"You didn't turn around, to see the frowns, on the faces of the jugglers and the clowns...."

[JB <JBMetzEA@yahoo.com>]

   The title of this piece is taken from a Bob Dylan song, which played in
my head this AM, as they are wont to do, since, as I wrote last week, my 13
year old son, has discovered the works of the bard from Hibbing.
   I had been searching, in my mind, how to expand the concept of Walker,
over dramatizing his injury. I still believe it to be true. The notion of
Walker as an entertainer, seemed to show this in a different light.
   As I posted this observation, without malice towards Walker, nor thinking
that there were any nefarious motives, I was taken aback by the hostile
reaction to that post.
   I think I was able to convey, that I wasn't accusing Walker of faking it,
I have no doubt that his knee is sore and that he will play through
tremendous pain, because he loves to play, but I want to explore the reasons
for his love of the game, as it might relate to his flair for the dramatic.
   Walker loves the three ball. The home run, you could see it in his eyes
last night, after passing up several opportunities early in the game, he got
a few passes, in position, on the perimeter, late, with the outcome
determined and his eyes gleamed. What I saw was a player who loved the
interaction with the crowd. Some have this, they want the approval of the
home crowd and to silence the enemy fans, but mostly they want to be the
show. They feed on the crowds reaction and I believe its instinctive, hardly
conscious, there's a connection. Do you ever walk through a door and think
that everyone is watching you? Well, they probably are. Most people get shy
and close up a little, a person with a flair for the dramatic, revels in it
and uses that energy to build a relationship and starts acting with that
crowd and it's energy, as part of his motivation.
   Remember Bird, talking about how much fun it was, to go to opponents
arenas and silence the crowd? Remember Jimmy Brown, after a run, laying on
the ground like he had just broken every bone in his body, slowly getting to
his feet and walking back to the huddle like a Palm Beach octogenarian? Some
players have this quality, most don't.
   I believe that Walker's penchant for this type of bonding with the fans,
led to what I perceived as an exaggerated limp, going out to fire the two
three point shots he took in the last two minutes of the Spurs game. Imagine
the crowd's reaction , if he made one or both of those shots, on one leg? I
propose it was his flair for the dramatic, not any sense of him "dogging"
it, or looking for an excuse.
   Having been trained in the theatre, lo, those many years ago, is perhaps
why I picked up on this. A great actor, from the minute he walks on stage,
feels that the audience is watching his every move and revels in it, trying
to carry them to emotional heights, that feeds on his desire to entertain
and perhaps enlighten them.
   Why has Walker never gotten down from the boos of the Fleet center crowd?
Why did he work on his foul shooting? I suggest, that it is this feeling of
wanting to pleas the fans more than anything Pitino, or the present coaches
are trying to do to him, that has led to his constant refining of his game.
Most players would have sulked and demanded a trade, Walker just keeps
trying to please.
   In a way, if this team does develop into a championship team, it is the
great history of unselfish Celtic players and the Celtic nation's relentless
insistence on the same standard, for it's stars, that will inspire Walker to
take his play to that level.
        JB



                  Unchain My Heart !