Prince took music in the blood. But basketball was in his heart. “I think the basketball was really his first love,” said Al Nuness, who was his coach at Central High School Minneapolis.
On Thursday, when they began to emerge news of the death of one of the most influential of the modern era pop singer-songwriters, Nuness learned through a phone call from his wife. And his mind traveled immediately to 1973, the year that Prince and his early friends ninth grade were promoted by the coach to the team intermediate category in the institution.
“He was very short,” he recalled Nuness. “But it was fast. Could handle the ball well, penetrating the defensive and make passes. “
Prince Rogers Nelson and his half brother Duane Nelson had a great friend, Paul Mitchell.
The inseparable trio, from the time attending the nearby school Bryant Junior High, I wanted to play basketball so eagerly that used to sneak to the gym Central, along with their dog and their bikes to participate in some practices after hours of classroom. Nuness had to throw them several times, he recalled Thursday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
But Prince did not cause many problems Nuness.
His generation, who graduated in 1976, he had in fact one of the best teams in state history. Central, which closed their set shortly after, finished the season with a record 25-1 and sent several players to college programs of the Division I of the NCAA.
The Prince sports career ended after his sophomore season. Basketball took second place with respect to the guitar and microphone. But the artist continued to occasionally contacting Nuness, while collecting fame and was transformed into a recluse celebrity.
When I was a star, Prince supported some teams of university state league AAU, Nuness said.
“It was a great young” Nuness said. “He did many charitable things that people do not know, because he did not want people knowing what he was doing.”
Here are some other links between sport and the star who died 57 years.
the Super Bowl
the big NFL game was played nine years in Miami under adverse weather conditions. Half of the Super Bowl, when Chicago and Indianapolis could take refuge for a while rain and wind, Prince offered one of the best shows in recent memory in these games.
Oblivious to the conditions on a slippery stage, Prince, dressed in a blue blazer and an orange shirt, exuded professionalism and showed his talent with the guitar.
Bruce Rodgers, who was director of the show of the Super Bowl that year, recalled the experience in a video released by NFL.com. He said a colleague spoke to Prince morning and warned that it would rain.
“Prince reacted like saying, ‘can make it rain harder?’” Rodgers said.
Purple and Gold
When his hometown Vikings made the playoffs in the NFL after the 2009 campaign, Prince witnessed the victory over Dallas in the Metrodome. With that victory, the Vikings advanced to the final of the National Conference, and Prince wrote them a song, called “Purple and Gold”, whose title emulating the most successful singer, “Purple Rain” and alluded to the colors of computer, purple and gold.
the theme was a combination of a college anthem, a song by the Beatles and a melody of the 1980s with synthesizer. “We are the truth if the truth can be counted, purple and gold much they will reign,” read part of the letter.
“Prince was incredibly representative of Minnesota, and helped set the map to Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was a brilliant artist and a better person, “stressed the Vikings in a statement. “We will always be proud and grateful for the fact that it has been considered a follower of the Vikings”.
“Let’s go crazy!”
Every time Minnesota Twins that connect a home run, listening to the speakers of the park’s success Prince “Let’s Go Crazy”. Ballplayers adopted “Little Red Corvette” as an iconic song the previous season. Fans old enough to remember the first tunes of Prince began to teach letters younger attending the stands.
“One of my favorites is gone. This hurts, “said outfielder Torii Hunter, recently retired, through the social network Instagram.
After Thursday’s win, 8-1 in Milwaukee first baseman Joe Mauer said, “is sad news All Minnesotans are proud Prince, sure. “.
Cheered in Oakland
Prince was hailed on March 3, when he attended the Oracle Arena to witness the match between Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors. He was in town for a concert in the same building, the next night.
The Warriors swingman, Draymond Green, attended the show. “RIP Prince. I had the pleasure of seeing you at a concert last month in Oakland, “tweeted Green. “One of the best shows I’ve seen. Rest in peace, legend. Wow!”. (D)
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