I think part of his disdain for sports stems from his best friend Richard who loved, I mean LOVED sports. When my dad first came here from El Salvador he lived with Richard and his wife in Houston. Richard spent more time in front of the TV watching the Oilers and Astros than he did with his own wife. My dad always resented him for that. I learned a good lesson from that: people are more important than sports. Simple enough, really, but there will always be another game, there will always be another time to sit in front of the TV, but you never know when you will get another chance to spend time with your loved ones or just go out in the world and do something important with your life.
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I endured some painful heartbreaks (along with every Spurs fan) during the 90s. The names Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Hakeen Olajuwon still burn bad images in my soul. One of those 3 guys always stuck it to the Spurs (Don't believe me? Here are the Spurs playoff losses starting in 1992: 1992-Phoenix, 1993-Phoenix, 1994-Utah, 1995-"The one that still hurts the most because THIS was supposed to be their year" Houston, 1996-Utah, 1997-"The Robinson injury year. The year in which we went from one of the top 8 teams to the 3rd worst team in the League but it's ok because we got Duncan" No playoffs, 1998-Utah. Yeah, still hurts. But every cloud has a silver lining and even sports fans have to walk through the equivalent of sports hell to get to sports heaven. Which is why I love sports so much. It hurts, it helps, makes you feel like Mr. Big Nuts, makes you cry to your best friend's dad on the phone (or voicemail in my case).
So yeah I paid my dues with the Spurs, which makes their title wins so sweet. Well, kinda. Of the Spurs' four championships this past decade I have only witnessed one title-clinching game on live on TV. What was I doing during 2003, 2005 and 2007? Living life man! Don't get me wrong I wish I was in front of the TV watching them win another trophy but I had things to do. The four title-clinching games for me break down like this:
- 1999. I still remember where I was for the first one. Nothing like that first title. My dad, my Tio Juan and I were in the backyard watching the game. I still remember Avery Johnson's game winner and the Knicks failure to score on the last posession.
- 2003. I went to a basketball tournament in Austin (which also happened to be my last meaningful organized basketball games). I missed the last 3 games of the series, and heard the clincher on the radio as we were driving back home, through San Antonio oddly enough.
- 2005. I was studying abroad in Italy. I saw Game 1 at an Irish bar in Madrid. Unfortunately, Game 7 coincided with my trip to the Italian alps. That meant like zero bars or similar places to watch the game.
- 2007. I saw the first couple games but I was in Atlanta doing my Teach for America training. I was so tired during the clincher that I just HAD to sleep. Sleep I did, I was out by 8pm.
(I hope my girlfriend doesn't use the last few paragraphs against me. In reality there are certain sporting events that you almost cannot miss: The Super Bowl, Hatton-Pacquiao, Most of March Madness, Texas-OU, etc. But when worse comes to worse you just have to miss them)
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On Sunday, Eyebrows asked me if I wanted to go to the Hawks game on Wednesday. Oh and by the way this wasn't just any Hawks game, they would be playing my Spurs. I haven't seen the Spurs play in person in about 5 years. Of course I was down to go, the proposition that much sweeter because I was taking a personal day on Thursday.
Before I fast-forward to Monday, I kinda have to explain a couple things here, but I'll make it as concise as possible. So there is like one Mexican kid at my school (I know I said I wouldn't talk about my job but this is kinda not the same...oh well that lasted like 2 entries). Daniela calls him my little brother, which I guess is a good way to put it. I was worried about Rolando for most of last semester. It was his first semester of high school and on top of that he was lonely since he was the only brown kid in the halls. I was really happy to hear that he decided to try out for the Soccer team and even happier when made Varsity (there's no JV, but still). He had a whole new set of friends, a better attitude, and he even started spittin' game to the only Mexican girl at the school. I could tell he wanted me to go to the first soccer game of the season, so of course I was there.
It was kind of funny because I went for one reason, and I ended up staying for another. Rolando hardly played that day (he's a small 9th grader who has a lot of growing to do, playing with and against giants in comparison, plus he's not that fast, Rolando is, unfortunately, no Ronaldo) and rarely plays now. What I saw at the games, though, was something I didn't expect to see: a pretty good team.
You see last year was pretty bad for the Lions. I went to a couple games and the score was 16-0. and 9-0. Not only that, the players didn't respect each other, their coach, or themselves. This year they are playing together and enjoying themselves. And even though their record is not necessarily indicative of their growth, they are always competitive and have a chance to win every game.
Ok back to Monday and Monday night's game. It was against our main rivals, Creekside High School. The first half was pretty entertaining highlighted by both teams getting fouled in the box and scoring on their penalty kicks. But Creekside had scored first and the score was 2-1 at the half. I don't know what it is about the Lions, but they always play terribly at the beginning of the second half. This game was no different. Without their best two defenders they were quickly down 4-1, which, if you know soccer, is like being down 30 points in basketball.
Well if the Lions were going to give up, their fans sure weren't. This is where 'they' becomes 'we.' You know, like when your boy says, "Oh man we totally beat the Eagles today!" But in reality you know that your boy did nothing but watch the game on his couch while DeMarcus Ware had like 3 sacks. Well, the 15 or so people in the stands truly affected the game. LET'S GO LIONS, LET'S GO LIONS! We yelled, cheered and clapped (so much that I bruised my left hand). And you know what, it helped! We started to affect the game. They were passing when they weren't in space, moving the ball when they had space, shooting shots on goal, getting corners, playing D. They were down 3 goals but it didn't seem like it.
And just when you thought there was no hope, here comes Victor Okafor with a MONSTER goal from 25 yards out. No one was marking him, he was striding down the field with the ball and then goooooooool, 4-2 Creekside. Well, not five minutes later, Victor is in the same position (I swear the soul of Steven Gerrard entered this kid for the last 25 minutes of the half) looking as confident as ever. He's 30 yards out, and I can still see the ball in my head going for the right post. As soon as it hit the net I yelled, "BOOM!" A fucking bomb ass goal, made the first one (which was a bomb ass goal in its own right) look like a routine score.
We were going fucking wild. I was jumping around like I never have at a live sporting event. Those of you that know soccer can probably tell me the 5 best goals you have ever seen. You can tell me where you were, who scored it, who they were playing, the situation, etc. This was one of those goals. The kind of thing you wait an entire season for, the feeling that you just can't buy. Creekside 4-3, they were in trouble.
It's funny because sometimes things just fall into place the way they do in movies. It was almost as if there were cameras recording because five minutes later Victor is coming down the field again. He's 25 yards out, unmarked, cocks back the right leg (at this point we are all holding our breaths, as if we knew what was going to happen next) and...misses right. Ouch. They would get a couple more chances (along with an obvious no call that would have resulted in a penalty kick) but things don't always work out the way you want them to: Creekside 4, Westlake 3, full time.
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I guess I have become "that supporter" for these kids. I see them in the halls and they thank me for watching them play. Other than their families, I'm the only person that goes to their games. In fact, I'm the only staff member that is even there (their coaches work at the middle school). Let's get one thing straight though, I am a busy guy. I am not there because I want a bunch of kids to feel better about themselves or because I want to feel like I am being a good community member (both of which might be happening anyway). No, I'm there because they make me want to be there. I'm there because, now, I have to see them play.
Oh, yeah so how was the Spurs game? I sent Eyebrows this email on Tuesday morning:
Bro i know I said I wanted to go to the game but the boys' soccer team at my school has senior night on Wednesday. I am a big supporter of our team and I don't wanna miss the game.
No lie these games are exciting as hell. Thanks though!
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So there you have it, I'd rather watch a high school soccer game than go see my most favorite team in the world play live. I'm telling you, there are more important things! So dad, I guess I agree and disagree with you here. You are right, there are more important things than sports in life. I decided not to go see the Spurs because I felt it was more important to see my students play ball. But papi, you are wrong. We do get something from sports. We get the memories, the happy feelings, the stomach pains. And sometimes, if we are lucky enough to be on a freezing pitch some random Monday night, there will be a chance for us to make a difference.
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