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1: Isaac's Ideas : Sports 2 : School
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Shooting for a stuffed animal
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| By
Isaac Cass |
Back in 1995, current Golden State Warriors Head Coach Don Nelson was coaching the New York Knicks. On an off day, he ventured to a carnival at Shea Stadium in Flushing.
Not surprisingly, Nelson eventually found his way to the basketball booth.
Manning the booth was Charles Terbn, a diehard Boston Celtics fan with a wicked accent to back it up.
Nelson clanked his first three shots off the rim. On the fourth, he sent the regulation basketball bouncing off the not so regulation, oval-ish rim. But this time the ball came down and found its way through the net.
Terbn, an astute student of the game, immediately brought up Nelson’s famous game-winning shot in Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, which lifted his beloved Celtics over the hated Lakers. Nelson’s shot, one of the all-time classics in NBA history, came from about the free throw line and bounced high off the back iron before dropping through the nylon.
“The Lakers had balloons in the rafters, ready to celebrate,” Terbn recalled. “They have always been about the show time.”
Fast-forward to 2008 and the similarities surrounding Terbn’s encounter with Nelson are eerily similar. Nelson is still coaching, Boston is still beating L.A. in the NBA finals and Terbn is still orchestrating the basketball booth at carnivals around the country.
The summer circuit just so happened to bring him to the Yorktown Fireman’s Carnival, where he shared with me his quarry-sized knowledge of the basketball booth.
Terbn said he’s worked in the “business” for 40 years, but has owned and managed the basketball booth for the past 12. The game is more skill-driven as opposed to rabbit-foot-luck, according to Terbn. While not willing to give away all the secrets behind winning a giant-sized stuffed animal, he did offer a helpful little tip.
“With this game, you want to make sure you don’t shoot a line drive,” Terbn said. “You want a little trajectory to increase your chances.”
According to the Bostonian — who highlighted the defense of Eddie House, James Posey and the sharp shooting of Ray Allen, as keys to the Celtics’ 18th title — the majority of basketball booth’s players are “jocks” in their early-to-mid 20s. However, he said that the number of woman shooters has increased greatly over the years.
Still, Terbn said the draw is as old-fashioned as it has always been: Boy wins prize for girl.
“You think men want stuffed toys?” Terbn joked.
Watching myriad couples approach the booth on Friday night, it’s clear that the analysis is as on-point as ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy’s was in the NBA finals.
Through the years, Terbn has noticed the trends in the couples. He said that for some women, win or lose, it’s all the same; they are still on their man’s side.
“Those are the good women,” he said.
For others, however, the game becomes a “must win” scenario.
“They are just pushy,” he said.
Sometimes, when a guy is still missing after five to 10 shots, Terbn will suggest that he give his girlfriend a shot.
“She can’t do any worse,” Terbn jokes.
On more than one occasion, however, the girl has sunk the shot, which leads to embarrassment and then anger for the male.
“He’s not happy that she won, where he should be happy,” Terbn said. “He takes it personally. She got what she wanted and they won as a team. But no, she’s infringing on his territory.”
While sociologists put hours of work into defining the nuances that make the man / woman relationship work, it seems that Terbn’s basketball booth observations are the ones that should be published.
According to the basketball-booth-guru, the skill of the players at Yorktown’s fair is “average” compared to the rest of the country. He cites Augusta, Georgia as the place with the most “sharpshooters.”
“We had our highest average there,” he said. “Everyone was a sharpshooter.”
Stepping up to the booth on Friday night, I figured I was more “Augusta” than “Yorktown.” I mean, I had actually won the game last year, so I figured I would be clutch, like NBA finals MVP Paul Pierce.
Well, $14 and eight Kobe in Game 4 shots off the rim later, my girlfriend’s still without a giant stuffed gorilla.
But, hey, she left with me, so who am I to complain?
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