Easter Blog

I want to comment on a radio interview by Tim Roye, the Warriors' talented play by play broadcaster. Having grown up with Bill King and then later getting used to Greg Papa, it took me awhile to warm up to Mr Roye. But he is fully embraced on this end now. I love his "Unbeeeee-leeeei-vable!" And he does a game very well. He recently did an interview with one of my all-time favorite players, Earl Monroe. YOU can access that interview at:

http://www.nba.com/warriors/multimedia/audio_archive.html


Monroe was on the West Coast to promote an awareness of type 2 diabetes, which both he and I unfortunately share. His point was that it is difficult to eat at restaurants that serve foods that diabetics can have. And so his trip out here is to promote the concept of diabetes friendly meals on restaurant menus. I thought it was fantastic that he is devoting his time to putting this out. I remember when the Adkins diet was trendy there was a lot of low carb fare available. Even deserts like low carb cheese cake. Unfortunately these have all but disappeared. And it was a pleasure to hear Earl the Pearl talk about anything at all. I believe he is very active in his post NBA life. I think he has his own record label. I have seen clips on youtube where he is promoting various artists.

I recently met a gentleman at the local YMCA on the Alameda who saw Earl play in college. He recounted a game where Monroe scored 66 points. And he sat out the entire 4th quarter! I like to go to the Y when the gym is relatively open and shoot and dribble. I like to spin and drive and shoot and pretend I am Earl Monroe. So he remains a great inspiration in my life. I find when I go to laundromats and have a choice of dryers I often choose number 15(his number with the Knicks) as opposed to 16(Joe Montana).

One part of the interview that I found fascinating was when Roye asked Earl how he, being 6'3" could get off his shots against bigger opponents. Monroe explained that being that height in the early '60's locally he played center, and he always faced a taller opponent. So he credited that for his ability to get his shot off in traffic. Monroe was not known as a great leaper, so once in a Bob Costas interview he said that he relied on "la la moves". He was an artist with the ball. His spin moves have never been equaled. Athletes today rely much more on outward athleticism than EArl did. So they rely on the speed on the cirle when they spin. Earl was an alchemist/magician who understood center and cirlcle and could literally create a different time/space around him and his move.

If you have a chance, please check out the interview. He goes over the NBA of the late sixties and early seventies. He talks about the wars between the Knicks of Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusshure and his original team the Bullets with himself, Wes Unseld, and a great player not too many now are familiar with, Gus Johnson. Ironic that Monroe later got traded to the Knicks. And he won a title with them. I was never a Knick fan, but I remember being happy that he got a ring.

The following is a video I did with the black Stormbringer sword I used halloween of last year. The sound the blade generates(an eerie song like those in the Elric books)
is real, although I did amplify it.