My last regular season practice came on a cold, sunny March morning in Oxford, Ohio. It was a tired morning - one of those days that an extra hour of sleep would sell for more than its usual fare. But I can't complain. Several hours before, during our short, seven-hour bus trip, I was lucky enough to settle into a rare comfortable position and knock out for a few hours.
After a bowl of cereal, an especially smooth cup of strawberry-banana yogurt and a blueberry muffin, my gears were churning and I was ready to hit the floor for what would be the last practice before the last regular season game of my last year here at UB.
And I'm happy to say it was a good practice.
Now back to this bus trip.
I really don't know how I fell asleep, but I woke up to a heated debate. Several guys believe that Shaq is one of the best big men of all time. Well, Coach disagrees (of course). Coach has been a "Shaq-hater" for at least as long as I've been here; needless to say, this topic fires him up.
The discussion went from the obvious names like Kareem and Wilt (who are hands-down better than Shaq) to more dicey comparisons like David Robinson, Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan. Nene' even got thrown in the mix. But after checking stats (remember, it's 2010 so the internet is readily available via cell phone even on a bus in the middle of Nowheresville, Ohio) and watching old videos and asking everyone from assistant coaches to the team's radio broadcaster (see "Smurf," January, 2010), the argument carried on.
I honestly don't even have a conclusion to the story I just shared. Disappointing? Not considering that after seven hours on a bus plus two-hours at dinner, this topic is still yet to be settled. Shaq (barely) made my top ten big men of all time. Check it out:
Kareem
Wilt
Moses Malone
Bill Walton
Hakeem
Bill Russell
Patrick Ewing
David Robinson
Shaq
Tim Duncan
I may have left out a few names, but this is more or less a pretty solid list in my opinion. And I'm sticking to it. Tim Duncan is on the fence, but I was unable to come up with another name off the top of my head right now. My apologies.
This is not nearly the first time an argument has arisen from the back of the bus. Are you kidding? What else would we do besides argue to pass the boredom that comes from the hum of tires spinning on concrete for seven hours?
Just today, on the way back from practice we had a pseudo-argument over speed. First, there was some confusion as to how fast Deion Sanders ran the 40-yard dash. The world wide web assured us it was 4.19 seconds. Conversation over, right?
Wrong.
Of course guys now begin storytelling. We hear things like, "I would run a 4.3," and, "Well if you're running a 4.3, then I'm running at least a 4.2." For the speed-challenged reader, I'll let you understand that neither one of these times is very realistic. I could believe a 4.4 by one of our guys, possibly a lucky 4.38 or 4.39. Maybe. With the wind at his back. But a 4.2?
Then came the high school glory days stories where everyone on the bus swore they ran below a 4.5 - in high school, mind you. Which obviously relates to "at least a 4.3 now." We even learned that one of us ran a 4.3 in high school wearing only socks.
That must have been the same day that Pecos Bill lassoed the tornado and Paul Bunyan dug the Grand Canyon.
But these are what keep us close and make the hours pass by. There's never a lack of interesting stories - and heated arguments.
