They call me "Cap"

When I say "Cap" I mean "Captain", leader, chief, commander, and no I was never referred to as Captain Planet or Captain America just simply "Cap". I was the Senior Captain of the 2006-2007 ECAC Divison III Championship Team. I will live everyday for the rest of my life with a smile on my face because "WE" won the last game of my collegiate career! I couldn't have done it without my team, but I also believe my team could have done it without me.

See on every team there are numerous pieces kind of like a puzzle. Everyone brings something different to the game whether it is Heart, Skill, Talent, or Humor. For my team we had all the pieces but that wasn't good enough, you then need someone smart enough to put these pieces together, someone with experience, someone who's not afraid to fail and will never give up. This person was our head coach. See he had a vision when he first join the team fall of 2004 I was in my second year of college he looked me in the eyes and said,"Your legacy as a basketball player will only be carried on by your teammates in that locker room, this will be your team soon, so tell me how do you want to be remembered?"I remember looking at the ceiling in my dorm room asking myself "How do I want to be remembered?" I don't want to be easily forgotten, I don't want my teammate to think back to me in a negative way either! This question would stick with me for the next two season's. At the end of my third year in college the question still remained "What will I do when it's my turn, my team?".

Throughout my basketball career I have seen many captains like the lead by example captain, the "RAH RAH" captain, the captain that no one knew was captain, and the Egotistical captain. But when it was my turn to be "Captain" to lead my team into battle what would I be. Well I looked back to my junior year in high school we had a great team that year and I was just happy to be on the varsity team getting scrap minutes. We lost the conference regular season title by choking in 3 out of our last 4 games. This was very disappointing for the team with so much to live up to.

The following week of practice I didn't know what to expect, coach was frustrated and the team was in disarray. But I remember our senior captain Kenny Jones wouldn't give up on himself and especially the team. When we shot free throws if he missed he did five push ups right after, in half court scrimmages if we turned the ball over he would curse loud enough for the coach to hear him and make us run. When I would put my head down after a bad play he would yell at me like, "Keep your head up, as long as your wearing that jersey you wear it with pride". Kenny's will to win, and his inner drive to not let us fail, soared us into VICTORY! We swept through the conference championship crushing the competition. This was when I got to cut down my first net! and I truly felt like a winner.

Now, Kenny wasn't the only good basketball player we had on that team but I know for every sprint We ran in practice, for every free throw We shot, for every minute We played in those games, We did it for him because We knew how much he wanted it and We never wanted to let him down.

Why is this important? because fast forwarding four years later that awkward, lanky, forward that sat at the end of the bench is now referred to as the most endearing name any player on a team can have and that is "Captain".

Going back to the puzzle, all the pieces are there and so is the architect. However, you still need the one thing that puts it all together. This would be "Me" known as the glue. Coming into the 2006-2007 basketball season I was a Resident Advisor for two years and I had every recruit for the team do their college visit with me. Also, ever incoming freshman on the basketball team live in my building. This helped me develop a relationship with every member on team going into my senior year except the two other remaining seniors. I was closest with the two senior because all of us went through our fair share of sacrifices, trails, and tribulation to get to our senior season for "The Last Hurrah".

As a Captain on this team I would refer to the word "Family" a lot to describe our togetherness. At home I'm the oldest of three brothers, from time to time there was no man in the house besides myself so I had to step up to the plate. I look at my brothers not only as my siblings but kind of like my children as well. In my family I was also the glue, If my mother wasn't around I had to cook and clean and feed my brothers. By no means did my parents not provided for my brothers and I, but times were hard especially when I was growing up and I didn't have an older brother to come to the rescue. So I had to except my situation but I refused to let my brother go through the same.

It was the strength in character my parents built in me, that family was everything, if you don't have family you have nothing that helped me through those times. My situation taught me to be empathetic, responsible, hardworking, and to persevere. I would take these skills and translate it how I treated my team, my family. My teammates were like my little brothers so I took care of them, I made sure they knew I had real love for them on and off the court. When their girlfriend cheated on them I was the first person in their life they called, when a family member died I was the first shoulder they cried on, when they need a ride to Walmart I trusted them enough to have my keys and take my car.

This bond we built, this trust, this family atmosphere we had manifested itself on to the court. Now all we needed was a fearless leader. Well they had that in me, I set the expectations high and demanded excellence. I wanted to win and to be a winner more than anything I ever wanted in my life and my teammates knew it. In my family the worst thing in the world you could be was a Lair and behind that was a COWARD! So I was completely honest with my teammates and showed them the true warrior inside me when we stepped on the court. I come from a very prideful family that is passionate about each other and life. My team was the same way because they reflected their senior captain everyday, every hour, every minute we had to play, act, dress, walk ,talk and be "Champions".

There is no greater mark a man can leave some where then an original. I feel like I left an original mark on my teammates, my family, my college, and my life. I will always remember when we were "Coach T's Warriors" things were so innocent, time felt like it froze, you know that feeling when several stars a line all at the same time, well this was like a galaxy of star converging on one destined constellation.

I was on a team with 12 of my closest friends and brothers, and we did what so many people didn't think was capable from us and that's sacrifice the "Me" for "We" and the word "Team" for "Family". I was once asked, "What will I do when it's my team? How will I be remembered?" When it was my turn I did my way, the right way, the only way I know how and that is why they call me "Cap".    



"Your legacy lies within the minds, the hearts, and the stories told by your teammates and in that derives true glory!" - Malik Champlain