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Last fall, Dan Stoddard made the Algonquin College basketball team — and quite an international splash, really — as a 38-year-old rookie, a grizzled underdog who had to drop 60 pounds before tryouts.
The season is over. Now he wants more, and less.
Stoddard steps out of the Chevy Silverado at an east-end Timmy’s no longer the 400-pound OC Transpo driver he was a year ago. He’s down to 308 — at six-foot-eight, on the right side of thin — every inch the jock: size 14 court shoes, black baggy sweats, a hoodie from the Algonquin Thunder, a gym bag in the truck.
“Disappointing,” he says of his first season, which ended in late February. “I expected more out of myself. To be honest, I expected more from the team as a whole.”
The club had six wins and 14 losses, so his hoop dream met a dose of reality: He averaged 12 minutes and five points a game and every contest met younger, faster, more athletic opponents.
“I thought I would destroy some of these kids, then they jump eight feet over top of you and it’s, ‘Surprise!’ ”
As the season went on, however, he got into better shape, lost more weight. In his second-last game, he had 12 points, second most on the Thunder scoresheet. As his mobility improves, so will his mid-range game and his three-point looks.
“The disappointment is not from the game, it’s from the results. Part of it is not being mentally and physically prepared to play the game at that level.”
For much of the reading audience, it may have been enough that a man edging 40 made a college basketball roster, but it’s not enough for him. “I wanted to win. I can’t stand losing.” (Yet he was tickled by all the attention, even from Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, about the inspirational aspect of his journey.)
So, he has a new plan. Stoddard wants to lose 50 more pounds in the next couple of months, then spend the summer working on his game in preparation for season two. As a bus driver, he works split shifts (morning and afternoon peaks), leaving him enough time to build in three-hour workouts.
Spinning, yoga, cardio, basketball during the day. At night, there are five online courses to complete his business degree. On weekends, he’s renovating his Russell house and saying hello to his wife and two children.
Dan Stoddard, an OC Transpo driver and Algonquin College student-athlete, works out with Bojan Svilar at the Overbook Community Centre on Tuesday. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thunder coach Trevor Costello praised Stoddard’s work ethic and discipline.
“He was awesome, a leader by example. The guy never, ever missed a practice. He was dedicated the whole time and constantly improving,” said the longtime coach, who would welcome the big man’s return.
“Dan never made excuses even though he was in pain a lot of the time.”
Road trips were an adventure as the team bused around Ontario, mostly in the GTA.
“This idea of Tinder,” Stoddard said of the dating app that seems a favourite of sports teams, “of hooking up with girls. Finishing games at 10 and they’re out till 3 in the morning. Like Holy Cow, what are you doing?”
The school has an alcohol ban on road trips, he said, which is a little hard to take when you’re old enough to have adult children. (His daughter is 18.)
“Things like that. I’m 39, man. If I want to have a beer, I’ll have a beer. Who doesn’t like to sit down and have a steak and a beer?”
The roster was a little topsy-turvy. A five-week province-wide strike by faculty, for instance, led some players to withdraw from school in the Christmas semester. Others arrived in January.
“Second half was better,” Stoddard said. “I was actually rooming with guys who would go to bed at 11:30.”
He suffered an ankle injury during the season and now wears a brace, but otherwise his old bones have held up.
“It’s not like the season was a bust. I got to do something I’ve been thinking about, dreaming about for a long time. But, in that same breath, I’m not satisfied with where I am.”
His is a comeback story. He was a sometimes dominant player in high school in Hammond, but lost interest in academics in his final year. Then came marriage at 20, two kids and scores of different jobs to make ends meet. But the boy’s dream never died.
“My love for the game is ridiculous and, honestly, I don’t know why. I think it’s because it was the only thing I was happy doing in high school.”
Stoddard no longer lacks a roadmap. He wants to complete his business degree, become an accountant or more, and possibly coach at the collegiate level.
“You have to try. What’s the point of living if you’re not trying hard?”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
Dan Stoddard in action with the Algonquin Thunder during an Ontario Colleges Athletic Association men’s basketball game.
查看原文...
The season is over. Now he wants more, and less.
Stoddard steps out of the Chevy Silverado at an east-end Timmy’s no longer the 400-pound OC Transpo driver he was a year ago. He’s down to 308 — at six-foot-eight, on the right side of thin — every inch the jock: size 14 court shoes, black baggy sweats, a hoodie from the Algonquin Thunder, a gym bag in the truck.
“Disappointing,” he says of his first season, which ended in late February. “I expected more out of myself. To be honest, I expected more from the team as a whole.”
The club had six wins and 14 losses, so his hoop dream met a dose of reality: He averaged 12 minutes and five points a game and every contest met younger, faster, more athletic opponents.
“I thought I would destroy some of these kids, then they jump eight feet over top of you and it’s, ‘Surprise!’ ”
As the season went on, however, he got into better shape, lost more weight. In his second-last game, he had 12 points, second most on the Thunder scoresheet. As his mobility improves, so will his mid-range game and his three-point looks.
“The disappointment is not from the game, it’s from the results. Part of it is not being mentally and physically prepared to play the game at that level.”
For much of the reading audience, it may have been enough that a man edging 40 made a college basketball roster, but it’s not enough for him. “I wanted to win. I can’t stand losing.” (Yet he was tickled by all the attention, even from Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, about the inspirational aspect of his journey.)
So, he has a new plan. Stoddard wants to lose 50 more pounds in the next couple of months, then spend the summer working on his game in preparation for season two. As a bus driver, he works split shifts (morning and afternoon peaks), leaving him enough time to build in three-hour workouts.
Spinning, yoga, cardio, basketball during the day. At night, there are five online courses to complete his business degree. On weekends, he’s renovating his Russell house and saying hello to his wife and two children.
Dan Stoddard, an OC Transpo driver and Algonquin College student-athlete, works out with Bojan Svilar at the Overbook Community Centre on Tuesday. Julie Oliver/Postmedia
Thunder coach Trevor Costello praised Stoddard’s work ethic and discipline.
“He was awesome, a leader by example. The guy never, ever missed a practice. He was dedicated the whole time and constantly improving,” said the longtime coach, who would welcome the big man’s return.
“Dan never made excuses even though he was in pain a lot of the time.”
Road trips were an adventure as the team bused around Ontario, mostly in the GTA.
“This idea of Tinder,” Stoddard said of the dating app that seems a favourite of sports teams, “of hooking up with girls. Finishing games at 10 and they’re out till 3 in the morning. Like Holy Cow, what are you doing?”
The school has an alcohol ban on road trips, he said, which is a little hard to take when you’re old enough to have adult children. (His daughter is 18.)
“Things like that. I’m 39, man. If I want to have a beer, I’ll have a beer. Who doesn’t like to sit down and have a steak and a beer?”
The roster was a little topsy-turvy. A five-week province-wide strike by faculty, for instance, led some players to withdraw from school in the Christmas semester. Others arrived in January.
“Second half was better,” Stoddard said. “I was actually rooming with guys who would go to bed at 11:30.”
He suffered an ankle injury during the season and now wears a brace, but otherwise his old bones have held up.
“It’s not like the season was a bust. I got to do something I’ve been thinking about, dreaming about for a long time. But, in that same breath, I’m not satisfied with where I am.”
His is a comeback story. He was a sometimes dominant player in high school in Hammond, but lost interest in academics in his final year. Then came marriage at 20, two kids and scores of different jobs to make ends meet. But the boy’s dream never died.
“My love for the game is ridiculous and, honestly, I don’t know why. I think it’s because it was the only thing I was happy doing in high school.”
Stoddard no longer lacks a roadmap. He wants to complete his business degree, become an accountant or more, and possibly coach at the collegiate level.
“You have to try. What’s the point of living if you’re not trying hard?”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
Dan Stoddard in action with the Algonquin Thunder during an Ontario Colleges Athletic Association men’s basketball game.
查看原文...
