Strike
06-17-2007, 06:16 AM
Ken Rodriguez: Bowen is a father whom his kids and San Antonio can be proud of
San Antonio Express-News
An open letter to Bruce Bowen:
Dear Bruce,
My family watched you on TV the other night. We're not sure if you actually climbed inside the shorts of LeBron James, but it sure seemed like it.
Just about every time LeBron rose up, we saw a hand in his face. Yours. I'm not sure he could have been guarded any better if you'd been surgically attached to his neck.
The Next Jordan is thinking about next year. Guy makes 10 of 30 shots from the field in Game 4 of the NBA Finals and, yes, it's time to re-evaluate.
LeBruce took LeBroom and gave LeBron a LeSweep.:lol
You had help, of course. But still, on the day you turned 36 you put the squeeze on a 22-year-old wonder.
Congratulations. It's been a great month. On June 9, your wife Yardley gave birth to another son, Ozmel. Five days later, you won your third ring and blew out some candles.
You Spurs may be small market, but you sure know how to throw a big party.
On the front page of Friday's paper, just below the word, "DYNASTY," Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each held trophies aloft with one hand. They embraced with the other.
You're in the background, as usual, head turned from the camera, enjoying the moment.
And really, that's why I'm writing. Away from the camera, you do so much for this city and its children.
Alarmed by the high rate of obesity in San Antonio, you started a Get Fit with Bruce and Buddy program. The idea was to help kids lead healthier lifestyles. Many have benefited.
You participate in the Elf Louise program that provides Christmas gifts to children from low-income families.
Through the Bruce Bowen Foundation, you give scholarships to those who can't afford to attend college.
You read to kids in elementary school. You encourage teens in high school to attend college and dream big.
Once, before you got married, I saw you slip into the back of a local church with four or five young boys in tow.
It seems like you work on the body, mind and soul of our youth.
No surprise, then, that this newspaper named you its Sportsman of the Year in 2005.
From Spurs beat writer Johnny Ludden on Christmas Day of that year:
"The NBA requires each player to make 12 community appearances each season. With a week left in 2005, Bowen has made 44."
By the end of the 2005-06 season, I bet you were up to around 100 appearances.
I did not see this coming. When we met in 2001 — back when I was a sports columnist — you seemed bitter and eager to prove your former coach in Miami wrong. Pat Riley had dismissed you as a one-dimensional player. And you told me, "It's a shame I got that label — 'defender.'"
I did not see a selfless, give-back-to-the-community Spur. I saw a guy who wanted to score and change his reputation.
Before long, you changed my perception. You embraced your defensive role, and set an example for kids everywhere.
You went back to college. During the 2003 playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, you even took a final exam at UTSA.
On the road, you studied in the team hotel. You decided if you were going to tell kids to go to college, you'd better finish what you started at Cal-State Fullerton and get a degree.
Your UTSA professor told Ludden that you "wanted to impact children's lives and let them know there's a dream out there they can reach."
You had a big dream once. But no NBA team wanted you when you finished college ball.
Despite rejection, you persevered and finally got your chance. Now you're one of the league's best defenders, and a champion for children. So here's to you, Bruce. And here's hoping you're as great to Ojani, almost 2, and Ozmel as you've been to the kids of San Antonio.
Happy Father's Day,
Ken Rodriguez
San Antonio Express-News
An open letter to Bruce Bowen:
Dear Bruce,
My family watched you on TV the other night. We're not sure if you actually climbed inside the shorts of LeBron James, but it sure seemed like it.
Just about every time LeBron rose up, we saw a hand in his face. Yours. I'm not sure he could have been guarded any better if you'd been surgically attached to his neck.
The Next Jordan is thinking about next year. Guy makes 10 of 30 shots from the field in Game 4 of the NBA Finals and, yes, it's time to re-evaluate.
LeBruce took LeBroom and gave LeBron a LeSweep.:lol
You had help, of course. But still, on the day you turned 36 you put the squeeze on a 22-year-old wonder.
Congratulations. It's been a great month. On June 9, your wife Yardley gave birth to another son, Ozmel. Five days later, you won your third ring and blew out some candles.
You Spurs may be small market, but you sure know how to throw a big party.
On the front page of Friday's paper, just below the word, "DYNASTY," Tim Duncan and Tony Parker each held trophies aloft with one hand. They embraced with the other.
You're in the background, as usual, head turned from the camera, enjoying the moment.
And really, that's why I'm writing. Away from the camera, you do so much for this city and its children.
Alarmed by the high rate of obesity in San Antonio, you started a Get Fit with Bruce and Buddy program. The idea was to help kids lead healthier lifestyles. Many have benefited.
You participate in the Elf Louise program that provides Christmas gifts to children from low-income families.
Through the Bruce Bowen Foundation, you give scholarships to those who can't afford to attend college.
You read to kids in elementary school. You encourage teens in high school to attend college and dream big.
Once, before you got married, I saw you slip into the back of a local church with four or five young boys in tow.
It seems like you work on the body, mind and soul of our youth.
No surprise, then, that this newspaper named you its Sportsman of the Year in 2005.
From Spurs beat writer Johnny Ludden on Christmas Day of that year:
"The NBA requires each player to make 12 community appearances each season. With a week left in 2005, Bowen has made 44."
By the end of the 2005-06 season, I bet you were up to around 100 appearances.
I did not see this coming. When we met in 2001 — back when I was a sports columnist — you seemed bitter and eager to prove your former coach in Miami wrong. Pat Riley had dismissed you as a one-dimensional player. And you told me, "It's a shame I got that label — 'defender.'"
I did not see a selfless, give-back-to-the-community Spur. I saw a guy who wanted to score and change his reputation.
Before long, you changed my perception. You embraced your defensive role, and set an example for kids everywhere.
You went back to college. During the 2003 playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, you even took a final exam at UTSA.
On the road, you studied in the team hotel. You decided if you were going to tell kids to go to college, you'd better finish what you started at Cal-State Fullerton and get a degree.
Your UTSA professor told Ludden that you "wanted to impact children's lives and let them know there's a dream out there they can reach."
You had a big dream once. But no NBA team wanted you when you finished college ball.
Despite rejection, you persevered and finally got your chance. Now you're one of the league's best defenders, and a champion for children. So here's to you, Bruce. And here's hoping you're as great to Ojani, almost 2, and Ozmel as you've been to the kids of San Antonio.
Happy Father's Day,
Ken Rodriguez