Toughest Pronunciation of My Career
(11/25/05)
Bushnell-Prairie City vs. Lombard College Prep
In a previous blog I mentioned the tricky pronunciations of Teutopolis at the Charleston Holiday Tournament. Nothing compares to a Saturday in Bushnell.
I was broadcasting games for 104.7 WLMD (Macomb/Bushnell) during the 2005-06 season, covering mainly the B-PC Spartans. Covering a void in the Spartan Tip-Off Classic was a team from the west suburbs, Lombard College Prep, a complete unknown.
Lombard College Prep's mission statement is:
The College Preparatory School of America (CPSA) is a full-time, accredited Islamic school dedicated to providing excellent education in an Islamic environment. Its objective is to engage students in the pursuit of knowledge while promoting an understanding and implementation of the Islamic way of life as prescribed in the Quran and Sunnah of our Prophet (PBUH). CPSA endeavors to foster the highest possible physical, mental, spiritual, and academic abilities among successive generation of young Muslims.
The school had just put together a basketball team, and played a slim schedule. In fact, the team traveled to Bushnell in cars and did not have their own uniforms.
Here is the Lombard College Prep roster from my 2005 broadcast. If I can find the tape, I will post some audio snippets.
2005-06 Lombard College Prep Boy's Basketball
Head Coach: Lahcene Sadoun
Starters
Faraz Abdul-Moid
Arqum Usmani
Abdur-Rehman Sozzer
Ibrahim Kothawala
Danish Haque
Reserves
Ashan Ilyas
Samir Siddiqui
Abdullah Siddiqui
Purguan Baqui
Rashed Sayeed
Zubair Ilyas
Ismail Abdulateef
After I talked with coach Sadoun that day to get a glimpse of his school and team, I asked him about pronunciations. He gave me a quick look, and decided it would be easier if his players came up to the broadcast booth one-by-one and gave them to me themselves.
They were gracious visitors to rural western Illinois, and a great group to converse with. The team really struggled in their games, but you could tell they were having the time of their lives on the court, which is something we often forget about in high school athletics.
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ReplyDeleteWow, this brought back memories! I was part of that team, as my name is listed on that roster. I sent this blog post to a bunch of guys who were part of that team and coaching staff; they loved it and found it funny. We were wondering if you had any audio clips of our games which you could share with us???
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, this is cool! I will go through my old tapes (yeah, cassettes LOL) and see if I can find this broadcast. Send me an email if you see this at ihssn@hotmail.com
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