Of course, you know and I know that I'm talking about upstart Aussie baller Patrick "Patty" Mills. From humble beginnings at the AIS, our national monument to sporting excellence at the cost of cultural necrosis, he's now the starting point guard for the small Californian St Mary's College. The team is affectionately, and just generally known as the Gaels, after hot young Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal (no relation to Sandra).
Patty garnered some U.S. press a coupla weeks ago after he torched a higher ranked team for 37 points and was compared to a fine NBA player, Tony Parker (the dude married Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives).
I am now on the bandwagon, and while I may be behind the the Boomers, the Deadly's and Bill Simmons, I'ma still ahead of most Aussies. And Sports Illustrated, who may have beaten this post by 8 hours, but sadly lagged days behind my initial decision to hop on.
Here's Mills, looking rather Quattoesque.
Mills is part of a fine tradition of amazing Aboriginal athletes and has a chance to be a bona fide superstar in his home country, in a way that Andrew Bogut just plain doesn't. For those who don't know, Bogut was not only drafted straight into the NBA, but taken Number 1 – the same spot as Shaq, Magic Johnson and LeBron James. He reckons he could and should be the best basketballer to ever come out of Australia, and he may be right – but not yet. He’s playing decently in his third year with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Despite his relative success in the U.S., Bogut has been unable to pique, or even vaguely arouse the interest of a lot of Aussies back home. It could take a feelgood story like Mills (about whom I know virtually nothing) to ignite the country's passion, forests and interest in basketball. It’s early, early days yet, but I for one am excited, perhaps as excited as a fat kid who’s about to eat a cake he loves deeply but previously lost and believed would never be his again.
2 comments:
Hahahaha...thought he had lost forever.
I always giggle when you say the word Bogut, the reason being that I don't know if you find it funny for the same reason that I do - it's a ridiculous name.
The AIS is like an anonymous benefactor, funded richly by the state. This might be appropriate for a spy agency, but when people ask me why no-one ever credits the AIS for sporting success, I cast off my forest robe and walk sadly away. - cw
Bogut, Bogut, yeah - but - no - but.
I might have found the name amusing when I first heard it, but I've now assimilated it into normalcy. The man himself I find a little funny, I'm not sure why. I guess you could say he's a latter day Ray Borner.
I wonder what the culture is like at the AIS? I'd say a cross between Hogwarts and Boyz 'n the Hood. - htime
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