Once upon a time there was a man named Vlade Divac. He smoked cigarettes. He took Hollywood by storm. He brought a Yugoslavian flare to a dreary late-80s NBA. But it was in the liberal arts circle where his most impressive legacy came about: The Vlad Squad. For nine years and counting, WESXC and friends have taken the rock to the hole in honor of our favorite center this side of Predrag Drobnjak. 2004 was no different.
This season saw the final intramural games of some of the most accomplished Vlad Squad players to ever wear the fabled Mustard Yellow and Black. While their “C” League squad was far off of its championship form of yore, Dave “Specs Magoo” Bloom ’04, Gabe “Richie Frahm” Greenberg ’04, Jon “Diddle Monsterrr” Kraus ’04, and Bryan “Boneyard” Bissell ’04, nevertheless gave a heartfelt and witty batch of performances this season, and imparted invaluable knowledge to a young group of Vlad frosh along the way. Their excellence does not go unnoticed.
It all began some three-odd years ago when they followed Mike Tracy, Vince Buccola, Oz Hazel and Matt Netto, to the 2001 C League title, while Bissell led the league in 3-point marksmanship, shoting 56% from beyond the arc. After that, the Vlad Squad moved from C to B to A and back again, all for the love of the game and the desire for more championship beer coozies.
O, how times do evolve in four short years!
Vlad saw the improvement of Jon Kraus’ game from a wayward, suburban anti-baller to a gruff, ballerina-like rebound monster a la Dennis Rodman. Meanwhile Bissell changed from a loud, street-wise Tacoma-stylez sharpshooter to the wittiest loudmouth with the most dangerous bombs away carelessness that Wesleyan has ever seen, think Jeff Hornacek meets Manute Bol. Greenberg evolved from a gritty team player and defensive wiz to the heart-felt Vlade glue of the squad, a Detlef Schrempf-type. Bloom, finally, grew from a long-armed center with a knack for the sly pass to Wesleyan’s greatest basketball mastermind, the Belichick of the new era, the closest thing to Arvydas Sabonis to ever grace Middletown soil.
This season may have ended in the stat book with a close loss to respected rival and women’s soccer team, Our Pond, but the legend of Vlad will live forever on the backs of Kraus’ career capping buzzer-beater, Bloom’s patented no-look dishes, Greenberg’s moneyball floaters, and Bissell’s kiss-and-shootattitude. Alas, the Vlad Squad mantra consists of two things: Stats and championships. One would be hard pressed to find four guys more committed to these qualities.
So if you see any of these fellows in passing give them a hand, and take a moment of silence to mourn the loss of true basketball class. Oh, and if you’re walking through Bacon Fieldhouse in the next couple of days, mind your step because I think these guys left their hearts on the floor out there somewhere.
Long live running up the score. Long live tradition. Long live Vlade.
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