Arman is disappointed.
Today is Omar Samhan’s birthday. I know this because we’re Facebook friends. And he might not know who the hell I am, but I know who he is. And he’s pretty cool.
If you don’t know the story of Omar Samhan it goes something like this: a pudgy Egyptian high school player with talent gets recruited by Saint Mary’s, a nowhere college in California, because he’s pudgy. After a few seasons of working hard, Samhan entered his senior year with skills honed and body in shape – and it translated. No one dominated the 2010 NCAA tournament quite like Omar Samhan did. Particularly his dismantling of 2 seeded (which for you non-sports fans is like Goliath) Villanova against his 10 seeded (David) Saint Mary’s College. And he became an instant hit with college basketball fans because of his dominance on and off the court.
“You’re supposed to be diplomatic with questions like this. No. 1. Best win ever. Quote it, Omar Samhan said best win ever.”
And Middle Easterners had their hero. In a matter of moments Omar Samhan’s Facebook friends list grew exponentially. I know because I was in that whirlwind. Usually I don’t go out and friend people I don’t know, but Samhan and I had that Middle Eastern thing in common, he was crazy talented, I was in love with him, and there were awesome things to report to my friends:
“Omar Samhan has amazing pictures.”
“Like what?”
“Like one of him and this girl in Paris. So romantic. So great.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
"Did you see that video of Omar Samhan just being Omar Samhan. He seems awesome."
"Right. I just told you Megan broke up with me. I expect you to not talk about Omar Samhan."
“Oh wow, Omar Samhan just ‘liked’ the movie Gladiator. Such an underrated movie.”
“ARMAN! YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF TAKING A TEST! NO ONE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT OMAR SAMHAN!”
And Mr. Wilkinson was right. As soon as Saint Mary’s was eliminated from the tournament the Samhan hysteria fell into near oblivion. I was the only one who really held on. And my friends, but ironically. Undrafted, Samhan tried out for the Dallas Mavericks, but didn’t make their final squad. He then, as his Facebook profile showed, partied a shit load, which is awesome, but also kind of sad. This is a player who could have improved a lot of teams in the NBA, and maybe he could’ve never started a game, but he could play a solid 5-8 minutes a night. But no. The same questions came up:
“He’s good, but kind of doughy.”
“The pro game is so much different than the college game.”
“What kind of skin color is that? We only take white and black – no middles allowed!”
I don’t think I’ve ever really talked about it, but I hate the NBA for the way it treated Omar Samhan, and players like him. Someone on an ESPN or Sports Guy forum years ago posted one of the most interesting sports questions I have ever heard, and it went something like this:
“If Charles Barkley was entering this year’s (2005) draft, would he fall to the second or late first round?"
 |
| Charles Barkley: Always short, mostly pudgy, never not great. |
In a league obsessed with bodies and height, where would the pudgy, extremely short Charles Barkley, one of the best competitors and position players of all time, fall? And it’s things like that, that I wish the NBA could slow down and reanalyze, because the NBA stats of today, although extremely extensive, don’t capture a certain magic for the college players that just watching them does. And you have to realize at some point, the question needs to stop being, “BOOM or BUST?!?!” and start being, “How many minutes can we get from this guy?”
You could get 5-8 out of Omar Samhan.
I’m disappointed.
This Bon Iver song is not helping.
Hello and goodbye Day Five.
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