Every jock gets up and tells the world how lucky he is. But I feel that I may be the luckiest one of all in terms of timing and being at the right place at the right moment-even though, for the last 30 years, I was told I was born 20 years too soon, for obvious reasons.

It also didn't take me long to decide that Tri-Cities wasn't for me, and that I wasn't going to go there to play basketball.

My family was poor, my father drove a cab for a living, but we felt normal because everybody else was in the same boat.

I grew up in the heart of the Depression.

In whatever sport of field of endeavor you are interested, you should do whatever is necessary to compliment your God-given talent with proper mental preparation so as to do "the best you can." The criterion should be to fully exploit your potential rather than to win at any cost. What more could anyone ever ask of you than to be the best you possibly can?

I had endured six years of frustration so I think winning it all meant more to me than most of the others on the team.

Race wasn't an issue. My family was French, but Yorkville was a melting pot of races and cultures.