January 2006 – Page 11

American Hipster

January 10, 2006June 10, 2008FranciscoProseLeave a comment

This was a piece I wrote back in college. It’s heavily influenced by the great Beat writer Jack Kerouac, and one of my best friends from high school. Most of all though it is a good portrait of the moment.

I saw him with his torn and faded jeans coming upon me with the brightness of a sneaky smile and his radiant charm already traversing upon me like warmness in the breeze, I was doomed to loose it from that very day. Since then we’ve become, changed, loved, and ran all the dreams we spoke that day on the railroad rails of South Chicago. He’s been writing me, telling me about a million girls and strange books about strange thoughts, all a guiding light I thought. I received a picture of him once, all daring and young in black with chains and beads on his chest, newly reborn into the angel running once again. I thought of stopping him once, but now he speaks so wildly and flying that even I can’t compete.

He use to think he was me and told me how to go about changing it back and forth to produce a better thing, but I was too lazy and I only wanted sex and the thought of being cared for, and he longed freedom from it all with dreams to spin and throw him around, so that he could be for all time the stranger who is freedom and forever. He told me once, he had been out walking down to South Deering and had begun to loose his head and imagined beasts out from the trees and things around; he said that they would never leave him alone, for once he was with Amy and he saw them again staring to touch him and he ran cold and frightened and stumbled. I told him it was all cool and believable, but he was crying their on the bed with his feelings all closing him up and he wanted to jump from the tower and scream the word, but he knew he wasn’t the messiah so he stayed there as long as the darkness staked his eyes and he dreamed colors again. I didn’t know what to say to him.

Three afterwards and he was in Iowa with his girl and thinking he’d changed and was all better now, but he was still carrying the music thing and he wasn’t much more than lonely I thought. He was praying in a room with a cross on his neck and silence to help him believe the word again. The room must’ve frightened him after a few days, turned the monsters in his head into dreams and passion was turning back into the wave of sadness washing over him and drowning him with bleakness. But maybe he was stronger and the drugs a little better I thought, since he only walked now and played the guitar.

It wasn’t until August that he returned, wearing black and carrying on about Neal Cassady like a young Jack Kerouac, all writing and beliefs. He wanted to talk forever about how it all was and where it was going and using all these words to make it there, dreaming and running to find it was what it was for him. And the loneliness dug into him like love does to us all. All the while I thought: my friend, the American Hipster strolling the night in search of blues songs, what a life, what a story, maybe the greatest novel ever! And then he said, “Fuck” maybe I was thinking the wrong story, I wonder if he’ll really write about his girl now?

Allen Iverson As Role Model

January 10, 2006February 17, 2017FranciscoNBA TalkLeave a comment

Undeniably one of the appeals of watching sports is to compare yourself to your favorite player. However in recent times many critical people have pointed out specific athletes as being terrible role models, citing things like the stereotypical drug abuse and thug personas of some celebrity athletes as being anything but inspirational to young males. This is probably the big deal why the media are still doing stories on Kobe Bryant and at the same time promoting athletes like Lebron James. The media loved Kobe. He was a superstar athlete, he was not a thug, meaning he did not come from the streets and he had lived abroad, and so Kobe was everything you wanted as a black role model. Then the whole Kobe case happened and the prince of the NBA fell from his stature and what came out was an immature but talented athlete who perhaps was no role model after all. On the court though, there was another basketball player who was also talented, but who has never had the darling image, and that player is Allen Iverson. Not only is A. I. a brilliant basketball player, but he is everything that the NBA wanted to distance itself from, namely the street and attitude.

At one point, I heard the comment that most black kids could never be Kobe, because Kobe had opportunities that they could never have. On the other hand Iverson came from the street courts and he played his game tough and he made it to the main courts of the NBA, and he’s still there, fighting not only for his legitimate right to be there, but also for his legacy.

At 32, I identify with A. I., with his passion to win even when the odds are against him, with his selfishness to be The Man, and definitely with his failures as a player and as a person. I have messed up plenty in my life, and know just how much it means when people disregard your past crimes and still welcome your company. This does not happen often and you definitely are thankful when it does. Iverson may never win a championship, but he is a proven winner. Every time I see him miss a shot, my heart goes out to him, cause I know failure is painful, but when he picks himself off the floor and goes right back into the game, pain and all, I admire him all the more, because not many people have the sheer will to drive themselves toward something by themselves, but Iverson does it in every game.

And also at my age, I know that role models are not the solution to the problems that plague our young men. I never had a role model that I could see, instead I had to open up a book and read about men that I never knew. Eventually I saw that if I was to succeed at all, that I had to do it myself. Sure it would have been nice if someone had taught me to do the things I now know, and I could have used some help sometimes, but in the end I ended up doing it myself and I am stronger for it. But just like A. I. points out about how hard it is to be a father to his kids, and how hard it is to be a husband, I know what he is talking about. At our age, both of us have had to do things on our own, but that should not blind us or prevent us from helping our kids succeed where we failed. Being tough is just one part of our character, it should not be everything. I am pretty sure Iverson knows this too.

Iverson is a role model, because of his toughness and because he has failed many times, but never given up on himself or his team.

Tayshaun Prince Has Game

January 10, 2006January 10, 2006FranciscoNBA Talk1 Comment

One of my favorite NBA players is Tayshaun Prince. Unlike T-Mac or Dwayne Wade, who you know will do at least three or four remarkable moves during a game, Prince is a low-key player. He does his defense quietly and then all of a sudden before you know it he takes over a game. He is the unexpected factor in games where the Pistons need him and he is getting better at his offensive game this season.

The Detroit News did an article on how Prince’s toughness was always in doubt due to his appearance and lack of bulk.

“It goes back to high school and college. Everybody tried to put weight on me. I just knew, ‘Hey, this is how I play.’ No matter what size you are, when you go out there and play your game, and you have heart and determination, anything can happen.”

But I think what people miss about Prince is that he’s a smart guy. He knows how to read the offense and he knows how to match his opponent’s moves. This is what allows him to guard offensive players like Kobe Bryant and literally frustrate their game. If you combine intellect with love of the game, you have a great player.