometimes fun to follow.

I'm intrigued by all the media hype LaBron James has received and all the negative criticism that Tim Duncan and the Spurs have received. LaBron is new, exciting, confident, and brash. He has been anointed the next savior of the NBA. Wow! Pretty big shoes to fill.

Tim Duncan aka "The Big Fundamental," is described as old (he's 30!), dull and boring! Watching the Spurs play basketball has been likened to watching paint dry. And what has Tim and the Spurs done to deserve this kind of criticism? All they do is win basketball games and championships in a professional, team-oriented style of play. The Spurs have been recognized as the model NBA franchise that all others should seek to emulate.

Please spare me! Isn't this what professional sports is supposed to be all about? Isn't success measured by championships? I don't know about you, I don't mind being called boring as long as you also call me "Champion!"

The problem is that athletics have become more about entertainment and less about competition. Big egos, large super-star contracts, charismatic personalities, and unfulfilled expectations litter the sports landscape on the way to championship rings. In the end, it's almost always the team who quietly plays good defense, executes on offense and plays together well as a team who wins championships.

And what has Tim Duncan accomplished during his 10-year NBA career? Tim Duncan is a three-time NBA champion and a three-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. He has also won the NBA Most Valuable Player twice, and was voted into nine All-Star games, ten All-NBA teams, and ten All-Defensive teams. Many basketball experts consider him to be one of the greatest power forwards in history

In addition, as a college player, he was named ACC Male Athlete of the Year, won the John R. Wooden Award and was named Naismith College Player of the Year (all 1997). In his rookie year in the NBA (1998), he was voted Rookie of the Year and elected into the All-NBA Rookie Team. Duncan is one of only four players to receive All-NBA First Team honors in each of his first eight seasons (1998-2005), along with Hall of Famers Bob Pettit (10 seasons), Larry Bird (9 seasons), and Oscar Robertson (9 seasons), and is the only player in NBA history to receive All-NBA and All-Defensive honors in his first nine seasons (1998-2006). Duncan was also named by the Association for Professional Basketball Research as one of "100 Greatest Professional Basketball Players of The 20th Century", being the youngest player on that list.

Not a bad resume' for such a boring guy! You won't be reading about Tim Duncan being arrested for animal endangerment. You won't be reading a newly released book by Duncan criticizing his teammates and coaches. You won't be hearing his name associated with a steroid investigation. And you won't be seeing his mug shot on national news regarding felony charges related to weapon possession at a local strip club. How boring!

Tim Duncan is a classy, stand-up guy who quietly goes about his business and wins championships. He knows that winning is more about substance than style, team-work rather than individual accomplishment. In this age of super-star egos, Tim Duncan is a flat-out winner.

So go ahead, call Duncan boring if you must. But just remember, you also must call him Champion!

Time To Take A Stand

By now you've heard more about the Don Imus story than you have ever wanted to know. I never listened to Don Imus, don't care for him or the values he represents. This post isn't about Don Imus but rather Vivian Stringer

I became acquainted with Vivian Stringer from afar when we moved back to Iowa in 1991. She was the University of Iowa women's basketball coach from 1983-1995. I admired her leadership, the way her teams played and most of all, the way she handled her husbands death in 1993.

But I'm not the only one who has admired Vivian Stringer's character and work. In recognition of her many accomplishments and service to the game, Stringer was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on June 9, 2001. She was named the National Coach of the Year three times by her peers. She also was named the 1993 Coach of the Year by Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Converse, the Los Angeles Times and the Black Coaches Association; the District V Coach of the Year in 1985, 1988 and 1993; the District I Coach of the Year in 1998; the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1993; the Big East Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2005; and the 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2005 Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year. One of her most personally-gratifying accolades is the 1993 Carol Eckman Award, which acknowledges the coach demonstrating spirit, courage, integrity, commitment, leadership and service to the game of women’s basketball.

A finalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award five times, Stringer was honored by the U.S. Sports Academy when the organization decided to name its annual women’s coaching award in her honor. The C. Vivian Stringer Medallion Award of Sport for Women’s Coaching was handed out for the first time in July of 2002. In 2003, she was recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the “101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports,” and during the summer of 2004 she received the Black Coaches Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

All that to say, when Vivian speaks, people listen. This lady walks the walk and has earned the right to speak and be heard. Many analysts believe that Vivian Stringer's press conference was the tipping point in the Imus saga. She put a face on the innocent victims - all 18-20 year old girls, and eloquently talked about her past and the pain that these careless words had inflicted. She wept as she shared from her heart. Her 2o minute press conference speech is a must read. Mr. Imus messed with the wrong woman.

Vivian recounted a traumatic incident when she was 16. There had never been a minority cheerleader in her high school. Friends encouraged her to try out but she was reluctant, fearing the consequences. Listen to Vivian tell the story.

As my father approached me about this, I said no. And he said some things that would ring true to me. It was a life-altering experience. And he said to me, “Vivian, if you don’t stand up for something, you’ll fall for anything. And you know what, this might not be about you or for you. But it is for future generations of young women that you need to make a stand. And I’ll leave you with that. Go to sleep and make your decision in the morning.”

Vivian went on to become the first minority cheerleader in her school, paving the way for other young women who followed in her foot steps.

Listen to the final words from her press conference.

And I say to them, to their parents, I thank them for entrusting me with their lives. I understand the magnitude of my responsibility. And with every breath in my body I will defend them, because I am honored, I am proud, so very proud and so fortunate that the good Lord has allowed me to be a coach. That’s an awesome responsibility.

And so to my coaches and to my team, I thank them. They have no reason to drop their heads. We hold our heads high with dignity, and as my father said, “with respect for ourselves.” And I ask that everyone, everyone who can hear my voice, please understand that we all need to make changes. We all need to make changes. Yes, it happens to be Mr. Imus, but beyond Mr. Imus, it’s all of us.

Do we understand what’s going on in our society? And maybe these young people who taught us, you know, how to be winners on the basketball court can also serve as examples of winners in life. You know in the Bible they say, even a child shall lead. Perhaps the babes will lead. These are smart ladies. These are classy young women. These are very bright young women. And I am thankful to this university for allowing me to serve as their coach and to all of the people who have been associated with them.

Vivian didn't ask to be thrust onto the stage for all the world to see. She didn't want to have to stand up in a press conference to defend the character of her team. She didn't want her Final Four appearance to be marred with controversy.

But Vivian learned at a young age from a father who loved her to not back down from a bully. She learned to hold her head up high with dignity. She learned to serve and lead with grace. She learned how to grieve losses in life that are larger than a won-loss record. Vivian learned how to forgive those who inflict pain and hurt. Vivian Stringer is a strong woman who knows when it's time to take a stand.

Forgiven

Gerry McNamara

The boys were celebrat'n at the Pagel house this weekend. It's official, we're suffering from Orange Fever! Syracuse University won the Big East Conference basketball tournament on Saturday, securing an NCAA tournament bid. It was an improbable feat, one that no one expected. Consider these facts:

• The Big East is the toughest conference in the country.
• Syracuse had lost their last three games coming into the tournament, including getting beat by DePaul (a team that didn't even make the Big East tournament) by 39 points! By the way, Jason went to that game in Chicago and saw Jim Boeheim's worst defeat ever!
• It was generally accepted, even by Coach Boeheim, that Syracuse had played themselves out of a spot in the NCAA tournament.
• Syracuse had to play the University of Connecticut in the second round. UConn just happens to be the #1 team in the nation and had already beaten Syracuse twice during the regular season.
• No team had ever won the conference tournament without receiving a first round bye. Syracuse became the first team to win four games.
• Syracuse could have easily lost all four games. Come from behind victories and three point shots at the buzzer made for heart-stopping drama.
• Just days before the tournament, Gerry McNamara, the senior team leader, was criticized for being over-rated. Even the Syracuse Herald newspaper joined in the criticism. All Gerry did to answer his critics was to hit a tournament record 16 three point shots, win three games at the buzzer, and be named tournament MVP!
• Syracuse went from being out of the tournament to a number 5 seed in just four short days.

You have to love the underdog. And you can't help feel their joy when they come out of no where to exceed everyone's expectations. That's what's so thrilling about March Madness. In one brief moment in time, an improbable hero is born and an unlikely victor is crowned. For a short moment in time, the tears of victory erase all the memories of the past. In one moment in time, all can be forgiven.

Dare to Dream

J-Mac

By now you may have already heard of Jason McElwain, the 17 year-old student manager of the Greece Athena varsity basketball team outside of Rochester, New York. The story begins in a very familiar way. Jason who is too short at 5' 6", doesn't make the JV roster and becomes the student manager of the varsity boys team. Jason works hard and becomes a valued and respected part of the team. In three years as student manager he only missed one game. So far so good, nothing too unusual yet.

That is until February 15, 2006; Senior Night and the last home game of the year for Greece Athena. Coach Johnson told J-Mac that he would try to get him in the game, but couldn't promise him anything. And then with 4 minutes and 19 seconds left in the game and Greece Athena up by 20, Coach Johnson called J-Mac's number.

259 seconds later Jason had become the game's leading scorer, set a new school record for the most 3 point baskets made in a game and was carried off the floor on the shoulders of his team mates. Oh, and did I mention that Jason is autistic and this was the only varsity game he ever played? Don't believe it? Use this link and push the play button on the video to see for yourself.

This has to be the feel-good story of the year. It reminds us again that everyone, regardless of their disability or talent level, can make a valued contribution. That a community of people working together for a common purpose can transcend individual accomplishment. That great things sometimes happen to those who persevere and attend to the "small things". And that sometimes with some some help from our friends, dreams do come true.

What we all want in life is a shot. But what we do with it, that's a story we all want to tell. Jason took his, and now it's a story we can all tell. So, what's your story? Let's dare to dream!