Last Sunday the news came that Bill Russell had died. No.
Bill Russell has held a place of great esteem in my life, and as I look back, I don't know how that happened. I don't remember watching him play in the early sixties, but somehow, over the years, as I learned more about Bill Russell, I came to have great respect for the way he has lived his life.
This is one of those cases that the more you learn about a person, the more impressive their life seems. I
| Bill Russell - The master of the blocked shot. |
grew up listening to Bill Russell's cackle of a laugh as he called NBA games on the Sunday CBS Game of the Week. I knew Russell played center for the Celtics when they won a bunch of championships back in the early 1960s. Something about Bill Russell caught my eye, or in this case, my ear, as I listened to him. I remember that he would interview an important player before the game and end with, "I'd wish you 'Good Luck,' but it's better to be 'good' than 'lucky.'"
This week I have learned that Bill Russell was at the 1963 March on Washington and declined to speak that day. He sat in the front row during Dr. King's historic
| Bill Russell with Mohammed Ali and Kareem. |
speech. I also learned that Bill Russell was with Mohammed Ali when he declared that he wasn't going to fight in Vietnam. Russell wasn't a self promoter, but he was very much at the heart of the movement to improve opportunities for equity in our country.
I also learned that he was in twenty-one finals games and he went 21-0. Bill Russell considered the measure of a successful game was - did his team win, and did he help his teammates play better. That is a damn fine standard.
Apparently when Bill Russell was in high school the expected norm was that everyone stayed with the player they were assigned to guard. Russell didn't do this. If one of his teammates got beat, Russell would rotate over and stop the player from having an uncontested basket. If I understand the story, because of this tendency colleges didn't offer Russell a scholarship. He went to USF and won two national championships in 1955 & 1956. He changed basketball. Amazing.
Bill Russell wouldn't sign autographs, but he would shake your hand. William Felton Russell - well done.
| Vin Scully: 1928-2022 |
never had a sense that he was bored by the game (if it was a blowout) - he seemed to have a never ending supply of information about the players and people surrounding the game. I read this morning that someone described him as "effortless excellence," –– that sums it up so well. There was always great comfort in listening to a baseball game called by Vin Scully.
So as I head into this next chapter of my life...I want to take these men with me. I want to helps others around me do better, and I aspire to living with "effortless excellence." Thank you gentlemen. I greatly appreciate the standard you have set.