June 26, 2008 at 1:50 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I was looking at the Shaq Effect Post from earlier this year and noticed that I had a reference to a man named Harry Lehotsky.
I also noticed that I have never spoken of him before or since. I went back in my blog and searched the name and everything. Couldn’t find any indication that I have written of him before.
Harry died on November 11, 2006 after a long battle with Pancreatic Cancer. He was the minister at my church – he married my wife and I and baptized my first born son – and more than that, he was a mentor and a personal hero of mine. He was a brave man whose heart was so big that he never had trouble giving back or helping the community. He was a man who TRULY understood life on a deeper level. He was able to relate and speak truthfully and lovingly with anyone – from prostitutes to drug dealers, pimps, con-men, gang members, addicts and everyday joes like me. He met a lot of people and made a lot of enemies – but he made even more friends.
Looking into his eyes you could see unconditional love, strength, compassion, understanding, fire and zest for life and a deep desire to make the world a better place.
……… really, none of the words I write above can ever do the man justice. He touched SO many people and made such a huge, TANGIBLE difference in people’s lives that there are not enough descriptors or adjectives to tell you how truly wonderful of a human being he was.
He also happened to be a die hard basketball fan and the man could BALL! He had a great outside jumper and he was tenacious on both ends of the court. I coached two of his three kids while at Gordon Bell and it was truly an honour for me to do so – one of the highlights of my coaching career.
I’m surprised that I haven’t blogged about him before ….. I think about him and the many things I learned from him often. I found myself thinking of him a lot this month. Some days I feel grateful and yet other days I feel overcome with grief at his passing (some days I have to cry). So it was a bit shocking and vexing that I had not blogged about Harry before as he is a person who is a landmark in my life.
Anyway, this is my personal shout out to a man who – not being a part of my immediate family – made such a HUGE impact on my life that I will never be able to forget him.
June 25, 2008 at 10:29 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Shaq has never been afraid to speak his mind, even at the expense of others. This week, Shaq disses Kobe Bryant in a freestyle rap. Check the video below …
Well, given the fact that A.I. is due to make $20.84 million next year, I’d say I would be happy to be there too … as for Melo … I think his career is headed down Vince Carter Boulevard …
Richard Jefferson is a good player – albeit not a high scorer type. But he is tough. And teaming a soft Lamar Odom with an even softer Vince Carter … well … I’d say a J.V. team would have a pretty good shot at beating an NBA franchise then …
It was a big difference from the way he (Kobe) went out last year, when he was seething after losing Game 5 in Phoenix, angry that he’d had to go to battle with this group, upset that his input hadn’t been solicited or heeded, frustrated that another one of his prime years had gone by the wayside, anxious that it wouldn’t get better fast.
Bryant looked a little trapped. Losing always hurts, but this time he can’t unleash and demand a trade the way he did last summer. Not after he got a bunch of hard-working teammates who came back better, then an All-Star big man at a Euros-for-dollars exchange rate.
There would have been something karmically wrong about a guy being rewarded with a championship a year after he trashed his teammates and the organization. Bryant needs to be quiet this summer, and maybe even work out harder. He’s known as a fitness fanatic, but he faded in the latter stages of the last two games, his jumpers coming up shorter and shorter.
The question is whether this game will be a tombstone or a turning point for the Lakers. It evoked memories of the 148-114 loss to the Celtics at the start of the 1985 NBA Finals. That wound up launching the Lakers into the run that cemented their team-of-the-’80s status. Pat Riley came up with the keynote speech of his Lakers career, channeling the parting words from his father to inspire his team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar uncorked the greatest series in the twilight of his career, and Magic Johnson redeemed himself for his choke job in 1984. The Lakers won that series, and two of the next three as well.
To paraphrase one of the most famous sports rants in this town’s history, Riley, Kareem and Magic aren’t walking through that door.
These Lakers couldn’t live up to their tradition-laden past. The question now is, can they fulfill the promise of their future?
——-
Rajon Rondo’s Game 6 stat line: 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, six steals, and just one turnover.
So May came and went. My Spurs were eliminated in the playoffs and I was very sad.
And then the weekend of May 30 – June 1 came.
3-on-3.
My unofficial “start-of-summer” weekend bash.
Last year’s was good but not satisfying. I had a very bad back. Lots of pain. And we came in second place to a very average team. We just didn’t play well. And it stuck with me all summer and all winter long.
My team’s goal this year was nothing less than a gold medal – championship.
It was tough. Kenny (blonde kid) was at work all Saturday and my bro Jimmy shafted the team by going to fight (Muay-Thai) instead of playing as originally planned.
So we were 2 players short for Saturday. But we played AWESOME. We won our two games 16-6 and 16-7 and rocketed to the top of our division. We had solid cuts, good rebounding, solid shooting, great communication … it was FUN.
Saturday night I had a party for the guys on the team and we only had 5 show up, but we played Wii Sports and it was a blast. The highlight of the night was hearing guys tell each other to “eat it” as they returned serves in Wii Tennis. Funny Stuff.
Sunday we played our final round robin game (16-6 win) and we then proceeded to advance to the semi finals of the playoffs due to our standing in the division.
Our semi final game was intense. We were up by 6 and then went down by 4 before we tightened up the D and won the game 17-15. Rough game. But very satisfying win because we simply worked it out.
Then it was time for the final. Again we took an 11-5 lead and let it slip away and went down by 3. The score was 14-11 and then we decided to pull away. But the other team didn’t take it lying down and they hit some RIDICULOUS fade away 3 pointers into the wind to keep it within 1. We won the game, in the end, 19-17 (overtime) on a free throw.
This was the first picture taken after getting our medals.
My buddy Nathan made the trip all the way from Alberta just for the tournament and he’s long since gone now. But I know he’s smiling because we got what we came for.
See the jerseys we’re wearing? Yup. Made those ourselves on Friday night. Stayed up til 2am making those bad boys.
I’ve played in the 3-on-3 since the late 90′s and I can honestly say that I have never had a more satisfying win than this one.
Thanks go out to my boys Dan (Thunder), Kenny (Chris) & Diggy (Nate) on an awesome win and the best … weekend … EVER!