Open Look
CBC Books | | Posted: December 5, 2018 9:11 PM | Last Updated: December 13, 2018
Jay Triano
As a child growing up in Niagara Falls, Ont., Jay Triano did what everyone else in the city did on Friday nights: he went to watch basketball. Along with dozens of other fans, Jay and his family would crowd into the gymnasium of the local high school. Of all the places in the world, Jay only ever wanted to be courtside, surrounded by the game he loved with the roar of the crowd behind him.
Jay never lost that passion for the game. A talented basketball player, Jay competed at the highest levels of the sport. He broke school records, traveled the world with the national team, and twice played against some of basketball's biggest stars at the Olympics, all in the hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete. But the road wasn't always smooth. Basketball was in its infancy in Canada, and Jay's options were limited. Jack Donohue, the imposing forefather of the national game in Canada, held the fortunes of many players in his hands, and he tested the mettle of those around him. Throughout it all, Jay's love of the sport drove him onward.
As Jay matured, so too did the game of basketball in Canada, from humble origins in quiet communities to international competitions and the peak of the professional game. Along the way, Jay drew inspiration from the remarkable people in his life. When he was playing at university, Jay's trainer was a young man named Terry Fox, who showed Jay the true meanings of discipline, gratitude, and giving back. Years later, when Jay was coaching Olympic and NBA teams, it was those same lessons that helped him realize that he wasn't just shaping athletes; he was shaping a new generation.
Told with honesty, warmth, and passion, Jay Triano's story is an uplifting reminder of what it means to love a sport and a country. (From Simon & Schuster)
Jay never lost that passion for the game. A talented basketball player, Jay competed at the highest levels of the sport. He broke school records, traveled the world with the national team, and twice played against some of basketball's biggest stars at the Olympics, all in the hopes of one day becoming a professional athlete. But the road wasn't always smooth. Basketball was in its infancy in Canada, and Jay's options were limited. Jack Donohue, the imposing forefather of the national game in Canada, held the fortunes of many players in his hands, and he tested the mettle of those around him. Throughout it all, Jay's love of the sport drove him onward.
As Jay matured, so too did the game of basketball in Canada, from humble origins in quiet communities to international competitions and the peak of the professional game. Along the way, Jay drew inspiration from the remarkable people in his life. When he was playing at university, Jay's trainer was a young man named Terry Fox, who showed Jay the true meanings of discipline, gratitude, and giving back. Years later, when Jay was coaching Olympic and NBA teams, it was those same lessons that helped him realize that he wasn't just shaping athletes; he was shaping a new generation.
Told with honesty, warmth, and passion, Jay Triano's story is an uplifting reminder of what it means to love a sport and a country. (From Simon & Schuster)
From the book
Coach Donohue had rules. They were unwritten, but we all knew them. He had rules about being clean shaven: "You need to stand closer to the mirror next time," he'd say if we showed up with too much stubble. He had rules about taking our hats off when we came inside, about making sure we didn't stay out in the sun for longer than thirty minutes, and about not chewing gum in public. "It makes you look like a cow," he'd say in his native Brooklynese.
But the number one unwritten rule was that the first seat on the bus was his.
I played basketball for Jack Donohue on the Canadian national team for eleven years. We travelled all over the world. We had our hearts broken many times. We laughed a thousand times more. And once, my teammates and I lifted Jack onto our shoulders to cut down the nets after dreaming the impossible dream and fighting the impossible foe — Jack's favourite line from his favourite musical, Man of La Mancha. We had dreamed of beating Team USA, and we'd finally done it on our way to a gold medal in the 1983 World University Games. On home court, no less.
I was a kid the day I celebrated with Jack on my shoulders. We all were. With a head full of long, dark hair, I had the whole world ahead of me.
Thirty-two years later, in 2015, I was sitting on a bus in Mexico City, thinking back to that earlier version of myself. I wasn't a kid anymore; I was a man, a father of three grown children. What hair I had was shaved short and as grey as Jack's had been. And I'd taken the torch that Jack had passed; I was the head coach of the Canadian men's national team.
I was clean shaven, I wasn't chewing gum, and I was in the first seat on the bus. Jack's seat. Behind me on our charter was the most talented basketball team Canada had ever assembled. There were eight NBA players on our twelve-man roster; six had been first-round picks, two of whom had been taken first overall.
As it so often did, our whole summer—the next four years, in some ways — came down to one game. If we won our semifinal against Venezuela that day, we would qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. There was a time — when Jack was the head coach and I was a player — when Canada had been a fixture in Olympic basketball. But since Jack had retired in 1988, Canada had been to just one Olympics. It was time to get us back to where we'd been and help these players achieve something real and pure, something that they'd never forget
But the number one unwritten rule was that the first seat on the bus was his.
I played basketball for Jack Donohue on the Canadian national team for eleven years. We travelled all over the world. We had our hearts broken many times. We laughed a thousand times more. And once, my teammates and I lifted Jack onto our shoulders to cut down the nets after dreaming the impossible dream and fighting the impossible foe — Jack's favourite line from his favourite musical, Man of La Mancha. We had dreamed of beating Team USA, and we'd finally done it on our way to a gold medal in the 1983 World University Games. On home court, no less.
I was a kid the day I celebrated with Jack on my shoulders. We all were. With a head full of long, dark hair, I had the whole world ahead of me.
Thirty-two years later, in 2015, I was sitting on a bus in Mexico City, thinking back to that earlier version of myself. I wasn't a kid anymore; I was a man, a father of three grown children. What hair I had was shaved short and as grey as Jack's had been. And I'd taken the torch that Jack had passed; I was the head coach of the Canadian men's national team.
I was clean shaven, I wasn't chewing gum, and I was in the first seat on the bus. Jack's seat. Behind me on our charter was the most talented basketball team Canada had ever assembled. There were eight NBA players on our twelve-man roster; six had been first-round picks, two of whom had been taken first overall.
As it so often did, our whole summer—the next four years, in some ways — came down to one game. If we won our semifinal against Venezuela that day, we would qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. There was a time — when Jack was the head coach and I was a player — when Canada had been a fixture in Olympic basketball. But since Jack had retired in 1988, Canada had been to just one Olympics. It was time to get us back to where we'd been and help these players achieve something real and pure, something that they'd never forget
From Open Look by Jay Triano ©2018. Published by Simon & Schuster.