Sport Report

by Phil Johnson

Motto: The real game is the game you are in. Text: “Bodily exercise profiteth little.” — Paul of Tarsus

I am at a bit of a loss at what to report. At one time I lived with a promise from one of our editors that, consistent with this issue’s boating motif, he would report on The America’s Cup. When asked to deliver the goods, he said, “We won.”

Though somewhat aware of most recent sports news, I have not been deeply interested nor involved. Once the Celtics were out of it, the NBA playoffs were ho-hum for me. I am interested in Christian Laettner though. He is someone through whom I hope my aspirations for a hero will be fulfilled. Even at my age I could model my game after his.

Though that is true and though I could likely improve my game by doing so, I will probably continue to model my game after the likes of Dick Garmaker. Because I feel sorry for those who don’t know about Garmaker, I take this opportunity to bring you up to speed.

Dick Garmaker is from Hibbing, Minnesota. I’ve known the story I tell of him for more than 30 years, and I have lost touch with the sources. It is essentially true nonetheless.

Growing up, Garmaker had a light on his garage so he could practice shooting at his hoop until the wee hours of the morning. He shot day and night. He shot jump shots. The jump shot was still new and far from universally common in the early fifties. My high school coach still emphasized the two-hand chest shot. But Garmaker was perfecting a jumper. Not just a jumper, a long jumper — twenty-five to thirty feet.

I have been told that Garmaker started as a junior for the Bluejackets of Hibbing High School. He was a good shot but not a high scorer — eight points a game, perhaps. He went on to Hibbing Junior College. To begin with, the same pattern prevailed. Then one night at Ely J.C., he suddenly got it all together and pumped in around 60 points. Nobody stopped him after that. He set national Junior College scoring records at Hibbing and then went on to the University of Minnesota. He set records there, too. He played with the New York Knicks in the NBA and averaged about 20 points a game.

For me, the center of his career and influence was his time at Minnesota. My junior year (1954-55), the Falls High Broncos travelled 300 miles south to Williams Arena in Minneapolis. As guests of the University of Minnesota, we were scheduled to play the preliminary game to Minnesota vs. DePaul. That was a thrill! We beat Minneapolis Edison High School under the eye of the great Gopher Coach, Ozzie Cowles. Then it was “the real game is the game you are at.” We were given seats at the very edge of the court. We could see the players up close.

I watched Dick Garmaker’s every move as the 6'3", 203- pounder warmed up. His jump-shot floated to the basket and nestled into the net from unbelievable distances. He threw up long, soft hook shots with either hand. He would start a hard drive toward the basket, stop on a dime, go up, and release the ball at the height of his jump. It would float . . . swish.

Because he was such a great shooter, Garmaker was vulnerable to the caricature of being just a shooter. I watched his every move the entire DePaul game. He was absolutely great. Not only did he shoot. He rebounded, he passed, he played defense, he made a perfectly timed left-handed tip-in. Best of all, the Gophers won.

When we got home, I began to fling long jump-shots at the hoop. More than once I heard Coach Bergstead exclaim, “Phil! Get closer to the basket and work on your hook shots.” It did not matter whether my long jumper went in or not; Coach did not want me shooting it. In the end, it was Garmaker’s total game, especially his tough rebounding, that I tried to develop for myself, not just his shooting.

Christian Laettner is a fundamentally sound player to model, also. I am happy to live the game through such players and to enjoy their success. Some others have been: Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Dave DeBuscher, and Bill Bradley. Michael Jordan is not on the list because he is one of the guys I think of as an opponent to beat. The same goes for Wilt the Stilt, Jerry West, and Magic Johnson, to name a few. — PJ