AMERICA The 1st

THURSDAY October 30 - SIDEBAR SPORTING MEMORIES THAT LED TO THIS MOMENT As a young boy growing up in Australia my first sporting memories were of going to VFL Park (later Waverly Park) to watch Fitzroy play Aussie Rules Football. I remember Dad and I made a sign that said 'Boot it Bernie' in reference to the Lion's full forward Bernie Quinlan. Quinlan's bad moustache was more than made up for by his extraordinary kicking ability. Other favourite players were Micky Conlon, Paul Roos, Gary Pert, Richard Osborne, Doug Barwick and Ross Lyon. The game I remember in particular was when we were playing against Footscray who's full forward Simon Beasley was doing a number on us. I don't know whether I hated him because he was a solid 80 goal a year full-forward who in this game was adding to my displeasure by demonstrating his proficciency in his profession or just because he was a balding nugget. I think I hated Phil Symth from the Canberra Cannons for this same reason. Maybe my thing with elite balding sportsman is that their skill should disappear with their hair. If they are still awesome they must be aliens or super smart or something. And that freaked me out when I was a kid. As a kid the footy was scary and jaw-dropping all at once with big massive stands, huge ovals, loud screams, yelling, words I had only heard on my Uncle's 12th Man CD, a huge scoreboard with a TV in it and all of the crowd, even women screaming about their "BALLS!" or something. Sadly these days, one of my favourite memories of that particular outing is no longer possible for fathers and sons na dthat is to get out on the game after the 3rd siren and play kick to kick. It's a great feeling being on the field and brings you closer to your heroes. Sadly, today, ground maintenance and the professionalism of the sport has taken away part of the soul of the game. I understand the importance of having a consistent playing surface. But its kind of asd that gone are the days of not knowing who is playing for who because of a mud-bath in the centre square down at Morrabin, Victoria Park, Windy Hill or the Junction oval. When we got home we watched the tape of the game and we got a big kick out of seeing our sign on the tele. Sure it wasn't zoomed in, but if we slowed the tape down we saw our blury sign show up and we knew that meant we were there too. Other big sporting memories include watching the Wimbledon tennis at Nanna's in Moe. It was fun to watch tennis at night and play cards while sitting on the plasticy biege couch. Wimbledon was always on during school holidays so I used to be up there for a week or so at a time usually. I remember Nanna walking me across the train tracks to get to Pervis', riding my bike up Langford Street and around the church. I used to draw heaps too on the big rolls of paper and also massive snake's and ladders boards. I also chopped wood, played cricket with Grandpa and eating awesome food. Lasagne, the soup with the pasta in it, risso, meat with either cheese bacon or lemon, wine, shandies and either Nanna or Grandpa falling asleep with their heads titled back and their mouths open. We also played lots of cards - with Nanna always getting grandpa a wet rag so he didn't lick his fingers 'No Licka!' I remember Ivan Lindal and his pockets full of sawdust, John McInroe, Jimmy Connors, Pat Cash, Matts Willander and eventually players like Stefan Edberg and a showpony diving Boris Becker. My other early sporting memories were of day-night cricket. I always thought day/night cricket was the pinancle of cricket, because Test cricket was only just that, a test. Like a test as in doesn't count. Haha stupid hey? Just like thinking if you hold your ear up to a sea shell you can hear the sounds of the beach. and watching (C) classified shows and not knowing that C stood for Child but actually the Sea. I reckon I was pretty slow on the uptake with a number of these things. Day/night cricket was great to watch on hot nights, the colourful uniforms, the bright lights, the run rate graphs and the streakers. Bill Lawry used to get so wound up. At night i'd have top peel my legs off the beanbag to ahve some ice-cream. The big Wst Indians like Joel Garner, Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd. The Harlem Globetrotters of cricket. Just the unbeatable masters of the sport. Seeing Allan Border, Dean Jones, David BOon and so forth take on these players equated to David taking on Goliath. When Dean Jones told Curtley Ambrose to take off his white arm ban Ambrose went ballistic. I think the first one day game i went to was between Australia and England. England had Gooch, Gower, Botham, Lamb, Small, Dilly, Embury and Gatting. In the game I was watching I think both Botham and Lamb were on their games. I don't remember the the Aussies from that game funnily enough. I guess it goes to show my fascinatiopn with International competition and how Australia, a country of little aussie battlers were taking on these big formidable international opponents. The other cricket games I remember were 2 boxing day tests. These I went and saw when I was quite a bit older, probably around 16 or so. One of the tests involved the entire morning and day sessions being rained out with play finally starting at 5.00pm. The other one was a bit more memorable for a different reason. There was a full day of cricket played but I don't think I saw a single ball bowled. The whole day was spent at the Bullring Bar in the Members Stand. We smuggled each other in two at a time. It was cool that Dad took me along and included me in this. After the game we went to a pub on the other side of Punt road. Other sporting memories include the Olympics and despite having better memories of the Sydney Games with Roy and H.G talking about battered savs, flat bags and hello boys, memories of that 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and then 1988 in Seoul were great. Florence Griffith Joyner, or Flo-Jo as she was known, and her massively long fingernails. Carl Lewis in everything and that diver Greg Lugainus splitting his head open on one of his dives. But all of these sports were pre-cursors to basketball. It would be have been around 1988 or 1989 when I think I first became fascinated by the sport. It was first shown in Australia on Channel 2 on a Friday night really late and then also repeated late on Saturday morning. The first game i think i saw was at the Spectrum. I remember that stadium vividly. The Sixers no longer play at here, I think they play at the Wachovia Centre. But back then they had Charles Barkley, Hersey Hawkins and Maurice Cheeks. Charles Barkley was at his athletic peak and that stage was a player who i thought was pyschotic. He had a real attitude and was basketball's equivalent of John McInroe. Not only was I watching American sports, which at the time was an absolute epitomy of sporting athleticism and greatness, but I was watching a sport that seemed to combine entertainment, music, lights and some cool chants like 'DE - FENSE!' and the d-d-d-da DA DA daaaaa-...CHARGE!'. It was like watching a real version of the World Wide Wrestling Federation. When I first saw Michael Jordan I thought he was a massive ball hog and i thought he was the first player in the history of the game to be allowed to get away with 'palming'. But i was captivated by the Chicago Bulls organ chants. It seemed so motivational, immediate and close, like as if the home team had a real advantage because the fans and production were so one-sided towards the home team. Cricket in Australia you could argue was also one-sided, but the crowd was not right next to the players and the stadium didn't actively support the home-team by using music and chants. Basketball was 'In your face'. Here was a team sport where players wrestled and bumped bodies in the paint, ran down the court at breakneck speed, all the while bouncing a ball with some precision skils that i'd only seen in sports like soccer. The passing. The shooting. How these big huge men could be so precise amazed me. The sound of the net going SWISH! was intoxicating. There is no sweeter sounds in sports, an immediate indication of the perfect shot. Seeing centres like the 7 foot Patrick Ewing do post up moves and shoot fade aways over an outsretched arm. Not only is it a sport of finesse and brute strength but also a game of athleticism. To see players contort and twist themselves as they slide past defenders to make shots is amazing. I remember Hubie Brown's sigh of amazement when Michael Jordan and the Chicago BUlls took on teh Bad Boys of the Detroit Pistons. He driubbled the ball down the right side of the court at speed with one defender lining him up to meet him at th rim. Jordan kept going anticipating the contact as he took off and spun to his right so his back was facing the basket. He hung in the air and flipped the ball over his head, being fouled in the process. And in the ball drops. That one play is pretty much indicative of the skill, grace and athleticism of the sport. And then the epitomy of aggression and power. The dunk. And the ways people can do it. It is such a spectacular move that there are contests based on this amazing shot. Also the 3-point shot, the first sport Iknow of that rewards shooting the ball in from a distance. I vaguey remember the Celtics vs the Lakers, but I have more vivid memories of the Lakers vs the Pistons. When Showtime was finally beaten by hustle. You could tell the league was changing as the team that was previously the fastest and most athletic began to look slow and old. Kareem's hook shot. the 'Skyhool'. Magic Johnson's passing in the lane with his look-a-ways, and round the backs. MIchael Jordan's scoring, dunking and ability to take over a game like no other person in any team sport. Charles Barkley, a brash 6 foot 4 inch power forward who could out rebound players 6 inches taller than him. And Larry Bird, a white man playing a black man's sport and despite lacking the high flying athleticism and quickness, still had the skill, awareness and dtermination to become one of the greatest the game has ever seen. It showed what hardwork could do. Enter Stve Nash. Here's a 6'3" man, who not only gives every short white guy hope, but won back-to-back MVP trophies. Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns breathed new life into the NBA, with their mantra being '7 seconds or less'. They brought showtime back to basketball thanks to Mike D'Antoni's system and the signing of Steve Nash after the 03-04 season. And now, here I was to walking down the race to see my favourite players, a 2-time MVP, one of the greatest centre's in league history, a team who had re-invented basketball, and a sport who's stars and skills had captivated me for more than 20 years. Tip off was less than an hour away.