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Oh My Goodnesss: Felipe Lopez in 1993

CHN » True Hoop
October 7th, 2008 by CHN
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Felipe Lopez. He was a huge name in New York in the early 1990s. Big enough that the New Yorker assigned writer Susan Orlean (who would go on to inspire the movie Adaptation, in which she was played by Meryl Streep) to spend a whole bunch of time with as a high-schooler at Manhattan's Catholic high school Rice. Back then everyone was certain he would be a big NBA star, but his career turned out to be much shorter than planned, although he continues to play overseas. Anyway, earlier today I wrote about how much I love it when the New Yorker writes about basketball, which inspired blogger Jason Kottke to send me a link to Orlean's 1993 profile of Felipe Lopez. It's a great read. Here's a favorite passage (you'll notice I have added a few dashes to cover a swear word in the original): Felipe spoke no English at all when he moved to New York from the Dominican Republic, four years ago, but he quickly picked up certain phrases, including "crash the boards," "he's bugging out," "get the hell out of the paint," and "oh, my goodness." Now he speaks English comfortably, with a rich Dominican accent -- the words tumble and click together, like stones being tossed in a polisher. "Oh, my goodness" remains his favorite phrase. It is a utility expression that reveals his modesty, his manners, his ingenuousness, and his usual state of mind, which is one of pleasant and guileless surprise at the remarkable nature of his life. I have heard him use it to comment on the expectation that he will someday be a rich and famous player in the N.B.A., and on the fact that he was recently offered half a million dollars by people from Spain to put aside his homework and come play in their league, and on the fact that he is already considered a seminal national export by citizens of the Dominican Republic, who are counting on him to be the first Dominican in the N.B.A., and on the fact that he is growing so fast that he once failed to recognize his own pants. Sometimes he will use the phrase in circumstances where his teammates and friends might be inclined to say something more dynamic. One night this winter, I was sitting around at school with Felipe and his teammates, watching a videotape of old Michael Jordan highlights. The tape had been edited for maximum excitement, and most of the boys on the team were responding with more and more baroque constructions of foul language. At one point, Jordan was shown leaping past the Celtics center Robert Parish, and someone said, "Yo, feature that, bro! He's busting the Chief's face." "Busting his f---ing face," another one said. "Busting his goddam big-ass face." "He's got it going on. Now Jordan's going to bust his foul-loving big-ass mama's-boy dope black ass." On the tape, Jordan slammed the ball through the hoop and Parish crumpled to the floor. While the other boys were applauding and swearing, Felipe moved closer to the television and then said, admiringly, "Oh, my goodness."

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