Catching the Vibe makes Community!

This past Saturday I had the good fortune to attend a basketball game at the University of Arizona as the Wildcats  hosted the UCLA Bruins. It was great to share the experience with good friends Brian Arsenault and Steve Butz, three retired guys looking for the excitement of NCAA basketball. We got it.

The McKale Centre in Tucson holds 14,600 fans and the place was bursting.The energy in the place was at an absolute crescendo when the band entered the arena en masse 8 minutes before tip off and the place rocked for the entire game. This picture was taken before the energy of the place took on a life of its own. A lesson in the sharing of the vibe to create a community. 

What is cool about the experience is it all came about because of the people we get to meet on our journey. When I was writing Can't Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story I spent a lot of time in Spokane Washington, the home of Gonzaga. Assistant coach Tommy Lloyd was so gracious and helpful with whatever I needed to complete the Gonzaga portion of my journey. I was always impressed with his calm demeanour, positive outlook, and willingness to make others grow and learn. What a classy guy.


Tommy is now the head coach of the University of Arizona and, although it has been seven years since the book was published and 12 years since I first travelled to Spokane, I connected with him and he provided me with tickets to this high-level game. Such respect and his memory of my path means a lot. His generosity provided us with an afternoon of basketball and seeing the vibration of college basketball at its finest. This picture shows the energy reaching a fever pitch just after the player introductions. We couldn't get over the decibel level of the vibration created, and we joined in on the party! 


An added bonus for me was that our seats were right by the wheelchair section and lo and behold right in front of me was Hunter Pinke, a motivational speaker who I had heard speak at the Jacob Ranton Memorial Basketball tournament in Waterloo just before Christmas. Hunter's message of " No Bad Days" and the importance of faith and perseverance through tragedy will resonate for a long time. I went up to Hunter and we spoke for a few minutes and he was as down-to-earth as he was at Waterloo Collegiate Institute a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe I was in Tucson, Arizona and connected with him again. I let him know that he is a person who adds water to my glass, a theme central to his talk to high school players in Waterloo. As he said, there will be tough days, but no bad days. an inspiration for us all. Talk about a hero's journey.

The importance of a community vibration being shared that is captured in A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp was felt on this day in Tucson. I'm glad this journey allowed me to meet and be impacted by people like Tommy Lloyd and Hunter Pinke, and I am fortunate to share this impact with others. 

The people we get to meet on our journey.


Comments

  1. Greg RogersJanuary 24, 2023 at 6:16 AM

    Thanks for this article Chris. Your comment about the importance of a community vibration reminds me of the impact of Olympia's opening ceremonies.

    ReplyDelete

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