The Final Four

A Novel

By Paul Volponi

From that morning’s national newspaper:

CINDERELLA CRASHES FINAL FOUR BALL

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Yes, Cinderella has arrived at the Big Dance in the Big Easy. The Trojans of Troy University – the Cinderella story of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament – will take on the heavily favored Michigan State Spartans in the first semifinal at the Final Four, tonight at 5:07 p.m. (CT). The nearly 56,000 fans expected to fill the Louisiana Superdome will represent the largest crowd for which the Trojans, whose home arena seats a mere 4,000, have ever played.

“March Madness” is what the NCAA Tournament is called, and for good reason. Few pundits could have predicted that Troy, which had never won an NCAA Tournament game before, would still be dancing in this single-elimination tournament that has so far sent more than 60 teams packing over nearly three weeks of competition. In comparison, Michigan State, a perennial contender for the title, has been crowned National Champion twice and reached the Final Four on several other occasions.

Controversial freshman and soon to be NBA draft-bound Malcolm McBride, who made national headlines yesterday by criticizing the NCAA and stating that the layers putting on this tournament should receive part of the over $700 million generated by it, is the Spartans’ leading scorer and top trash-talker.

(Volponi 2012, 3-4)

The last time the Spartans and Trojans met for stakes this high was in the Trojan War of Greek mythology, when the Spartans left a huge wooden horse outside the gates of Troy. Believing the gift to be a sign that the war was over, the Trojans brought the horse into their city. That night, the Spartan soldiers who had hidden inside the horse opened the gates of Troy so their army could burn the city down.

(Volponi 2012, 6)

Second Reporter: Mr. McBride, when people hear you talk about the money, should they be turned off? I suppose what I’m really asking is, do you have any respect fro the term “student athlete,” or are you and other “one and done” players just using the college system to eventually line your own pockets?

Malcolm: To tell you the truth, I think the system is using me to make money. I play here for free. I don’t get a nickel. My parents even had to pay for their own hotel room in New Orleans. And there’s always some NCAA investigator wanting to make sure that anybody looking to become my agent didn’t slip them fifty bucks for gas money to drive here. But I heard that the NCAA makes something like seven hundred million dollars on this tournament, and that my school could make fifteen mil. I know part of that number’s off my back, my sweat. That’s like slavery. I could blow out my knee on any play and lose my career. Then I’d be left with nothing.

Malcolm’s teammates on either side of him are looking at each other now, nervously shifting around in their seats.

Second Reporter: You don’t think that free tuition and board at a major college is worth something?

Malcolm: No, it’s not. That’s like McDonald’s giving you a free hamburger because you work there. Bid deal. They had patties, buns, and pickles ready to sell anyway. The professors and the school buildings are already there, right? What does it cost them to add one more student into the mix – nothing? But how much money do I bring in? At least at Mickey D’s they pay you minimum wage. Here, they lean on that student athlete stuff to stiff you, and keep you poor. They want you hungry, so you’ll play harder and put on a better show. They use the NBA as your Kids Meal toy to get you in the front door.

(Volponi 2012, 10-11)

…no one can manipulate the system who didn’t invent it, a system that was mad to keep you down.

(Volponi 2012, 13)

“He is a writer for his job. He is a journalist at a newspaper here in Zagreb-capital city of Croatia. Uncle Drazen said. I should write in English. For many more people can understand my words on future dates. I study English since grade 4. The vocabulary of mine is getting stronger and better every day. I see US movies like The Departed, Friday Night Lights, Kill Bill. I hear US music also. Songs by Slim Shady and Snoop Dogg. So I know how the English language sounds for real-street real. Not like the Fake Harry Potter from the English of England. I cal wizard Harry Potter fake because no magic words can change things. That is the lesson you learn in Croatia past schooltime-wishes and words mean nothing.”

– Roko Bacic

(Volponi 2012, 29)

Play-by-Play Man: Before this current run in the tournament, Troy was best known for scoring the most points in a collegiate game. Back in 1992, Troy defeated DeVry 258 to 141. When the score was called into the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the sports editor there thought it was a prank. That Troy squad didn’t even make it to the tournament. Now here they are, two decades later, out of nowhere, threatening to win the whole thing.

(Volponi 2012, 81-82)

“First of all, I didn’t have it soft. I didn’t even have a blood-father around to steer me straight on man-stuff, just a stepdad who was too busy with his own kids. And street ball’s street ball no matter where you play. It’s all about society. The players on the court practically create one of their own without a ref there. They make the rules, negotiate calls, choose sides. You should know that,” said MJ. “President Obama grew up playing street ball. And he says flat out that it helped him to develop all kinds of social skills that he uses today.”

(Volponi 2012, 143-144)

Whether you play half-court (one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three) or full-court (five-on-five), you also understand that basketball skills are only a part of what you need to improve you position in the pack. You’ll need to hone other skills as well, including the ability to communicate and negotiate in a world where the sides can completely change every twenty minutes.

Here is just a partial list of the important skills you’ll need to develop:

Choosing sides
Settling arguments
Bonding with strangers
Competing against friends
Accepting various roles on a team
Calling fouls
Honesty and values

(Volponi 2012, 180-181)

In his book Dreams from My Father (1995), President Obama credits his experience as a teenage pickup player with teaching him an “attitude” and “respect” that translated beyond the court.

Back then, the local players called him “Barry O’Bomber” because of the young left-hander’s penchant for shooting long jumpers.

President Obama, who is viewed as one of our greatest public speakers, also learned about trash-talking on the courts. He learned that you could “talk stuff” to the opposition, but that you should “shut the hell up if you couldn’t back it up.”