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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
The picture has
changed for RainbowsLOOK at them there, taking the team picture, this new, latest, Rainbow basketball squad. All of them loose, cracking up, having fun. All of them except sharpshooter Michael Kuebler, who is focused, who is in the zone, even for 1-2-3 Cheese!
There's center Milos Zivanovic, bigger, stronger. Hairier. He is growing a beard because "all of the Serbian players that you see in the NBA, they have beards."
There is media guide cover guy Phil Martin who, now that his close friend Carl English is outta here, is now officially the dreamiest, cutest, Tiger Beat-iest guy on the team.
"I always thought I was," Dr. Phil said. "Nah, I'm just playing around, I'm just kidding."
There's new guy Julian Sensley, the prodigal son with breathtaking talent and a map of the Hawaiian archipelago tattooed to his neck.
"I'm home now," said Sensley, who has been just about everywhere else. "Nothing like home."
And then there are the faces that are missing. English. The Bleached Bomber. The Moussed Mountie. He'd have lit it up this season. Instead he left a year early, in pursuit of NBA dreams.
(It may be a longer pursuit than he'd planned. Charlestown? Charlestown?)
Yes, most agreed. It feels different without Carl.
But it was the name of Tony Akpan, the football prospect, who had also gone off to become a first-round pick, which elicited the reactions.
Tony!
They still love him.
He'd dropped in for practice the other day, muscling in with "those football moves," Zivanovic said, laughing. "It was back to old times," Martin said, lighting up. "He showed us his strength," JC Carter said.
"You can get more rest time," Zivanovic said.
Ah, yes. With Akpan in the gym, everything changes.
June Jones, his new coach, saw Akpan's impact after he had blocked an extra point: "I think it excited his teammates because it was Tony, more than anything," Jones said.
Exactly.
And that's a big intangible to be missing. Maybe bigger than English's 19 points per game. You can find guys to make that up.
Other stuff is harder to find.
But then came Akpan, joining the team picture late, the way he was to start the season late.
And word is that during that one practice he shot the ball like a guy who plays football full-time.
Showing up late and shooting bricks?
Sliding in when the team is already set, inconsistent circumstances, special rules?
Maybe not even Tony Akpan could pull that off.
And if he can't, no one can.
It's sad, but it seems that football has him now, if that's what he wants to do.
But this is a new year, a new team, there, smiling, still fitting in. Still finding its own personality and flow.
Has Riley Wallace yelled at Sensley yet?
"Have I?" Wallace asked, trying to remember.
"Actually, yesterday for the first time, really," Sensley said, thinking for a second. "Yeah, he got at me."
Look at these guys. They're starting to become the new Rainbow basketball team.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com
