Wednesday Cardinal Couple -- Rez Ball Part II

WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

- Rez Ball: Part II

( Today we bring you Part II in Gary Witherspoon's three part article on Rez Ball. If you missed Part I..it can be found in last Wednesday's CARDINAL COUPLE. Gary has also sent a WNBA Playoffs Preview that will run Thursday.)

Enjoy!

Part III:  Showboating or Showtime?

It has often been said that art is in the eye of the beholder, and I propose that is also true of whether a particular play or style of play is viewed as showboating or showtime. 

A couple of nights ago I was listening to an interview with the “Big O” Oscar Robertson.  The interviewer, Chris Webber, said he saw a film of one of Oscar’s high school games where his hand was above the square on the backboard on an attempted tip in, and he said he was impressed.  He said “I had thought players back in your time (late 1950s) were not as athletic as they are today.  Oscar said, “we could do all the things players do today, but we were not allowed to do them.  My high school coach said he would kick us off the team if he ever saw us do a dunk - anytime - not only in a game, but also in practice or even playing in a pickup game in the gym.  Our coach said that was showboating, and it was a corruption of the purity of the game, and made a travesty of basketball tradition and sportsmanship.”  That was the majority opinion back then.

Just last year, Marie Taylor, an ESPN reporter, said that Kim Mulkey told Brittney Griner when she came on the Baylor campus that she would be benched if she ever hurt the team’s chances of winning a game because of doing a dunk.  At this year’s WNBA All-Star game, the players on both teams set up a play so that Brittney Griner would have a chance to do a dunk, which was one of the highlights of the game.  There are more missed layups than there are missed dunks in women’s basketball.  Why is there so much prejudice against the dunk?

It is amazing how backward and short-sighted some basketball coaches have been and continue to be about their sport and profession, and how easily they forget that they are in the entertainment business.  We need to remember the history described above when we consider whetherrez ball is showboating or showtime.  Or whether rez ball and high flying poster dunks are just another culture’s style regarding how to play and enjoy the game.

There is a saying that has its foundation in the game of golf:  Different strokes for different folks.  We might extend that perspective to propose that in basketball there are different styles for different players.  Rez ball introduces non-Native Americans to a style of play built on the idea of playing the game for the joy of the creator, for the joy of the community and for the joy of the players.  Such a game can heal the sick, entertain the less fortunate, honor and celebrate all of creation.  These are actually the ancient traditions from which the modern game of basketball was developed and modified..

Magic Johnson came into the NBA in 1979 when the league was struggling.  He brought showtime to the league.  Without knowing it, his style of basketball and his approach to playing the game exemplified the ideals and essence of rez ball and put joy back into the game.  He came into the league with an effusive presence, a charming personality, and a smile that lit up the whole arena.  For him the game was fun and exciting, and that fun and excitement - that joy of playing - turned out to be contagious and captivating;  it infused the sport and the whole league with a new spirit and a new style.

It just might be that in a pattern similar to what Magic Johnson did for the NBA, Ms. Shoni Schimmel is in the process of doing for the WNBA.  Shoni runs the plays and tries to do what her coach asks her to do; but, with a little here and a little there, and a whole lot in the All-Star game, Shoni is introducing rez ball to the WNBA and to the whole world of women’s basketball.  By so doing, she is re-injecting a new level of joy into the game.  This will not corrupt the purity of the game, but take it back to its ancient origin and tradition.

It is relevant that Iroquois college lacrosse players, brothers Miles and Lyle Thompson, took the world of college lacrosse by storm in 2013-2014.  Playing for the University of Albany (New York) with a big time schedule, the Thompson brothers each scored more points (goals and assists) over the last two seasons than anyone else had scored in the history of college lacrosse.  In an unusual event, the Tewaaraton Trophy, the Heisman Trophy of Division I college lacrosse, was awarded to both Miles and Lyle Thompson.  The Thompsons, along with cousin, Ty, have led the Albany team in becoming the highest scoring team in Division I lacrosse for last two years in a row. In 2014 Albany defeated top ranked Loyola to reach the quarter finals of the NCAA tournament where they lost a heartbreaking overtime game to Norte Dame 14-13.  Albany squandered a 5 goal lead in the fourth quarter in route to the overtime loss.  Notre Dame went on to the finals.

The following is from the NY Times

The Thompsons — whose cousin, Ty, had 41 goals and 12 assists to help make Albany the highest-scoring team in Division I for two straight seasons — were born on a Mohawk Indian reservation in northern New York and relished the breakthrough because it was something very special.

“Words cannot describe how happy I am. It brought tears to my eyes,” Lyle added. “To share the award with my brother is an honor. For us, it is about bringing a positive influence and helping people, not just Native Americans, but everyone.”

Tewaaraton is the Mohawk name for their game, and the bronze trophy depicts a single Mohawk player adorned in a simple loincloth and golden eagle feather. It’s mounted on a hexagon-shaped slab of black granite, the six-sided base symbolizing the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy — the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora tribes.

The Thompsons brought joy, innovation and flare to the game of lacrosse. They made quick and daring assists and made deceptive and creative shots from behind the back, over the shoulder, and between the legs that drove goalies crazy.  You could say they brought joy to the college game of lacrosse, or you could also say they bought showtime or rez ball to the college game of lacrosse, the Creator’s Game.

Lacrosse and the Thompsons are relevant to the rez ball and showtime discussion here because the lacrosse played by the Thompsons and the rez ball played by Shoni Schimmel derive from common cultural roots, values and emphases.  And the games they play, as well as the styles they exemplify, have their antecedents in the Indigenous sports history of the Americas.

NCAA Women's Championship tonight

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TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE 


-BAYLOR, NOTRE DAME PLAY FOR TITLE TONIGHT


-SOFTBALL HOSTS KENTUCKY WEDNESDAY


-CATS TONE IT DOWN A BIT AFTER NCAA WIN


The NCAA Women's Championship game takes place tonight in the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO. Undefeated Baylor against 35-3 Notre Dame. 

It is as most expected it to be. Contenders for the throne Connecticut and Stanford falling in the semifinal games of the Final Four...the Huskies going out growling and gnashing. Stanford never really in the game against Baylor...but accomplishing something that the Irish would love to figure out how to do.


Stop Brittany Griner.


'The Grinder' went for 32 points and 14 grabs against Notre Dame in November in the 94-81 Baylor win. At 6'8", she's shown that she can dunk other than in practice. Notre Dame starts no one taller than 6'2". Even with two-time BIG EAST defensive player of the year Devereaux Peters on the squad, there is still about 6 inches of height disparity there. 


We asked basketball fans, a former coach and the Yorkies their opinions. We threw most of that advice in the recycling bin. Co-Co, when asked, started piling up containers of banana pudding next to Griner's picture. Jeff Walz would probably tell you that you let her get hers and shut down the rest of the team. Jeff Foxworthy most likely would tell her "You Might Just be a Redneck" jokes until her sides hurt from laughter. 


Nevertheless, we managed to come up with a "top 10" list of ways you keep Griner from scoring. Enjoy the game tonight!


TOP TEN WAYS TO KEEP BRITTANY GRINER FROM SCORING


10. Tell her prior to the game that her baskets will be worth only one point.

Replace the cigarette with
Brittany's face and "smoking"
with "Griner".

9. Put a picture of her face on the backboard with a circle around it and line thru it. 
8. Inform Kim Mulkey that tonight's contest will be a 6'4" and under game.
7. Attach brooms to the forearms of the Notre Dame paint players. 
6. Put a sign over the entrance to the court...CLEARANCE 6'3" AND UNDER ONLY. TALL PLAYERS FOLLOW DETOUR ROUTE.
5. Call Anthony Davis and see what he's up to tonight.
4. Strategically place sharp-shooters in the stands with instructions to shoot the ball whenever she gets it. 
3. Have Natalie Novosel carry Devereaux Peters around on her shoulders the entire game. 
2. Install secret trap doors underneath each basket and open them when Griner gets in the paint. 
1. Give Tonya Harding a front row seat for the game and equip her with a police baton. 


Tip is 8:30 p.m. tonight on the four-letter network. 


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Louisville softball looks to rebound (maybe a wrong choice of words) from the 1-2 weekend against DePaul in Chicago with a Wednesday non-conference game against UK. The two met last week in Lexington...UofL taking a 1-0 victory on Kristin Austin's solo shot to lead off the fourth. 

Expect Ulmer Stadium seats and the surrounding berm to be packed for this one. Hopefully, the weather will co-operate. We expect the Cards to produce a few more runs in this one, buoyed by the large fan support they'll have in the seats and berm. 


Not sure who Sandy Pearsall will hand the ball to for starting pitching duties...but Tori Collins mowed down Wildcat batters with relative ease in Lexington and she's had three days rest. If she falters, the Cards have Chelsea Leonard and Caralisa Connell to bring in for relief. 

Attendance for the game in Lexington was announced at over 1000 (barely). We must do better, Cardinal fans! Tickets are $5 and can be purchased through the UofL Ticket office. We expect "walk-up" purchases will be available as well. Game time is 6 p.m. 


Here's hoping the Cards batters can shake the "bees" out of their bats and find open space and the fences against UK. Gotta bring UK Sports down a notch after Monday night, right?


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Finally, congratulations to UK for winning the NCAA Men's Championship. Also, congratulations to UK fans for not repeating as much stupidity on the streets as they did Saturday night. Early reports we've heard indicate that only car was set ablaze, one garage burned and one person shot. 

Couches and recliners torched...well, that a different story.   Let the students have their fun to a certain extent, we say. It's quite an honor to win a National Championship. WE remember the crazy scene down on the Belknap Campus when Louisville took the title in 1986. Paul was in Indianapolis when Louisville won in 1980 (but remembers very little about the post-game celebration).

"A riot is an ugly thing!"

The key is moderation and no violence after a major accomplishment. It sounds like 99% of the party people last night kept it destructive free. And, that's a good thing.


A UK fan informed me yesterday that the same thing would have occurred in Louisville that did on Saturday in Lexington if the Cards had advanced to the championship game. 


We'll never know, of course...but something tells me that the smell of burning couches in the air wouldn't have been as prevalent and insurance claims on torched automobiles non-existent.  


So, to my UK friends that are classy, congratulations. Stay classy. To all other BIG BLUE boasters out there, don't flaunt it in front of me. 

Who's the happiest guy in New Orleans today? Why no other than World Wide Wes. See the hug between him and Anthony Davis after the game? Notice how WWW was strategically seated behind Calipari? Easier to pull the puppet strings from there I suppose. 


To paraphrase the words of Jack Nicholson in the movie A Few Good Men:

"All you did last night is weaken the institution of college basketball, Coach Cal." 


A bunch of "one and done" players won the National Championship last night. 


Ho, hum.


That little boy on an Indiana farm, shooting baskets until dark at the hoop attached to the side of the barn, yeah...he's all about "one and done" He may have a good 3 or 4 years playing in high school, get a ride from a state school and even start by his senior year. He won't go to the NBA but may return to that small Indiana town a few years later and open a family practice physicians office or join the local insurance agency. His friends and parents will be proud of him. He won't be hanging out with rappers. 


That little boy may return to the inner city as the first child in his family with a college degree. He may be on the staff of a outreach sports programs that offers kids a gym to play in instead of the streets to get in trouble in. He'll settle down, marry and raise a family. They'll go to church on Sunday and visit ailing Auntie Jess twice a week.

That little boy may finish his four years of eligibility but be a few credit hours short of his degree. He'll return home, go to work in the local factory on man the back of a garbage truck 40 hours a week. He'll be a legend and hero to his friends, though. They'll toast him in the local tavern he frequents on the weekend. They'll remember that clutch rebound against the #2 seed in the tournament to clinch the win or his long range three to send the conference championship game to overtime. And, maybe someday he enrolls in his local community college or goes back to his Alma mater and gets the bachelors' degree.


You know World Wide Wes is all over these pieces of chum, right? 

But, that little boy is what men's college basketball should be all about. Sadly, today...it's about 5 or 6 guys from the National Championship that will flirt with representation, agents, handlers and salaries next year. Modern English Literature 101 will probably take a back seat. 


You can tell me things aren't the way they used to be anymore. That things have changed. That it's a different world and my way of thinking is antiquated. Call men's college hoops NBA Lite if you want. I'm not listening or subscribing. 


Pardon me if I remain behind for awhile. Weather here suits my clothes a little better...
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