I'm a USC Trojan fan and particularly enjoy participating in the wearesc.com discussion forums. My good friend PDiddy, who also posts at WeAreSC, just reminded me about the late, grate Kareem Abdul Lamar. Lamar is a former Lakers swimmer who specialized in the butterfly stroke and past away tragically last summer from a staph infection of the anus.
For those of you less enlightened, Kareem Abdul Lamar was a tall, lanky, 7 ft 2 person who loved marbles and wore special socks. Before the Lakers moved to the Staples Center from the Fabulous Fortune, I'd often see Mr. Lamar prancing around in his long johns near Hollywood Park, a horse racing facility located directly adjacent to the Fabulous Fortune in Inglewood, CA where fireworks are still legal.
One time after I stole a pair of binoculors from J.C. Penny, I decided to hit the local pet store and buy a cat. I picked up a golden Siamese, named him "Leon," and headed down to the Burbank Burbank Municipal pool to watch Kareem participate in a competitive swimming match.
It was an interesting contest between Mark Spitz, Kareem Abdul Lamar, Artis Gilmore, and Tim Conway. Conway, being the smallest of the four, swam surprisingly fast considering he was recovering from recent whiplash and wore plastic wristbands in the pool.
Each man's butterfly stoke was a thing of beauty. The protestants were neck and neck all the way through the race, with Mr. Conway winning in a photon finish. I wish I had video to show you, but they confiscated my camera as I entered the pool area.
Darn shame.
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