BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Agent Zero needs the Brotherhood too


GILBERT ARENAS – BROTHERHOOD INTERVIEW

THE THEME OF THE CAMPAIGN IS BROTHERHOOD. TELL US WHAT BROTHERHOOD REALLY MEANS TO YOU.
You know, it's a group of guys that whatever their status is, is out the window. I know they're just one group; they fight for each other. They go to war with each other. You know, they have fun with each other; they go up, down with each other. That's what a brotherhood is, just that trust. You know, that's a family. You know, they're not, that's my friend, or that's my family and that's what a brotherhood is.

DOES BEING A BROTHER TO ANOTHER PLAYER MEAN MORE THAN JUST BEING A TEAMMATE TO YOU?
Yes, yes. When you have that bond with that player, guys have been through the trenches together, you know, it's not, "he's my teammate any more.” It's "that's my loved one; that's my brother; that's who I fight for." So if anything happens, that's my brother. I'm going to help him out.

People see teammates and brotherhood are two different things. Teammates come in and out of your life. Brotherhoods is those people that you bonded with, that you're always going to have that connection for.

BROTHERHOOD CAN MEAN MENTORING, COACHING AND TEACHING. WHO ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE THAT ACTED LIKE YOUR BROTHERS OR YOU REALLY LOOK AT LIKE THEY TOOK GOOD CARE OF YOU WHEN YOU WERE GROWING UP?
So I have friends I grew up that's brothers; I got people in college that's brothers; and I got people that I met in the NBA that's brothers to me, and you know, you just you know, you just have a brotherhood. All you guys get along. You know, even if you fight, you still, you know, you guys have something more than what you are.

"IT'S NOT ABOUT ME, IT'S ABOUT WE.” DO YOU BELIEVE IN THIS IDEA, AND IF YOU DO WHY IS THAT?
Yes. You know, you can win a game. You can win a scoring title. You know, you can hit a game winner. You can't win a championship. It has to be a "we" thing. It has to be a group, and you know, it's been proven year after year, after year.

Even the greatest player in the world can't win it by himself. He needed a group, and you know, that's where that family comes in. Those teams that get along the best always win the championship.

TELL A STORY ABOUT A BROTHERHOOD MOMENT IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAPPENED EITHER ON OR OFF THE COURT.
I threw a New Year's Eve party at my house, because I didn't want my teammates to go out and get in trouble, you know, out in the parties. So I had car service pick up food, DJ, everything. Every single one of them showed up. It was probably 200 people in my house, and it was just, we had fun, but it was more that, you know, we're all here together. I didn’t have to worry about anybody, every single one of my teammates. My family is safe, and it was just a special moment.


WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN THE CAMPAIGN?
I was more of the goofball in the campaign. You know, it's fun.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR GUYS' INTERACTION AND TALK ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN A LITTLE BIT?
You get 12 different strangers together, just like a team. Twelve people who don't know each other; you get twelve kids. You know, they live in a dorm; they come in as individuals, but when they leave, they're leaving as a brotherhood.

Like KG was telling them, when you guys go off in your own worlds, you guys are going to always remember each other. You know, just because of this day right here.

GETTING THE SIX OF YOU TOGETHER, I SEE HOW WELL YOU GUYS GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR GUY’S INTERACTION?
It's kind of funny, because, you know, you normally wouldn't talk to somebody like KG on the court, because his demeanor. Each one of the guys have your own demeanor on the court, but then when you put us in the setting, and it's like, oh, what's happening? How you doing? You tell stories; you have fun about the season.

I met all these guys through adidas. I got to know Chauncey. I know Tim. So, you know, it's easier for me to go to them now, 'cause before, you know, you're nervous. Like, oh, you know, that's Tim, that's KG. You can't talk to them.

YOU ARE THE SECOND YOUNGEST PLAYER IN THIS COMMERICAL, WHAT IS THAT LIKE FOR YOU TO BE IN A COMMERCIAL WITH GUYS YOU FOLLOWED BEFORE YOU CAME INTO THE LEAGUE?
You know, it is so weird that you say that, because I remember when I was in high school, and they were getting drafted; I was putting their posters on my wall. Now I'm sitting here in a commercial with them, you know, part of their group. It's kind of weird.

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