Student Blog: Squash Players Drive Ferraris?

Local Squash Tournament

A routine trip to Lifetime Fitness took a strange turn on Friday when one of the basketball courts was being used for a volleyball game, and the other for a squash tournament. I had previous little knowledge of squash, other than that it was sort of like the game Jack plays on the Jack in the Box commercial with the guy who acts like a chicken.  After some research (okay a quick Google search) to find out why a squash tournament would require rows of stands and a huge TEXAS OPEN sign that took up an entire basketball court, it turns out the Texas Open is like the French Open or Wimbledon of squash; furthermore, the number one- ranked woman’s squash player, who hailed from Malaysia was participating. I even spotted a red Ferrari next to the club, which, according to rumors, belonged to the squash-playing prodigy. Squash powers-that-be are apparently making a push to be in the next Olympics, so if Malaysia wins gold I can brag about going to the same Lifetime as her. This was intense stuff too. I saw two men more than likely old enough for retirement benefits sacrificing their bodies in order to do whatever the object of squash is to do. One man even ran by me with a bloodied face followed by his entourage of supporters. The bottom line: Squash deserves a second look – I certainly gained a lot of respect for Squash players across the world, mainly the owner of that red Ferrari.  Personally, I’ve only achieved a Ferrari keychain.  

I DVR’d Spike Lee’s documentary (for all those people who like to keep track of which pieces of technology can be used as a verb, add DVR’d to your list), and I found it fascinating for two main reasons. Reason number one, just how smart Kobe Bryant is - I wouldn’t be surprised if he was giving a few more helpful hints to teammates than normal. After all, it was only a few years ago that his reputation went down the drain with his criminal charges, and since then he has been a walking PR machine “I love my fans and teammates”. Joking aside though, Bryant was practically an extension of Phil Jackson. He didn’t play PG, but he ran the team by pointing players in every which direction. He spoke a gazillion different languages, talking to Sasha Vujacic in fluent whatever-he-was-speaking, then turned around to pump up Lamar Odom. I’ve never been the biggest Kobe supporter, but I gained a lot of respect for the way he seemingly controlled the game. My second reason for enjoying the documentary? Kobe has an ego larger than Tracy Mcgrady’s injury repertoire. I watched Kobe set up plays beautifully all the way through, play lockdown D, then decide to throw up a clunker because he hadn’t shot in three straight possessions. His explanations usually went something like, “That play broke down” or “the best option was to iso,” when in reality it looked like any other play, except that he didn’t set up his teammates when they were in a half court set. The “me, me, me” attitude carried into the locker room too. I’m fairly certain Kobe talked more than Phil Jackson, and whenever Phil did say something Bryant almost immediately jumped in with some sort of side comment. Now don’t get me wrong, at the professional level, the difference in basketball IQ between the best players and coaches is a few points difference if anything at all. All I’m saying is that it seems like Kobe should be giving more face time to his coach, and the “Zen Master” has six more reasons than Kobe why he should obey.  I’m not condemning Kobe; when you’re that good for that long it’s impossible not to get a little selfish. I did, however, learn a lot about arguably the best player in the NBA. I simply don’t see Lebron as the same type of floor general as Kobe; he’s just the most freakish athlete in the NBA. Not taking anything away from the NBA MVP, but I’d definitely base a team around Kobe instead of James this year. If were talking long term, give me Lebron. 

 Time to tally round two results: I was 4/4 on predictions but only got the correct number of games for the Lakers/Rockets series. Orlando flat out dominated Boston in game seven, which came as a huge shock to me. This isn’t Antoine Walker’s Boston Celtics we’re talking about here; this is a team full of hard-workers who never give up on any play. At the end of the day though, Ray Allen was too inconsistent throughout the series, Rajon Rondo had a couple stinkers shooting the ball, and practically everyone else overachieved as much as they possibly could until it was evident that the Magic were just more talented. Most people will write off Orlando against the unstoppable Cavs, but give Dwight Howard and company a chance. Speaking of teams overachieving, Houston’s run finally came to an end in blowout fashion. There was very little to note from this game, except that Andrew Bynum actually looked like a legit center, and Luis Scola was very close to unleashing an Argentinean drop kick to Pau Gasol, who was flat out destroying Houston’s big men. The other two series aren’t worth mentioning because nothing happened except the Mark Cuban vs. Kenyon Martin’s mom debacle. Looking at the next round, I find it hard to believe in Charles Barkley’s prediction of Nuggets over Lakers. Who’s going to guard Kobe? Carmelo has gotten better, but if George Karl puts him on the best player in the world he will lose out on Carmelo’s offensive production. Dahntay Jones could guard Bryant in stretches, but then J.R. Smith or ‘Melo will be sitting on the bench, which is another wrong move. If the Nuggets pull off the upset, Chauncy Billups will have to go crazy on the three-headed monster of Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar/Shannon Brown, which is the Lakers only true weakness.