Man On The Moon

AlicanteSport would like to thank Taylor Coppenrath

for his commitment to C. B. Lucentum Alicante

by dedicating this post to him in his 31st birthday.

Election week in the States. A time for unforgettable speeches and promises. A time to dream of a different future and to make people dream.

Doubtless, one of the most impressive promises ever made by a politician took place back in 1961, when President Kennedy said: “This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish”. And, eventually, by the end of that decade, a man landed on the moon and returned safely to the earth. The dream was accomplished.

Twenty years later, another man was born in a state called Vermont. A big man born, likewise, to make people dream of getting very high. An extremely talented sportsman destined for basketball. A very skillful player who, one day, decided to travel overseas in search of success.

Taylor Coppenrath.

I remember the first time I saw him. It was my first year as a season-ticket holder of Lucentum Alicante, and so was Taylor’s as a pivot there. With every of his games, I could learn the dos and don’ts of basketball. Watching him on court is like reading a manual of the perfect player: the place he should be, the movements he should do, possible and impossible shots, blocks, faults. Attack and defense. Team. It was with Lucentum Alicante when he got the first promotion from LEB to ACB. The first time he went up to the highest of the Spanish basketball league. He not only made us dream of a better future for the team: he made it come true. I keep this pic as a memento of the celebration of that achievement.

He is such an amazing player that he did it again and again with different Spanish teams. He seems to be touched with this especial gift to make people dream of basketball and bring the club to the highest time after time. Because every of his steps may look small for a man, but they are, actually, a great leap for the team.

As JFK said, we choose to go to the moon. Lucentum choose to go to the ACB, not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. And Taylor Coppenrath is our man. Man on the moon.

Just like that president had a very special one to sing a “Happy birthday” for him, Coppenrath has a beautiful and wonderful lady next to him: his wife Anna. Therefore, if I may, in behalf of all the supporters and fans of Lucentum Alicante, let me wish him a happy birthday, Spanish way.

Feliz cumpleaños, Taylor.

Mar Galindo

Posted in: Lucentum