I’m happy to let you know that my great great nephew AJ Fitzpatrick DID IT! Last Saturday, he won the Gold Medal at the Parapan Games in Santiago, Chile. And the rest of his USA Wheelchair Basketball team did nicely, too! Congratulations to every one of those 12 USA champion athletes and their support team.
Here they are receiving the gold medals. Remember their faces. You’ll be seeing them again at the Paralympic’s in Paris next year. The event will take place from August 28 to September 8, 2024, immediately following the Olympics.
Following that inspiring event, I certainly hope the USA team members won’t be led down the path to ruin. Judging by their looks, and muscular body condition, I fear they will be tempted to appear on The Bachelor or Dancing with the Stars or on Hunks in Trunks wall calendars, and then all that Paralympian dignity and glory will go right down the toilet.
I just finished an entire week of wheelchair-basketball-watching. This seems to have come as a shock to my family. Except for figure skating and ice dancing, I have never been known to watch more than 2 or 3 minutes of athletic activity on TV. And the last basketball games I actually witnessed were in 1946 when my parochial school’s St. Patrick’s Shamrocks faced their hardy corn-fed opponents in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Last week was different. I was affixed to the screen watching the Parapan wheelchair basketball games in Santiago, Chile, but it wasn’t only on account of AJ’s participation in the games. It was the games themselves. I was mesmerized!
It wasn’t because of the nail-biting competitiveness of the games. In fact, in spite of the fearsome talent of the teams they faced, it seemed to me that the USA team dominated their opponents in every game, and as one commentator remarked – he felt that when watching the team, he was seeing basketball played to near-perfection.
And it wasn’t just because of the skill of the players – not only the USA’s but that of their competitors, as well. I knew in advance that I’d be seeing world-class professional play because the players couldn’t get to that level of international competition – whether it’s sports, music, chess, or what-have-you – without it.
What I certainly didn’t expect was this: if basketball could be considered an art form, I think I was watching it. What I found to be gloriously amazing about the games was their teamwork and choreography, especially that of the USA team.
The routines I saw probably have a name or a number identifying them, and it seemed like there are no two alike. I suppose regular basketball utilizes such maneuvers, but, they seem to me to be more choppy, unplanned and frenetic. And noisy. Maybe because the players I was watching are on wheels, the moves seem to be executed with more speed and grace and precision.
When one complicated maneuver doesn’t result in a basket, individual players – though seemingly completely relaxed – make split-second decisions to smoothly alter and rescue the play of the ball. Unexpected, unpredictable, and suspenseful! It’s like watching an unspoken ad lib dialogue between the coach and the players, executed at warp speed.
The mastermind behind what I saw has to be the team’s coach, Robb Taylor. It seems to me that Robb Taylor might be to wheelchair basketball what Fred Astaire was to ballroom dancing. The bios of some of the team players indicate they too have coaching experience, so it’s likely he had plenty of sophisticated input on planning the moves we saw.
As the youngest and less-experienced team member, AJ was in the company of giants. I know he will always know how blessed he was to be associated with such men as these.
What an experience it must have been for him!
Meanwhile, I’m still a basketball-viewing newbie, but I’m hooked. I thought I would be watching the games just to see AJ, but I was so spellbound, I found myself even forgetting to watch when his number 24 came onto the court.
I still can’t figure out how they can do it. Like the world class ice skaters I love to watch, I have to ask: how can they make something so hopelessly difficult look so easy???
From now on, I’m going to have to start watching the women’s wheelchair basketball, too. The USA won the women’s gold medal also. It wouldn’t surprise me to find that the ladies are equally as competent as the men. After all, they say that the dancing of Ginger Rogers was just as good as that of her partner Fred Astaire, —- and she was doing it backwards and in high heels.
I’m glad that AJ’s team won, but I’m sorry it’s over. I’m just glad I got to watch it. Thank you, panamsportschannel.org!
I’m so impressed, even with the few minutes I caught on your TV. Especially to learn that some of the US players were coaches themselves. That could lead to “too many cooks,” if not handled well. It sounds like they were all so professional, that they came together and triumphed.
When you start watching the girl’s team–keep an eye out for AJ’s ‘friend’, Josie. 😉 She’s a cutie! I met her this week when she and AJ came wheeling up my ramp to introduce her to the family. She’s a gem!
Fantastic article Qwenie ! I too am amazed at how fast they fly around the court , crashing into the opponent even as they sink a shot . Wow
What a nice tribute to AJ and his team. So glad they had a winning outcome, though they were truly all winners just by taking on the challenge.