Order BACKSPIN here
I have this rule to never read a memoir from someone I don't already know from pop culture : rock stars, professional athletes, unwitting heroes, etc. That rule was born in Blue Metropolis, Montreal's own literary convention, where I've met several non-famous memoirists prowling the panels and attacking established authors and publishers with their bitter, confused questions and broken deams. They are more or less all like that, hence the rule I gave myself never to read a memoir from a total stranger. I read Pete Strobl's memoir BACKSPIN because its subject was intriguing to me: professional basketball outside the NBA. That ended up being a terrific decision because BACKSPIN is way more than a couple memories packaged together. It's about going as far as your dreams will lead you and doing things for the right reasons. It's not even mandatory to enjoy basketball to enjoy this memoir (although it helps a little!)
Pete Strobl is a 6'8 small forward with a smooth shooting stroke. The right size, skill set and work ethic for his position landed him a basketball scholarship to Niagara University, where he graduated with a master degree in business and decided to make his life about basketball. Falling a little short of NBA scouts radar, he chose to take his career to Europe, where he will play for several different teams in France, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Iceland and Switzerland *. Over there, not only his game developped: Pete Strobl became a leader and a keen observer of the game that would eventually transition into coaching, leading to the opening of his academy The Scoring Factory, located in Pittsburgh.
From the get go, BACKSPIN tackles a subject that fascinates me: professional sports stripped of the ridiculous money and celebrity culture. How it is to turn pro on the fringe of the NBA and never getting the revered status it entails. How much of sports culture really is about sports? To my greatest pleasure, I read the story of a young man shaped by his passion of the game in BACKSPIN. Pete Strobl lived for basketball for several years and went wherever the game took him, making the necessary sacrifices to keep living his life the way it made sense to me. Long after I was done with BACKSPIN, the integrity and the work ethic of Pete Strobl still resonated with me. I had one of these ''what am I doing with my life'' moments. It's not every day you're being confronted to someone who lives up to his own passions.
If the ideas carried by BACKSPIN moved the needle, the content was also very enjoyable. Pete Strobl can really write. In the first chapter, he tells the story of his trip from Los Angeles to Niagara University, where he draws a moving portrait of his father. What makes it great and highlights Pete Strobl's observation skills is that it's not deliberately moving, but the descriptions of the small things his father did for him, the implied pride and anxiety were as well described as any published work of fiction would. Another variable I enjoyed was the ''backspin'' segments, where Pete Strobl gives insights on a particular situation or narrates a memory that lead to explain his reaction to another situation. It's a unique storytelling device that helped illustrating how Strobl became such an introspective, hard working person and that tell more about his character than it even intended to.
Our culture has a strong relationship to sports, but its teaching and benefits go way beyond achieving celebrity status and this is still a misunderstood aspect. The spectrum between being LeBron James or being high school bullies is infinitely layered and complicated and BACKSPIN illustrates that. It's a memoir that goes way beyond doing such a basic distinction, though. It's about living up to your passions to the best of your abilities and having to deal with as little regret as possible. I'm about the most cynical reader, yet the story of Pete Strobl moved me and made me uncomfortable with the loose ends of my own life, even if he never reached a status I looked up to. The power of BACKSPIN is to illustrate the way Pete Strobl does things: he kept his ego in check, lived for the game, was attuned to people around him (an underrated basketball skill, actually) and made the best out of every situation. It's about way more than basketball.
Now, BACKSPIN was probably written as promotional tool for The Scoring Factory, but you know what? Like everything in Pete Strobl's life, it was made the right way and for the right reasons. I'd send my kids to The Scoring Factory in a hurry (if I had any). Pete Strobl is the man and if anybody can show a young baller how to succeed and exploit his full potential, it's him.
Now, BACKSPIN was probably written as promotional tool for The Scoring Factory, but you know what? Like everything in Pete Strobl's life, it was made the right way and for the right reasons. I'd send my kids to The Scoring Factory in a hurry (if I had any). Pete Strobl is the man and if anybody can show a young baller how to succeed and exploit his full potential, it's him.
* Maybe not in the right order, but I think I got every country.
