Duthie: The Land Of Oz
 Osvaldo Jeanty James Duthie
3/19/2007 12:39:05 AM
I MC'd a golf tournament last August in Ottawa to benefit Carleton University's Athletic Department.
(After all, I once was a champion Carleton athlete, winning the prestigious Intramural Touch Football title in senior year. Sure, we had a bunch of ringers who didn't go to Carleton, and we beat a team of engineers from residence who came to the game directly from the bar, and whose quarterback left to go back to the bar midway through the 2nd quarter. Whatever. A ring is a ring, baby. Okay, we didn't get rings, but we seriously contemplated jackets.)
Anyway, as my taxi pulled up to the clubhouse, a young man with a huge smile opened up the door of the cab and greeted me, as he would every single corporate duffer who showed up that day.
Later that evening, he would grab the microphone at the banquet and speak so eloquently about the challenges of the student-athlete, and of his gratitude towards the corporate community for its support, the suits were writing more cheques on the spot.
That's Osvaldo Jeanty.
Carleton's official Car Door Opener, Host, Ambassador, Fundraiser, and Spokesperson.
Oh yeah, he's also one of the winningest, most clutch athletes in the history of university sport - on either side of the border.
This is Oz's resume after the Carleton Ravens to 52-49 win over Brandon Sunday for the CIS Title:
-124-8 career record
-Two CIS Player of the Year Awards
-FIVE straight National Basketball Championships.
-FOUR Championship Game MVPs.
This is ludicrous! (The adjective, not the rapper.)
A five-peat is almost unheard of. But a four-MVPeat to boot? This is the most far-fetched basketball script since Like Mike.
And get this: he called it. When he arrived at Carleton, Oz told Ravens Coach Dave Smart he intended to get five rings.
Sure, kid. You going to bring Halle Berry to the Grad Dance too? Keep sniffing the liquid paper, they all must have thought.
And yet half a decade, later…Swissssssh! Oz has every finger covered. More bling than a Fifty Cent video.
They may as well rename Carleton the Land of Oz. After all, this was a school whose top sport used to be pub crawling (I lettered). In my day, our most popular cheer was:
"We're clean, not dirty! We'll likely lose by thirty!"
No more. Basketball has changed the entire school's rep.
Has there ever been a Bigger Man on Campus than Oz is now at CU? Heck, I strutted around Carleton thinking I was The Man after doing a back flip into the Jell-O tank during Frosh Week. Oz, meanwhile, also plays the saxophone and speaks three languages.
Maybe Halle Berry is possible.
Oh sure, I know what some of you are saying.
"C'mon! It's Canadian hoops! It's not like he was playing Duke!" (Oops, bad timing on that example).
Look, I'm not saying this is Lew Alcindor and UCLA. But before you mockingly dismiss the CIS, consider this: Oz and his Ravens lost on a buzzer-beater to Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals last fall. Pitino said afterward he felt the Ravens could play in the Big East.
This is a great dynasty, and a remarkable individual feat, no matter what sport and league.
Heck, if your kid wins five titles and four MVPs in recess Red Rover, I'm impressed.
Plus, Oz could have gone south. He had a half dozen offers.
"I didn't want to be some 14th guy on the roster," he says from the team party in Halifax. "I wanted to play, and I wanted to stay close so I could be a part of the national team program."
But Oz now has a problem. He is just 23, with his whole life in front of him. How can he ever top this?
"I hope this is just the beginning," he says.
"I'm going to get an agent, and try to keep playing basketball. Hopefully I'll play in Europe, and someday make it to the NBA...and win more championships."
You gonna tell him he can't?
James Duthie can be reached at jduthie@tsn.ca.
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