HomeUncategorizedAlive, Bad, and Basketball: FANTASYPROS
My parents used to take us to...
Alive, Bad, and Basketball: FANTASYPROS
My parents used to take us to French Lick, Indiana as kids
It was an annual tradition and one that I looked forward to
every year. When you’re a kid, everything is just simpler
You cram into the car for a road trip and you’re excited
about it. You aren’t in your bed at home and you’re more
than okay with that. You’re eating
more fast food than
anyone rightfully should. Kudos to my parents for doing
that for us, as I know none of those things
pleasant
are
as
an adult
The hotel we
stayed at did this giant Easter egg hunt for all
highlight of the trip for my brother
the kids, which was a
and me, until we got a bit older and needed to find other
things to occupy our time out there. I don’t think my
parents wanted our annual tradition to end, so my dad
veered off the plan in what I believe was 1994. I would
eight
have been 11 years old and my little brother was
years old
huge sports family and that period was when
We were a
the Bulls had Michael Jordan, so basketball was alive and
well in the Tagliere household. We’d been basketball fans
for a long time, so my dad told us he wanted to show us
something. French Lick happens to be the hometown of
basketball legend Larry Bird. My dad got us in the car and
drove us to see his property, which has a short four panel
white fence surrounding the perimeter. There was a full
size basketball court with glass backboards and lights for
all to see. There was no
mistake; this was a basketball
player’s dream
Another thing you do when you’re a kid is have zero
regard for personal privacy, so my brother and I wanted to
walk up to the door and meet Larry himself. It’s not every
day you’re standing outside a legend’s house. While my
dad probably shouldn’t have allowed us to do it, we
walked up to his front door and rang the doorbell. My
heart was
beating faster than it probably
ever had before,
but when the door opened,
we saw a giant man who was
not Larry Bird. Instead, it was his bodyguard who just
stared at us.
“Is Mr. Bird home?” I can hear my 11-year-old voice now.
The large man started to tell us how it was Larry’s personal
home and that we needed to take off, but mid-sentence,
Larry himself walked out from the kitchen and told the
man to let us in. There were a few large bags of
McDonald’s on the counter, to which Larry told us we
could have whatever we wanted
He said, “They sponsor me, so feel free. There’s no way
me and the big fella are
going to eat all this food.” It felt
odd, but how was I going to turn down french fries from
Larry Bird?! I ate the fries. He went on to say, “Hey guys
I really do appreciate you being fans, but I have a rule with
autographs. I don’t sign them at my house. It’s the one
place I want to be able to just relax.” We understood and
respected that. The fact that he invited us in made our day
We went back to the car and our dad was in total shock
that we went into Mr. Bird’s house. We explained
everything to him, and I think he felt bad about letting us
walk up there. We went back home shortly thereafter, and
he told us to write a letter to Mr. Bird thanking him for
being so kind. We did and it felt good. Even better? We got
home from school a few weeks later and there was a
package waiting for us. Larry had signed a few basketball
cards and sent them back to the return address, our house
RT @JoshEberley: This story from @MikeTagliereNFL about Larry Bird, man!!! Wow lol.
https://t.co/t8WcfOhUi2 https://t.co/CmVAZebcCs