king of the beach
fame is intriguing to me. well, maybe not fame itself, but , more the fascination non-famous people have with the famous. i am constantly hearing stories of someone who saw sandra bullock, or sat next to tommy lee jones at dinner, or walked past owen wilson at the airport. generally speaking- i couldn't care less. when i see an adult waiting for an autograph, it makes me shake my head in derision. what in the world is that guy's handwriting going to do for you? it is beyond my comprehension.
one year at disney world, we went to a luau at the polynesian resort. as we were waiting for the appointed time to enter the facility, charlotte decided to leave the line and go look through the shops. i tend to think that the only time she is truly at peace is when she is in the process of buying something. as she is walking back to the place i have been saving in the line, she walks past the biggest man she has ever seen. i do not exaggerate when i say that her 5' 2" frame surpassed the height of this man's butt by only a foot or so. as she arrived back in my presence- her face filled with astonishment- she asked," did you see that guy?" "what? that 7' 2" black man who is taking up the whole room with his size? no, must've missed him." she told me that he is so tall, he should play professional basketball. i tried to keep condescension at bay as i explained that "that guy" was artis gilmore- the second leading scorer in the history of the aba. behind only dr j , himself. she told me to go get his autograph, and i, naturally refused. she said," he'll probably be excited to find that someone knows who he is." goodness.
the famous have not impressed me with much of anything. neil and i recently had a discussion about heroes. i said that i didn't think anyone famous was worthy of that title; but i may have misspoken. hero is a very vigorous word that may be inappropriate. besides, who has a "hero" after the age of 12? let's say i was just reminded of a man who is so accomplished professionally and personally to be deserving of my highest level of admiration.
i turned on the tv tonight and found that the nebraska women's volleyball team was playing on cstv. they are incidental. i merely love watching volleyball. when i was in high school and college, i used to play alot of volleyball. i was probably better at it than at any other sport i ever played. i love volleyball, still. the sad thing about this sport is that it is not a readily available activity. i can play golf or hoop almost anytime of the day with little effort. volleyball is different. not only is it very difficult to play by one's self, most people don't have the first clue how to play; so if one does know how to play, one might instead elect never to play again rather than suffer through that thing played at picnics and reunions. well, the match wasn't on tv. it had been replaced by a one hour interview with karch kiraly.
karch kiraly is the best player ever to step onto a volleyball court, or into a sand pit. his family emigrated to california from hungary in the 50's. he learned the sport at the feet of his father. at 44 years old, he has won every single volleyball related award available - most of them on multiple occasions. think michael jordan with a higher and more sustained level of dominance. he is that good. last year (43 years old) he and his playing partner were named players of the year on the pro beach tour - chosen over men less than half his age. also last year, michael was the most competitive guy in his golf foursome.
the remarkable thing about karch is his humility. his home is virtually free of tokens that would inform one as to his profession. he says his home is meant for his family, not as a shrine to himself. so he secrets away his national player of the year awards and national championship trophies (all three of them.) his international player of the year awards, three olympic gold medals, world championship medals and tour player of the year trophies are not set out for display. he is gracious. he is generous. and he is above reproach. he doesn't lose his temper, cheat, or EVER become suspect in any scandal. he is as impeccably amiable in defeat as he is in victory. he is an amazing man worthy of my respect.
karch's given name is charles. karch is a hungarian nickname. when my wife was pregnant with my son, charles was the second of our two choices. her father charles had recently been diagnosed with cancer and we seriously considered naming our son for him. we both think so highly of karch kiraly, that we were going to name our son charles and call him karch. about 5 hours after the birth, we finally decided on jackson; but, on the off-chance that we ever have another son you can be sure of his name.
be that as it may, i would never inconvenience karch, nor embarrass myself by asking him to write his name on paper for me. i've seen him in person 5 times, and that is more than enough to preserve him in my memory. maybe that's all a hero is anyway - memories morphed into legend.
one year at disney world, we went to a luau at the polynesian resort. as we were waiting for the appointed time to enter the facility, charlotte decided to leave the line and go look through the shops. i tend to think that the only time she is truly at peace is when she is in the process of buying something. as she is walking back to the place i have been saving in the line, she walks past the biggest man she has ever seen. i do not exaggerate when i say that her 5' 2" frame surpassed the height of this man's butt by only a foot or so. as she arrived back in my presence- her face filled with astonishment- she asked," did you see that guy?" "what? that 7' 2" black man who is taking up the whole room with his size? no, must've missed him." she told me that he is so tall, he should play professional basketball. i tried to keep condescension at bay as i explained that "that guy" was artis gilmore- the second leading scorer in the history of the aba. behind only dr j , himself. she told me to go get his autograph, and i, naturally refused. she said," he'll probably be excited to find that someone knows who he is." goodness.
the famous have not impressed me with much of anything. neil and i recently had a discussion about heroes. i said that i didn't think anyone famous was worthy of that title; but i may have misspoken. hero is a very vigorous word that may be inappropriate. besides, who has a "hero" after the age of 12? let's say i was just reminded of a man who is so accomplished professionally and personally to be deserving of my highest level of admiration.
i turned on the tv tonight and found that the nebraska women's volleyball team was playing on cstv. they are incidental. i merely love watching volleyball. when i was in high school and college, i used to play alot of volleyball. i was probably better at it than at any other sport i ever played. i love volleyball, still. the sad thing about this sport is that it is not a readily available activity. i can play golf or hoop almost anytime of the day with little effort. volleyball is different. not only is it very difficult to play by one's self, most people don't have the first clue how to play; so if one does know how to play, one might instead elect never to play again rather than suffer through that thing played at picnics and reunions. well, the match wasn't on tv. it had been replaced by a one hour interview with karch kiraly.
karch kiraly is the best player ever to step onto a volleyball court, or into a sand pit. his family emigrated to california from hungary in the 50's. he learned the sport at the feet of his father. at 44 years old, he has won every single volleyball related award available - most of them on multiple occasions. think michael jordan with a higher and more sustained level of dominance. he is that good. last year (43 years old) he and his playing partner were named players of the year on the pro beach tour - chosen over men less than half his age. also last year, michael was the most competitive guy in his golf foursome.
the remarkable thing about karch is his humility. his home is virtually free of tokens that would inform one as to his profession. he says his home is meant for his family, not as a shrine to himself. so he secrets away his national player of the year awards and national championship trophies (all three of them.) his international player of the year awards, three olympic gold medals, world championship medals and tour player of the year trophies are not set out for display. he is gracious. he is generous. and he is above reproach. he doesn't lose his temper, cheat, or EVER become suspect in any scandal. he is as impeccably amiable in defeat as he is in victory. he is an amazing man worthy of my respect.
karch's given name is charles. karch is a hungarian nickname. when my wife was pregnant with my son, charles was the second of our two choices. her father charles had recently been diagnosed with cancer and we seriously considered naming our son for him. we both think so highly of karch kiraly, that we were going to name our son charles and call him karch. about 5 hours after the birth, we finally decided on jackson; but, on the off-chance that we ever have another son you can be sure of his name.
be that as it may, i would never inconvenience karch, nor embarrass myself by asking him to write his name on paper for me. i've seen him in person 5 times, and that is more than enough to preserve him in my memory. maybe that's all a hero is anyway - memories morphed into legend.
posted by cm at 11/03/2005
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