Avoda Hoops

Selected Memories from an aging Avoda Hoopster

by Sam Mirkin

I was at camp from 1980 through 1992, and was associated with the hoops team in various capacities from 1983 to 1992. The Program went through some notable highlights during that period, some highlights that bear recounting.

I remember being on the Junior team in 1983 ( I was in bunk 9) coached by Andy Stone and Mike Schwartz. That team was pretty solid, starring Kenny Shifman, Russ Kane, Jon Feldman, and a bunch of other folks I'm forgetting. I remember taking the barge over to play Yomechas and the barge getting swamped on the ride back. Stoney and Schwarty were upset because we didn't score a hundred points against Yomechas. I mean genuinely upset.

My other Yomechas memory centers on the first ever Avoda Hoop Tournament (was it 1984 or 1985?). Yomechas showed up with both boys and girls to play in the Junior Division. Someone in the Avoda Brain Trust (Andy Stone? Bob Stone?) determined that based on some unseen coin flip, Yomechas would be shirts to Avoda's skins. That was high comedy.

I also remember playing junior hoops in 1984 when I was in Bunk 12. Both Jonny Feldman and myself had October birthdays, so were still 13 years old that summer and eligible to play junior hoops. We went to Bournedale and played in their tiny gym against a team that had as much chance of stopping Jon as Ruth Kumin did. I was the second leading scorer with 12 points. Jon threw in 47, and could have had 67 if Spider didn't have mercy by pulling Jon. I think Bournedale put up 16 points in that game.

A popular foil in Avoda's basketball history was the omnipresent Arnie from Bournedale. The director of the camp and Senior hoops coach was a loud and historically ineffectual coach. I remember entire games filled with Arnie yelling something about Avoda "Picking Off". To this day I'm not sure what he meant. I also remember thinking how cheap Arnie was because Bournedale (with its air conditioned bunks and so on) had home-made wooden backboards. Home made!

Most of my recollection of Avoda hoops centers around our furious rivalry with the money men from Bauercrest. Years of animosity boiled over into genuine hatred. When the whole thing started, I seem to recall Bauercrest having better athletes and being prima donnas, but Avoda always fielding grittier and tougher teams. I still remember beating the crest my CIT year, and some of the kids from the crest being sore losers.

Mostly, I remember playing basketball at camp for several hours each day with my best friends in the world. I can still see Ken Shifman driving down the middle of the lane, faking a layup with one hand and dropping a pass behind him to the trailer. I remember coaching the senior hoops team when Jeff Keselman threw an inbounding pass off the basket support, allowing the senior team to hit a shot and take a one point lead over the staff. During the time out I told my guys to be sure they guarded Keselman on the inbound play, then watched as he hit a half court shot to seal the win for the staff.

I remember the anger and fury in Bruce French's eyes when the Avoda seniors lost to Red Auerbach's camp Milbrook squad (1981? 1982?) and thinking that's how you're supposed to feel after you lose. I remember playing in a meet against Thayer Academy where the same team played against the Juniors and Seniors. I remember watching Billy Heitin dribble the ball so hard he could have bounced it into the tennis courts, but somehow always keeping control of the rock.

I remember Bruce Silverlieb steadfastly keeping score, and forgetting to start the clock if Avoda needed some extra time. I remember Bubblehead not being able to ever beat me in one on one despite being a better ballplayer by all accounts. I remember being cut from the senior hoops team my Bunk Fourteen year, still one of the most devastating things that ever happened to me.

What I remember the most was coaching the Senior Hoops team my last three years at camp, and especially my last year there. We had a very solid team, with Spencer Kimball, Darrell Malamut, Mark Sokoloff, Bobby Zuker, Bubblehead, Eric Shaff, Jeff Shoman, the immortal Levy and others. We won Baurcrest's tournament, and chanted "Hardware! Hardware!" as our bus pulled out of Baurcrest. That was a great day.

The Avoda tournament came down to Avoda and Baurcrest, and we took the first game but lost the second game. The third game was nip and tuck, but we ended up losing when a jumper in the lane from Mark Sokoloff fell short. My guys were devastated because they wanted to win the tournament for me (it was my last year at camp and I had been a counselor for almost all of them at some point), and for themselves. I comforted them as best I could, and offered platitudes about learning from a loss, and making the most of opportunities in life. What my guys never knew was that they hadn't let me down, but had given every ounce they had. It was me that let them down. I didn't have them ready for the big game, because I felt our superior talent would win out.