By Paul Teetor
Forget the winners. This year the Live Oak Park 3-on-3 annual basketball Classic was all about a guy named Joe.
The Live Oak Basketball Association was shaken to its core last October when founding member Joe Straight of Redondo Beach suddenly died at age 69. But for a few minutes Friday afternoon it felt like Straight was smiling down on the Manhattan Beach courts where the former Air Force Captain with the bushy mustache and infectious smile had hoisted jumpers and showed off his patented spin moves every Friday afternoon for more than 35 years.
Not only was the latest edition of the annual Live Oak 3-on-3 Basketball Classic held in honor of Straight’s memory, but the entrants included a specially dedicated team consisting of his brother John Straight, one of his best friends, Pat Mullin, and Mullin’s nephew, Kevin Mullin, a star at Palo Alto High School who averaged 20 points this past year and plans to play next year for Washington University of St. Louis, a Division 3 school.
That team, consisting of the 62-year-old Mullin, who still has the picture-perfect jump shot he displayed at the University of Connecticut 40 years ago, Straight, who plays hard and strong despite an artificial knee, and the young buck Kevin Mullin, came within one missed shot of making it all the way to the finals.
Although they lost in the first round, the Mullin-Straight-Mullin team kept going in the consolation bracket – composed of all the first round losers – and surprised everyone by advancing all the way to the consolation Finals. The winner there would advance to the tournament final, where it would play the team that emerged from the winner’s bracket.
So there was a rising sense of excitement among the crowd that had gathered around the court as the Mullin-Straight team grabbed a 10-8 lead in the Consolation Final over the grit-and-grind team of Ron “Crash” Goodlin, Darnell “Don’t Call Me Danielle” Miller and Stuart “Margin Call” Waldman. They did it by relying on young Mullin to create the offense and draw the defensive attention, thereby setting up both the older Mullin and Straight to drill outside jumpers that regularly hit nothing but net.
Needing just one more point to get to 11 and pull off the huge sentimental upset, the Mullin-Straight team couldn’t get that last basket as they watched Waldman twice gallop to the rim for difficult reverse scoops. They fought hard at 10-10 but went down when Goodlin grabbed a loose ball and banked in a 12-foot side jumper to complete their comeback and vault them into the final.
But for a few moments at least, the spirit of Joe Straight had hovered over the show court where the finals were played.
“When John hit that shot to put us up 10-8, I figured Joe was coming down through the trees to help us win this thing,” Pat Mullin said a few minutes later. “I could feel his presence. I could see his smile. I could even hear his laugh. I really wanted to win it for Joe.”
That near-miracle was the emotional highlight of the tournament, which ended with a rout in the Finals by the winning team of Jon “Yankee Pride” La Bella, Dave “Ringer” Kooiman and Scott “Syracuse” Talbot. They jumped out to a 10-1 lead, with the scoring spread around equally – Talbot hit two long jumpers and his signature flying scoop shot, La Bella drilled a 20 -foot jumper, powered in for a get-out-of-my-way drive and grabbed a rebound for a stick-back bucket, and Kooiman hit two loooong jumpers, a layup and a back-in turn-around.
That bucket barrage took less than five minutes, broken only by a pretty flip-in by Waldman. Down 10-1, the losers’ bracket winners rallied behind Goodlin, who spun his way to the hoop for a ground-bound bank shot and then hit a 10-foot straight-on jumper to pull within 10-3. At that point Waldman caught the fever and drilled three straight outside shots to pull within 10-6 and keep hope alive for a dramatic final: under the tournament rules the team from the Loser’s Bracket had to win two out of three games in the Finals to be declared the overall winner. The team from the winner’s bracket, however, only had to win one game.
But Waldman couldn’t maintain his sharp outside touch and missed an 18-foot jumper. That opened the door for Talbot, who grabbed a loose ball from a rebound scrum, whirled towards the hoop and stuck a 10-foot put-back that ended it.
It was a typical day of tournament basketball for the Live Oak regulars, who played with more intensity than the usual Friday afternoon 3-on-3 scrimmage that has been going on ever since the 1970’s. The pushing, grabbing, shoving, sumo wrestling, grunting, banging, hacking, and borderline assault that passed for defense all day culminated in a broken nose for “Dangerous Dave” Sherwood, part of last year’s winning team, who rushed off to the hospital to get it fixed.
Other highlights included Fat Phil “I’m better than Randy Lee” Ortiz, who launched his usual array of 30-foot guided-missile bombs and shocked everyone by playing ferocious defense; Mike “Shaq” Weintraub holding his own in the land of giants and hitting every open shot that came his way; Chris “C-Pal” Palisan playing like the two-time Live Oak champion he is but breaking down at the end due to his rapidly advancing years; and the sideline appearance of Live Oak Living Legends Eric “Sky Pilot” Goldbach, Mike “I’m Hip” Foley, and Jeff “I’m” Rich, who cheered on his son, “Little Stevie” Rich.
After it was all over and John Straight had won the first annual Joe Straight MVP award, everyone headed down to the Shellback Tavern to drink, eat and tell lies about how great they were today and how much greater they were back in the day. The after-party at the Shellback was always the favorite part of the Friday afternoon ritual for Joe Straight, and this day would be no different.
A guy named Joe is gone now, but thanks to the newly established Joe Straight MVP award he will never be forgotten.
Contact: paulteetor@verizon.net
Follow: @paulteetor
