Advantage Disadvantage (11 page)

“Davis, you there?” he hollered into the phone. “Ok
bro, I put my money pouch in the second row on your left when you
walk in the boys locker room at St. Marlin’s. It’s next to the main
gym where they’re ballin’ tonight. Locker 14. Get over here quick,
and if you don’t hear from me, call the heeb. Don’t forget man,
number 14.”

The door thumped open. Two Chicago police officers
burst into the locker room. The water was running inside the
urinal. Bobby G. was zipping up his pants. They ordered him to
stand against the wall and spread his legs.

“Can’t a guy take a whiz? Why are you hassling
me?”

They patted him down but found nothing.

“Sir, would you like to open your car for us to
search, or would you like us to break the window to get in?” one of
them asked.

“Do you have a judge’s order or subpoena,
Jeeves?”

“We aren’t trifling with you, boy. You lost your due
process when we watched money-exchanging hands in your car. We
don’t need shit to get into your car.”

“Why were you even watching me to begin with?” Bobby
G. asked.

“We had a complaint from one of the parents. They
thought you might be selling drugs out of your car in the school’s
parking lot.”

“I’ve got nothin’ in the BMW. I’ll open it for
y’all”

The three of them left the locker room to go to
Bobby G.’s car. After a minute, Frank Worrell emerged from one of
the bathroom stalls. He had been perfectly still, and undetected,
while the police pulled Bobby G. from the washroom. He would not
hesitate for a moment to take money back from Bobby G. – turnabout
was fair play. He was not sure how much cash was stowed in locker
14, but it could not match the money he lost betting football with
this bookie. Of all the raises that the newspaper gave him to
reward his contributions, he constantly was paying off his gambling
debts to Bobby G. He was still the lowest paid reporter who worked
at the paper more than five years. He conducted a quick debate in
his head that led him to decide to grab the cash. He opened Locker
14 and saw the money pouch. He was surprised to feel how heavy it
was – he thought it must have a lot of money in it. This will solve
many current financial problems, and who would ever know? He
wrapped the pouch around his waist and pulled his shirt out of his
pants to cover the belt. He did not have much time because he knew
someone named Davis would be coming to look for the pouch. He
walked outside and saw the cops watching Bobby G.’s BMW pull away.
Perfect! Frank walked out to his car and drove home.

Chapter Fourteen. The East End High School Coach

Hanna City was a small farm town near Peoria,
Illinois. Far from the “will it fly in Peoria” marketing
demographics, people from Hanna worked the soil. Most of the three
hundred families who formed the community belonged to the same
church and knew each other. Hanna shared schools with several other
like-sized towns nearby. There were no YMCA’s or health clubs. Kids
honed their jump shots on gravel driveways aiming at hoops hung on
barns. Before the NAU teams sprung up in big cities, boys from
towns like this were able to compete with anybody from
anywhere.

One such kid was Scott Venturi. He was a three-sport
varsity athlete during his high school athletic career. The team
competed against other small towns in Illinois’ single “A” division
– schools with less than 600 students. He was captain of his
football and basketball teams. Probably, he should have been his
baseball team’s skipper too, but he shared the wealth with his best
friend. Nearly all of these “Single A” class teams would not be
competitive with the big city schools in places like East St. Louis
and Chicago and its suburbs. They would not be competitive with
perennial powerhouse Peoria Manual High School either. Scott was a
cut or two above his classmates. He spent hours, rain or shine,
banging warn-out basketballs against the barn hoop on the farm. He
excelled despite a lack of competent coaching and adequate
competition. He set all kinds of local prep school records: points,
free throws, rebounds, and assists. He did not attract much
attention from college recruiters except from nearby Bradley
University. Scott was mostly a practice player there for four
years. He played consistent with his traditional farm family
culture, respecting education and hard work.

***

Basketball, not farming, was in his blood. He
admired the coach at Bradley and marveled at the idea of earning a
living coaching competitive basketball. That was his dream, but it
was hard to break-in to college coaching. Without name recognition,
Scott Venturi’s chances of being hired on any college coaching
staff seemed slim. The best advice from his surrogate father and
coach at Bradley was to secure his teaching certificate and hone
his craft on the high school level, coaching while being paid to
teach. He finished his mathematics major, with a minor in secondary
education.

Tolono High School offered Scott the best
opportunity to teach and coach after college graduation. This small
town of 2,700 residents reminded him of Hanna City. It was about
ten miles south of Champaign in the shadow of the University of
Illinois. For two years, he coached the frosh-soph basketball team
under the guidance of the thirty two-year legendary head coach at
the school. When the legend retired, Scott took over the program
and had moderate success. Because of his proximity to the Big U.,
Scott networked with the university’s coaching staff.

Scott’s thirst for coaching at the college level
remained unquenched. He watched the NCAA basketball tournament with
extraordinary jealousy. These coaches made beaucoup money. The
press worshipped the successful coaches, and other than basketball,
they had no teaching responsibilities. At the urging of Illinois’
head coach, Scott decided to move up to a bigger school to develop
his coaching resume. He needed to coach a big city team for a few
years, gaining experience competing with diverse teams who played
at a higher level, not just white, farm boys. Choices in Illinois
were Peoria, East St. Louis, Rockford, and Chicagoland.

Suburban Chicago’s East End High School’s athletic
director earned his undergraduate degree from Bradley. He instantly
hit it off with Scott Venturi and hired him with these
cautions:

“Scott, this is different than farmland basketball.
Parents here are self-indulgent. You can, and should ask for a much
greater commitment from the players as far as off-season
preparations and in-season practice commitments, especially
compared to the limitations of central Illinois kids with farming
responsibilities. They will be less respectful of your coaching
decisions – each parent thinks that his or her son should be the
star of the team. Parents want their sons to have the most playing
minutes, and they expect you to use your connections to help their
kids win athletic scholarships. Last I checked, IIAA rules allow
five basketball players on the floor at a time, and only five. You
cannot please many of these spoiled suburban parents. And, by the
way, they expect you to bring home a state championship.”

“Well, I understand big city ball is different.
Nevertheless, I maintain that the players first need to meet
scholastic standards. Beyond academics, my coaching system rewards
talent and hard work of the players who put us in position to win.
And, I have never had problems with any of them in Tolono.”

“These people are different up here. Scott, I hope
you know what you are getting into. Well ok, you are our man.
Congratulations coach. Welcome to East End High School.”

Chapter Fifteen. Summer Strategy

Four years had passed for Scott while teaching and
coaching at East End. He had made multiple contacts with
universities and colleges through clinics and seminars. As every
spring came to a close Coach Venturi wondered if this would be his
last round of prep coaching, perhaps moving on to the collegiate
level. In the absence of any upward job offers, the next cycle of
the basketball season began with summer basketball. He enrolled his
East End team in the Olgesby High School league every year. When he
first arrived, he marveled at all of the choices he had to work his
team in the summer. Tolono’s team did not play together with the
exception of a one-week team camp in Champaign during the August
heat. Around Chicago, it seemed like every serious team played in
one or two leagues and several “shootout” tournaments. Olgesby was
two suburbs away from East End. Parents and players had easy access
to the school. Some of the parents initially objected to Scott’s
choice – Olgesby High School was in a rough neighborhood and they
attracted several inner-city teams. To Coach Venturi, these
objections were precisely why he wanted his team to play there. He
wanted to toughen up his suburban, mostly affluent soft players in
a fast paced, physical summer league. The district began building
Olgesby during World War II. The gym had two stories for
spectators. The balcony followed the contour of the gym, except
that the builders ran out of cinder blocks above one end line – one
horseshoe section of the balcony was never completed. The school
had a rich and successful tradition of developing great basketball
players – some of them played in the NBA and still came back to run
sold-out clinics and camps. Only serious teams played there. The
Olgesby summer league was no cakewalk.

Coach Venturi held his first team meeting of this
summer outside the gym at Olgesby while parents waited inside for
East End’s first game. This year’s crop of varsity players was not
new to Venturi’s system. They were mostly upperclassman.

“Boys, thanks for coming out to our first game of
the summer. We have been playing here ever since I joined East End.
The competition here is top notch. I am optimistic for our team
this year. I believe that there is no limit to our success. What’s
does that mean?”

No one answered.

“It means that we can go downstate and win the
championship. Last year, we won the sectional title. This year,
there is no limit. I am going to use this summer to convince each
of you that we can run the table and win it all. But don’t, I
repeat, do not be confused by our summer record – we aren’t going
to show our competitors everything we have, and each game we will
work on a different part of our strategy.”

The boys seemed confused.

‘What I’m saying is that we aren’t going to worry
about the Olgesby summer league standings. Everyone is going to get
playing time this summer. If you want to make your case for
becoming a starter or getting significant minutes during the
winter, now is the time to show me how you are improving. Here is
the list of rules for our team this summer.”

The coach handed out the list and reviewed it with
the team:

1. Basketball in the summer is your #1 priority.
   

2. Because the IIAA allows twenty-five days of summer
   contact with the coach, the attached details the next 24 days
   (excluding Sundays) of your itinerary. You should be at East End
   High School from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for each of these days. Team
   practice starts sharply at 9 a.m. and will end at noon. You will
   have one hour for lunch. From one to four in the afternoon you will
   be role models and counselors in our basketball camps for grade
   school kids. As role models to the community’s kids, you need to be
   positive and helpful to these campers. You will earn $8.00 per hour
   for your afternoon work. In addition, you avoid or earn our normal
   summer camp fee. Three days a week, we play here at Olgesby. During
   the other nights, you do not have East End team obligations with
   one exception – it is a privilege to play on this team, do not do
   anything detrimental to yourself or our program.
   

3. Vacations are no excuse to miss the next 24
   workdays. Your families can use the rest of the summer to
   travel.
   

4. Our playbook has expanded. You will be tested next
   Monday. Use the weekend to study the new plays.
   

5. Your parents are encouraged to participate in the
   booster club activities.
   

6. Poor attitudes will cost you summer minutes, which
   will lessen your chances of earning winter playing time.
   

7. You need to support each other and remain positive.
   Always play hard and never stop trying to improve.
   

8. We wear Vole shoes on this team. They provide
   awesome basketball clothes for us, and we need to show our
   appreciation by wearing their shoes. Tell me your shoe size and I
   will get you two pairs for the season – home and away colors.
   

9. Read #1 again.
   

“Are there any questions?”

The boys were stunned. Some of them planned to work
summer jobs to earn money. Others knew their parents would be
unhappy with the small window of time at the end of summer ball to
squeeze in vacations. No one dared to say anything.

“Ok. Make sure you let your parents read this.
Speaking of parents, Jamal, would you please get your dad out of
the gym and ask him to join us for a minute?”

“Yeah, coach,” Jamal said as he jumped up and ran
into the building to fetch his father.

Marcus and Jamal Imari came out of the building onto
the lawn close to the gym entrance.

“Boys”, Coach Venturi said, “Jamal’s dad is joining
our team this year as a volunteer assistant. He was quite a player
in his day, and he is knowledgeable about the game. He has some
unconventional ideas about how to improve our fundamentals that
Jamal used on his NAU team and we are going to try many of these
drills this summer. Initially, he will help me in our morning camp
sessions. He will also be on the sideline at Oglesby, and will be
responsible for practice and game statistics. Many of you already
know Jamal’s dad. The rest of you will get to know him as the
summer moves on. We are lucky to have Mr. Imari helping our team.
Not many parents know basketball as well as he does, and most
cannot commit to being around the gym as much as we need him. Boys,
let’s welcome Mr. Imari to our team.”