October 15th

Ola Laken Popola is the kind of guy that’s almost impossible not to laugh with. An old teammate at Ursinus (class of ’05), Lekan has a magnetic personality and a thick English accent that often aided his intended attempts at humor and many times unintentionally turned the ordinary into hilarious. The “Pope” was always the ladies’ man too – and it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that a guy who spent lots of time in the gym doing curls and a guy with a thick English accent was held in high regard by the opposite sex on a college campus. Lekan, undoubtedly, used that English accent and a sense of humor to his advantage when courting any one of his many different girlfriends…and, in fact, it’s that same combination of accent and humor that turned a very ordinary reaction to one of those many relationships into a very funny and unforgettable line. It’s a quick little story…we were in the locker-room before a practice over winter break. Most of the team was already there preparing for a pre-practice film session when Lekan walked in looking a little down. “Hey Lekan, you all good man?” Someone asked…(picture a 6’0 guy wearing 2XL sweatshirt, hood on, shaking his head, looking at the ground and answering): “I never knew I loved her until I lost her…”…It was easy to tell he was still nursing the fresh wounds of a break-up…whether you knew he had a girlfriend or not (which many of us had a hard time keeping track of)… also easy to tell his reaction to the question was genuine and sincere – the guy really was heartbroken…annnnnd you had to appreciate his honesty in one the most testosterone laden environments possible…all this was fairly obvious but we just couldn’t help ourselves. After a quick pause, we each arrived at the same insensitive conclusion – maybe it was the accent…maybe it was that most of us didn’t know he had a girlfriend…whatever it was… at that moment, we thought it was the funniest thing the Pope had ever said …we broke out in laughter while a confused Ola could only smile and laugh with us…Nothing like talking it out with your boys to get over a breakup.

The Pope and his unforgettable line were top of mind this week. Anyone who’s either played or coached at any level of college hoops knows that October 15th is an important date. For the past 8 years, it’s been a day that’s brought with it some mixed emotions for me: The dawn of a new season accompanied by all the promise and excitement that comes with it counterbalanced with the 6 week wait for uniforms and the pain of conditioning week…as a player, we dreaded the timed mile, stair workouts, and never ending sprints…as assistant coaches, we knew it meant a week as glorified trainers and 5 months of scarce free-time. As players, though understanding how critical the entire preseason was, we couldn’t wait to get to the games. Couldn’t wait to compete. Couldn’t wait for the home rivalry games. It was a dangerous mindset to let sink in and as coaches (who were first players), we knew it and always worked hard to guard against it. The focus was day to day improvement. Preseason was tough; it was hard; and rarely was it ever much fun…..BUT, everyone knew it had to be that way and we all went through it together… as a team…recognizing that hard work bred stronger character. It’s the month and a half where every team begins to form a personality and where authentic leadership starts to take shape. A time for walk-ons to earn a spot; a time for upperclassmen to cement a role; and a time for coaches to ensure focus through any means appropriate (A la: “GET THE ___ OUT OF MY GYM!!!”). In the player’s mind, it’s a necessary evil. In the coach’s mind, it’s the difference between missing the playoffs and winning the conference (Coach is always right on that one, btw). If done right, it’s the kind of thing you can be proud of in hindsight but have a hard time enjoying in the moment. Freshmen are totally lost and close to useless (except for laundry). Upperclassmen think October can’t turn to December fast enough and the end of February might seem like years away. Coach worries about getting everyone in shape and having enough time to put in the playbook. Roughly speaking, same routine every year…

I can still remember listening as a junior to Colin Burkhart (’03) come back in his second year as an alum to shoot the shit with us players before practice. Here was a guy who played an integral role in an undefeated championship season…he saw buzzer beaters, improbable comebacks and great parties…What was it that he most missed? …Practice… Practice? (‘We talkin’ bout practice?’)…yea, right…it was hard to believe. I mean…it was hard to believe at the time.

October 15th, 2010 was a pretty damn good day…I am studying for an MBA at Notre Dame and my family was in town for the weekend’s home game. The campus was abuzz as we wandered around on a beautiful afternoon… and… good a day that it was, for the first time in 9 years the words of the Pope never rang truer. December will come soon enough and February will be here before you know it. If you’re a player reading and have practice tomorrow, know how lucky you are and do all us has-beens a favor – leave it all out there for every second of the home rivalry game but don’t wish away the hardest minute of the hardest practice of what may seem like a long season…you might not realize it now, but some day you too will be hearing Lekan as you think longingly about that timed mile: “I never knew I loved her until I lost her…”.

Go Bears.

Fondest Oct 15th memory: (Now Associate Head Coach) Mike McGarvey’s reaction to learning he just ran a 6:01 mile on the outdoor track in 2002…the best part - he didn’t realize it was even close!!!

(What’s yours?)