“Shazam!”
I have always loved our Phoenix Suns! Win or lose, season to season, our purple & orange is a class act and has always had my heart. I must admit though, that over the years, I have lost interest in professional basketball, and honestly, all professional sports. Something has been missing.
Right about now, we all could use something special to cheer on and get excited about! That something special has been brewing here in the Valley of the Sun over the past few years, with arrival of the Suns head coach, Monty Williams. He has breathed new life into the game of professional basketball and our team. He has humanized the sport again, proving that a coach in the professional arena can care so deeply about his players, bring a level of professionalism, encourage team camaraderie, leave politics out, win games, and give really big hugs all at the same time! “I am here to serve” …Wow…he knows the true meaning of success…. the importance of coaching a group of talented athletes as first, a group of humans who happen to have the gift of sport. He understands that this group of gifted men are not solely here on this planet to entertain us… it goes much, much deeper than that.
I have been blasted back to the 1970’s, when the excitement began. I would watch our Suns play, at that time in the Madhouse on McDowell (Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum), led by coach, Cotton Fitzsimmons & player and coach, Paul Westphal …two of the greats in the basketball world! And “Shazam”, there is Al McCoy’s legendary “Voice of the Suns“ always bringing such great spirit and spunk with his clever announcing! My family would be huddled around our small orange box TV, strategically placed on our kitchen counter for the antenna to receive optimal reception….cheering & screaming at the top of our lungs for our team, our Phoenix Suns! Through the years, our TV’s grew and so did our passion for the team! The feelings came flooding back to me, watching our Suns play these past few weeks, with all their hearts, while being coached with heart. And it is not just because they are winning, there is something else in the air too…something special.
Soft spoken, humble, kind… Coach Williams leads with respect for humankind, expecting that respect in return from his team and for that respect to be projected when the team steps on to the court … the way competition should be! And then there is the incredible team chemistry … it just oozes off the court! So refreshing to witness, so fun for our city and so absolutely incredible for the Phoenix Suns players … to have a coach of such wisdom & poise to lead and such an outstanding group of teammates to go to work with every day. Thank you Coach Williams and all of the Suns coaches for bringing such goodness & fun to the sport of professional basketball. Thank you to all of the Phoenix Suns players for your show of athleticism & playing your hearts out and thank you to the entire Suns organization for supporting this goodness! You have already won the championship in my book! We will look back at this time one day and remember this good feeling swirling around the arena and exactly where we were as we cheered on our basketball team, our purple & orange, our Phoenix Suns!
“Shazam” …”Let’s Rally the Valley”….GO SUNS!!!
