“A paradox” indeed quoteth the CBS announcer. A jock from the word”go” into the spiraling March Madness sweet sixteen the final four the one two punch... the Yukon huskies of Connecticut have emerged as the dazzlingest....their gum chewing Jim Calhoun’s “arch de triumph”
II
His own tempo and flow of the game beginning back when was hired at age 42, he leaving his
Boston roots at Northeastern for UConn...the year1986 partner!.
For a quarter of a century, h and his kids evolved into three Ncaa championships, their Holy Grail of athleticism....where he learned the “game” growing up at Boston’s Northeastern...Red Auerbach’s Celtics smothering defense and Bob Cousy Bill Russell full court press., John Havelcek... “Hondo’ the sixth man coming off the bench..
III
Hero worshiping in search of the Hol y Grail goes the paradox. But Kemba Walker of the the Bronx and a Apollo theater magician led his mates thru an eleven game winning streak after losing five of six during then regular war..
Undefeated thru their Big East and the Ncaa hoops.
Are they all chewing the same gum as coach Calhoun?.
“Touche”
IV
A paradox, indeed partner.
Just ask Kemba Walker aka” EzPass”. their floor leader, and a Bob Cousy complete player.
Will he emulate two other Hall of Famers in Dennis Rodman and Bay Ridge’s own Chris Mullin of St. Johns......for “Ez Pass” to be mentioned in the same breathe as Dennis the menace and the pure shooting Mullin is in itself a paradox
To step up with the money shot is not only warranted but demanded as “Ez pass’s” passport into paradise. .
Growing up in Bronx environs.A Catholic high school.
The authority figures helping him see thru the fiction...the street scene from the reality.
V
Never straying, “Ez Pass” grasped the metaphor, and his entry into the Holy Grail.
A divine providence to the Storrs campus and the father figure of coach Calhoun,
winding down his twenty five year old program..
In this instance tte Butler bulldogs couldn’t break thru the second half, the Huskies length and tenaciousness in defending the rim, holding them to a dismal percentage, their shot selection and lay ups seemed anxious and unlucky..
VI
Arriving at Storrs philosophy department at the height of the Vietnamese transgression, the chairman put in a call to Dr. Robert Hutchins, formerly the Yale treasurer, and President of Chicago University.
Not unlike “Ez Pass” they put me out to graze at the Hartford and Waterbury campuses
The paradox as Jackie Gleason would say “How sweet it is Norton” Art Carney stepping up,
emerging from the sewer into “Ez Pass’s” promised land..
Their 67 year old gum chewing father figure Jim Calhoun and his “Ez Pass” basking in his third basketball championship ...a monumental stretch into immortality.
A paradox, indeed. “Ez Pass”?
Storrs, Connecticut April 5, 2011.
