Runoff Water

From Nov. 30-09

O You of the Western Hemisphere,

Not so long ago I was taking one of my death-defying power walks on Amwaj Island. Up ahead of me I noticed a stretch where the sprinkler system was responsible for having left runoff water on the street. It was nestled up next to the sidewalk curb, maybe five yards long. Aside from the sea, nowhere else for miles around was a drop of water in sight. Remember, it only rains every 47 years here, and then for just ten minutes.

I was passed by a car (no other traffic around) and was somewhat surprised to see it pull over and park, right in the middle of this water. As I neared, two hefty gentlemen and their equally disposed womenfolk got out of the car and sloshed through the water until they were on the curb. I detected them speaking a Slavic language. I must therefore repeat my earlier question to you: who cares who gets Macedonia?

It has probably been a week ago that we last played a game. As is our habit, we played woefully against a second tier team and found ourselves down 7 going into the last quarter. We won by 5 but no one in the locker room after the contest was happy. I was mad at the players and they were mad at me (for being mad at them). Again, we played with absolutely no energy. Very perplexing.

Manager Hussain called for a giant meeting before practice couple of days later. We went into an office at the gym and I talked and then they talked. The crux of what I said was that the players have to be accountable for how they play. I pointed out that these days in the Arab World if a team is playing poorly or losing then there are 3 possibilites to consider. First, it’s Management’s fault. No, that’s impossible. Second, it’s the players’ fault. No, that too is impossible. So then, thirdly, who does that leave? The coach! We must fire the coach! This made the players merry and they had to agree. I pressed my point that, just maybe, it IS partially their fault.

We talked some more, until everything was said and then we leaped to our feet (as one) and clutched each other in a powerful Group Hug. Everything was solved! They promised to become more wonderful if I would promise to let them play more full court 5 on 5 without stopping play much. They said conditioning was the culprit.

So for the next three practices I largely did what they wanted. There may have been a tad of daily improvement…until today. And then this morning I actually saw them train with some purpose! It was joyous to behold. Now if we can just sustain it thru tomorrow’s practice and into our Wednesday nite game. We play Sitra, a decent team which is probably fifth at the moment in our 10-team league. Their foreign player is a very athletic 6-9 Moroccan who played at Georgia and then Iona College. We must contain him. Just as we all must contain our urge to walk through standing water in our good shoes, although many naughty children (and a certain people-group) are unable to restrain themselves from so doing.
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I went to church with Darren Friday (he works for the Sabre Group, who own Expedia and other such companies) and afterwards he was talking with a guy named Henry. Henry was born in Germany and his family lost everything in the WWII bombing of Dresden, their home town. They immigrated to South Africa when Henry was eighteen. As I came up, Henry was talking about the “largest manmade desert in the world.” I asked what he was talking about and he explained that he was referencing the project he is now working on. The company he works for is in the process of creating, through sea dredging, a new island, about one mile by two-plus miles. Just off of Amwaj Island, northern tip of the country.

In fact, I had seen a large table model of this project on display at City Centre Mall…as it will look upon completion, of course. Much larger than Amwaj, but similar in that it will have private residences, hotels, marinas, waterways and shopping…mostly upscale. Since everyone was off for a few days because of another Eid holiday, he volunteered to take the two of us on a site tour. We went yesterday in Henry’s 4-wheel drive vehicle.

There are about five large dredging ships in the channel there and he explained how those take up sand off the sea floor and then the sand is relocated to form dry land. He showed us how rocks are used to buttress the new land mass as it grows and many other things. The best part was that we got to wear orange vests and hardhats. I tried to walk like a construction guy.

We could see the smaller Amwaj Island across the way and I asked Henry if it had also been totally created from the sea floor. He said yes, although it was a lagoon with a coral head and had only about three feet of water atop it. In the case of this project, “Diyar Muharraq,” the water depth ranges from 3 to 25 feet. He said that as much as 20% of Bahrain is manmade land. As we drove back, on a 6-lane divided highway that runs along the coast, Henry pointed out that maybe 60 yards away from the water—on the other side of the highway—was a fishing village. Boats and fishing huts still there…but now no longer on the sea. More reclaimed land. Not so good for those displaced businesses, although new ones now sit on the present seashore.

We passed one other reclamation project and Henry said it was going to be a Medical Resort. Like Bankok and India, it hopes to attract people who want cosmetic procedures performed relatively cheaply. Then the patients can recuperate in the sun, as they lounge on the beach. Or they can, presumably, opt to sit in shallow runoff water next to a curb if that is more up their alley. I was really glad to learn that this is coming to Bahrain because there’s something I’ve been wanting for a long time. A bigger nose. Much bigger.

Au Revoir, Coach Pat (still gainfully employed)