Last Saturday night, the night the boys from Michigan visited the village, I also met Floyd Strand.
He’s Class of ‘71.
He’s an emergency room doctor.
He lives in Oregon.
And he told me at the Brickhouse, standing there in the noisy, crowded lobby, and practically parenthetically, that for the rest of the basketball season, well -- he’s kind of … moved to Davidson.
WHAT?
But you know how the Brickhouse is after games. Too many people to talk to and too little time to do it. So I told Floyd that I wanted to chat with him some more, and he gave me his card, and I gave him a call a few days later.
Why?
He graduated 38 years ago.
He lives 2,820 miles away.
Why?
Here’s what he said:
“To be a part of this …”
Floyd was born and raised in Alaska. He played basketball in high school and he played it well enough to get letters from Lefty. He wasn’t offered a scholarship but he was invited to come to school and try out for the team. He ended up playing freshman ball, back when they had that, the same class as Steve Kirley, Duncan Postma and Billy Pierce.
He went to med school in Chapel Hill. He’s lived out in Salem, Ore., since 1977. For the longest time, he kept track of Davidson’s basketball scores in the form of teeny-tiny print in the back of the sports section of the Salem Statesman Journal, and that was about it, because that was basically all there was.
In the mid-‘90s, though, he started to pay a little more attention to the basketball team. The Internet started to kick up. He didn’t have to just look at the scores in his paper back home. Now he could read about the games.
Then Bobby Vagt ’69 became president of the college. Vagt was his hall counselor way back when. A little more interest.
Then his daughter decided to go to Davidson. Molly Strand, now Molly Strand Deis, is Class of ’02. Her roommate for three years? Kerrin McKillop. Even more interest.
Then his son decided to go to Davidson. Peter Strand is Class of ’05. Even more.
Floyd bought season tickets for the first time before last year. He has four seats, Section 103, Row E, Seats 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Then last March.
Detroit.
“One of the great experiences of my life,” he told me on the phone last week.
“I had to be there,” he said.
“I ran into people I hadn’t seen since I was a student,” he said.
“It was a religious experience,” he said.
This man from Oregon who for the next couple months is living in Davidson is perhaps a particularly eye-catching example of something I’ve been seeing and hearing about all season long.
It is in my mind the very coolest part of this quite cool moment in the ongoing Davidson basketball narrative.
The McKillops’ team, the Mathenys’ team, the Currys’ team -- our team -- it’s drawing back in alums who had lost touch, and for those who already had a bond it’s making that bond that much tighter, and it’s connecting them to this place, and to this idea, and to each other.
It isn’t just about basketball.
It’s not.
Showing posts with label steve kirley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steve kirley. Show all posts
2.01.2009
1.29.2009
Others on Maloy
More on the Davidson All-American from my notes from my interviews for the old book:
Doug Cook ’70, Dec. 16, 1998, Montclair, N.J.: “Mike had some problems down there. He played it off because he had such a great personality. If you’re a black guy, do you really want to go to a Southern school with all these rich, white kids?”
“Mike was Mr. Personality. He was just that type of guy. Very fun-loving. I don’t think Mike ran into problems with students on campus. He ran into problems with fans.”
“But I think he felt like he was something of a novelty like he was on stage all the time. I think some of the local activist people got to him by senior year. He was just no longer the happy go-lucky guy. He was more concerned with what was going on in the world.”
Fox DeMoisey ’70: “Maloy had arms like an albatross, and huge hands. When he caught a basketball, it’d be like you catching a tennis ball. You really had to make an awful pass for him not to catch it.”
“Maloy had a damn near photographic memory. He didn’t make the grades simply because of disinterest.”
Mike Dickens ’69, October 1998, Bethesda, Md.: “A very bright guy. Incredibly charming. His life is about being smart and charming, and never stringing it together.”
“Maloy would get out there, Rodney Knowles would stand there, Maloy would make three moves, and Knowles was still reacting to the first.”
“Mike didn’t have anything but friends. Mike would hang out socially with black folks from the other side of the tracks. But by and large, he socialized with us, his fraternity brothers, playing Frisbee, playing bridge.”
Bob Dunham ’70, Jan. 6, 1999, Chapel Hill: “He went through a hard time at Davidson, just like anybody else who was African-American in those days -- not just at Davidson, but in the South. He took some verbal abuse, not from Davidson fans so much as other fans -- he would get heckled on the road.”
“Mike had this sense that he often felt somewhat used at Davidson as just a sports figure. The people who knew Mike didn’t feel that way. A lot of us just liked to spend time with him. One of the regrets of my life is that he drifted away from Davidson and from his friends there.”
“Mike had an infectious laugh.”
“I think he just didn’t care a lot. There was no question about his ability. He was as bright as can be.”
Tom Couch, Jan. 11, 1999, Davidson: “Lefty was a disciplinarian until it came time to win. Mike knew that, and played to that.”
“Everyone loved the guy to death. Everyone loved Mike Maloy.”
“He was so smart it was unbelievable. Mike was the kind of guy who passed without even buying a book.”
Wayne Huckel ’69, Nov. 5, 1998, Charlotte: “Mike had the best of both worlds, in my opinion. He fit in so well because he was so likeable. Plus he was also embraced by the black community across the tracks.”
Steve Kirley ’71, January 1999, Clemmons, N.C.: “He had some of the biggest arms and biggest hands you’ll ever see. He played like a 7-footer.”
Jan Postma ’70, Dec. 11, 1998, Spartanburg, S.C.: “I liked Mike a lot. He was real smart. Unbelievably smart. He could pick up languages just like that. His biggest problem was he was just immature.”
“Mike tried to laugh it off, but it was pretty stressful. I think that all blacks at the time felt like fish out of water. It didn’t matter where you went. Personally I wouldn’t have wanted to be a black student at Davidson.”
Lester Strong ’72, Dec. 24, 1998, Boston: “I’ll never forget being in the low post defending him and his body. He was like a whirling dervish. You never knew which way the guy was going to go. It was like hitting this wall of muscle.”
Doug Cook ’70, Dec. 16, 1998, Montclair, N.J.: “Mike had some problems down there. He played it off because he had such a great personality. If you’re a black guy, do you really want to go to a Southern school with all these rich, white kids?”
“Mike was Mr. Personality. He was just that type of guy. Very fun-loving. I don’t think Mike ran into problems with students on campus. He ran into problems with fans.”
“But I think he felt like he was something of a novelty like he was on stage all the time. I think some of the local activist people got to him by senior year. He was just no longer the happy go-lucky guy. He was more concerned with what was going on in the world.”
Fox DeMoisey ’70: “Maloy had arms like an albatross, and huge hands. When he caught a basketball, it’d be like you catching a tennis ball. You really had to make an awful pass for him not to catch it.”
“Maloy had a damn near photographic memory. He didn’t make the grades simply because of disinterest.”
Mike Dickens ’69, October 1998, Bethesda, Md.: “A very bright guy. Incredibly charming. His life is about being smart and charming, and never stringing it together.”
“Maloy would get out there, Rodney Knowles would stand there, Maloy would make three moves, and Knowles was still reacting to the first.”
“Mike didn’t have anything but friends. Mike would hang out socially with black folks from the other side of the tracks. But by and large, he socialized with us, his fraternity brothers, playing Frisbee, playing bridge.”
Bob Dunham ’70, Jan. 6, 1999, Chapel Hill: “He went through a hard time at Davidson, just like anybody else who was African-American in those days -- not just at Davidson, but in the South. He took some verbal abuse, not from Davidson fans so much as other fans -- he would get heckled on the road.”
“Mike had this sense that he often felt somewhat used at Davidson as just a sports figure. The people who knew Mike didn’t feel that way. A lot of us just liked to spend time with him. One of the regrets of my life is that he drifted away from Davidson and from his friends there.”
“Mike had an infectious laugh.”
“I think he just didn’t care a lot. There was no question about his ability. He was as bright as can be.”
Tom Couch, Jan. 11, 1999, Davidson: “Lefty was a disciplinarian until it came time to win. Mike knew that, and played to that.”
“Everyone loved the guy to death. Everyone loved Mike Maloy.”
“He was so smart it was unbelievable. Mike was the kind of guy who passed without even buying a book.”
Wayne Huckel ’69, Nov. 5, 1998, Charlotte: “Mike had the best of both worlds, in my opinion. He fit in so well because he was so likeable. Plus he was also embraced by the black community across the tracks.”
Steve Kirley ’71, January 1999, Clemmons, N.C.: “He had some of the biggest arms and biggest hands you’ll ever see. He played like a 7-footer.”
Jan Postma ’70, Dec. 11, 1998, Spartanburg, S.C.: “I liked Mike a lot. He was real smart. Unbelievably smart. He could pick up languages just like that. His biggest problem was he was just immature.”
“Mike tried to laugh it off, but it was pretty stressful. I think that all blacks at the time felt like fish out of water. It didn’t matter where you went. Personally I wouldn’t have wanted to be a black student at Davidson.”
Lester Strong ’72, Dec. 24, 1998, Boston: “I’ll never forget being in the low post defending him and his body. He was like a whirling dervish. You never knew which way the guy was going to go. It was like hitting this wall of muscle.”
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