Pete Strobl's Blog
Pete Strobl grew up in Los Angeles, California and went on to play college basketball at D1 Niagara University, New York. After graduating with his Master's Pete began playing professional basketball in Europe and has played in France, Austria, and Germany. This season Pete is Player/Assistant Coach for Merry Monk Ballina. He writes a weekly blog for Streetballireland.com on basketball, life and his experience in Ireland.
Blog #11 - Liam McHale
When I first arrived in Ballina back in September I heard many stories about the club's history and many accomplishments. A majority of the tales revolved around one central figure. It was almost as if I was listening to some ancient legend like "Beowulf". The recurring theme in all the stories was clearly the man's charisma. Apparently his work ethic was unprecedented and he could fire up a team with a few choice words before, after, and during a game. I won't even attempt to paraphrase and list his accomplishments for fear of leaving too much out. He was supposedly far better than many of the leading Americans of his day and decided many games for his team through the years by shutting down the opposing team's top star. The man is Liam McHale and it goes without saying that I was looking forward to playing with him!
I first met Liam while arriving to Ballina's Sports & Leisure Centre to lift weights with Puff Summers. Liam was just finishing shooting in the gym and we both stared at each other for a few seconds wondering who the other tall guy was. He then walked up, introduced himself, and it was "friendship at first site". He offered to wait for us while we worked out and then take us out for lunch. We obviously accepted and hurried through our lifting routines and quickly showered so as not to make him wait too long! We ending up at his favorite sandwich shop Panada's and listened to Liam give us an overall summary of what we could expect in our time in Ballina and Ireland. More often than not, I take these "introductory summaries" with a grain of salt because you never know what's true or not until you actually find out for yourself. In fairness however, thus far he's been right on everything he said that day!
I was extremely disappointed to find out that we wouldn't be teammates as he was now a part of Ballina's first division team, but we continued to play together on Wednesday nights and our friendship and respect for one another continued to grow. Thursday nights are typically a voluntary shoot-around for us (that I've slowly transformed into an intense "individual workout" session). Through the course of the year, Liam has been there more often than any other Irish player. One has to keep in mind that he is now 42 years old. He may not be able to jump as high or run as fast as he used to, but when the workouts are over his shirt is soaked with sweat just like the young guns around him. He's a role model for all of us in his approach to the game as well as priceless advertising for basketball in all of Ireland.
Last weekend Liam joined our SuperLeague team for the first time this season for our game at Limerick. He played about 10 minutes, but once again it was his charisma that gave us an extra boost. He's deserving of all the praise that he's received and I'm now more inclined to believe some of those tales I heard back in September. For me personally, it was an honor to play with the man and something I won't soon forget.
Pete Strobl
petestrobl@gmail.com