Saturday, March 5, 2022

Sheshefski

 Have you ever met someone who pronounces their own name wrong?  Kind of makes you wonder if they have a screw loose or something?  But what if that same person, despite their seeming mental deficiencies, also has an incredibly high skill level in another area of life.

Like, maybe, coaching college basketball?

I have never been a really big Duke guy.  I liked some of their players, didn't like a few too.  Could take them or leave them.  But I have to respect the longevity and excellence of Coach K.  Yeah, he should pronounce his name Kre-zoo-ski or something close to that, but who doesn't have quirks.

I won't go on and blab about all his accomplishments, but they are pretty impressive.  So I was quite happy to poke through my excess basketball cards and find this RC of Coach K. There is a Hoops RC of him too, but I like this one better. 

This man not only can't pronounce his name, he does not look like he has any business being a basketball coach!

OK, I know that Polish names don't really use the same pronunciations that an uneducated American like myself might think they should.  You do you, Coach K.  Be nice to the Poles, Diamond King!!!

I look forward to the coaches last home game tonight.  He deserves most of the accolades he will get.  Should also be interesting to see if he can finish his career with another NCAA title. 

I recently found a RC of Nick Saban, and now Krzyzewski.  What other great college coaches have RCs that I might find in my old common bins?

4 comments:

  1. Everybody complains about spelling his name but as someone who writes sports headlines for a living, I've had Krzyzewski memorized for a long time.

    Don't have any of his cards though. College sports cards are not something I collect, with certain Dodger connections the exception.

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  2. How about Dean Smith? I think he has a few cards in that late 80's North Carolina product. There's Pat Summit. She has a 1994 Flair card. And Tara Van Derveer has some 1996 trading cards (UD & Topps).

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  3. There's a (former) NHL star with a name almost as oddly pronounced as coach K. Dustin Byfuglien pronounced his name "Buff-lin"

    And I have met someone who pronounced their own name "wrong". Worked with someone whose last name was Reseter and I asked her how it's pronounced. It wasn't "re-set-er" as you'd assume. It was "ress-it-er".

    I have a Jim Calhoun card in my Connecticut collection, so maybe you can find one of his. I'm sure Bobby Knight has a card, Rick Pitino has a couple, and probably Geno Auriemma. I should try to add a Geno card to my collection, if there is one.

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