Fabbs
05-13-2006, 10:52 AM
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-clipfan12may12,1,2284503.story?coll=la-headlines-sports
Give some camerashots of this guy, not Jack Wrinkleson. :spin
Clipper Fan Along for Ride of His Life
Carl Cook is homeless, but the longtime supporter spends a third of his income on tickets to every home game and rides his bicycle to get there.
By Jerry Crowe, Times Staff Writer
May 12, 2006
Carl Cook is not a typical Clipper season-ticket holder.
For one thing, he's homeless.
For another, he owns no car.
Nor is he licensed to drive.
But Cook, 46, nevertheless is unflagging in his support of the Clippers, who return to Staples Center tonight for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series against the Phoenix Suns. Putting mettle to pedal, he rides a bicycle to the arena from his home base in Marina del Rey, if not farther, game after game after game.
While other season-seat subscribers might sip vintage wine, knock back imported beer or nosh crudites before games, Cook chokes down exhaust.
Atop a blue-and-white, one-speed Trek Classic beach cruiser, a wire basket in front crammed with Clipper gear, he navigates traffic-clogged Mid-City streets as he makes his way downtown during rush hour, then retraces his tire tracks back to the marina late at night.
Round trip, depending on where he starts: 28 to 36 miles.
No wonder Sterling Dortch, a Clipper account executive who deals most directly with Cook, described him as "probably our most unique fan."
Certainly he is among the few who spend about one-third of their incomes on tickets to basketball games. Cook, who bunks down most nights on a friend's sailboat or in a nearby laundromat, said he makes $30 to $40 a job detailing cars near Los Angeles International Airport and $10 an hour as an attendant at a Manhattan Beach carwash.
His annual income, he said, is probably less than $10,000.
And yet he spent about $3,300 on tickets this season, sitting floor level near the tunnel where the Clippers make their entrance.
"He just eats, sleeps, lives Clippers," said the middle of his three sisters, Jody Cook of Oceanside. "Every time he comes to visit, he's always in a T-shirt or a sweatshirt, something Clipper-related. And whenever I talk to him, during the season or not, he talks about the Clippers.
"I've never seen anything like him, especially to hang in there with that team, because they've not been a very successful team. …
"It's odd, but it's his life."
Said Cook: "They bring me happiness."
It was nearly midnight, a little more than an hour after the Clippers had wrapped up a series-clinching, history-making playoff victory over the Denver Nuggets, when Cook pedaled across Lincoln Boulevard in Venice.
A Clipper beanie pulled low over his head to ward off the late-night chill, he wore a white Corey Maggette jersey, blue Clipper sweats and basketball shoes.
A motorist rolled down his window and shouted, "Go, Clippers!"
Said Cook, laughing: "They're jumping on the bandwagon."
Give some camerashots of this guy, not Jack Wrinkleson. :spin
Clipper Fan Along for Ride of His Life
Carl Cook is homeless, but the longtime supporter spends a third of his income on tickets to every home game and rides his bicycle to get there.
By Jerry Crowe, Times Staff Writer
May 12, 2006
Carl Cook is not a typical Clipper season-ticket holder.
For one thing, he's homeless.
For another, he owns no car.
Nor is he licensed to drive.
But Cook, 46, nevertheless is unflagging in his support of the Clippers, who return to Staples Center tonight for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series against the Phoenix Suns. Putting mettle to pedal, he rides a bicycle to the arena from his home base in Marina del Rey, if not farther, game after game after game.
While other season-seat subscribers might sip vintage wine, knock back imported beer or nosh crudites before games, Cook chokes down exhaust.
Atop a blue-and-white, one-speed Trek Classic beach cruiser, a wire basket in front crammed with Clipper gear, he navigates traffic-clogged Mid-City streets as he makes his way downtown during rush hour, then retraces his tire tracks back to the marina late at night.
Round trip, depending on where he starts: 28 to 36 miles.
No wonder Sterling Dortch, a Clipper account executive who deals most directly with Cook, described him as "probably our most unique fan."
Certainly he is among the few who spend about one-third of their incomes on tickets to basketball games. Cook, who bunks down most nights on a friend's sailboat or in a nearby laundromat, said he makes $30 to $40 a job detailing cars near Los Angeles International Airport and $10 an hour as an attendant at a Manhattan Beach carwash.
His annual income, he said, is probably less than $10,000.
And yet he spent about $3,300 on tickets this season, sitting floor level near the tunnel where the Clippers make their entrance.
"He just eats, sleeps, lives Clippers," said the middle of his three sisters, Jody Cook of Oceanside. "Every time he comes to visit, he's always in a T-shirt or a sweatshirt, something Clipper-related. And whenever I talk to him, during the season or not, he talks about the Clippers.
"I've never seen anything like him, especially to hang in there with that team, because they've not been a very successful team. …
"It's odd, but it's his life."
Said Cook: "They bring me happiness."
It was nearly midnight, a little more than an hour after the Clippers had wrapped up a series-clinching, history-making playoff victory over the Denver Nuggets, when Cook pedaled across Lincoln Boulevard in Venice.
A Clipper beanie pulled low over his head to ward off the late-night chill, he wore a white Corey Maggette jersey, blue Clipper sweats and basketball shoes.
A motorist rolled down his window and shouted, "Go, Clippers!"
Said Cook, laughing: "They're jumping on the bandwagon."