[Colorado-Talk] Denver Post Article #GoNuggets

[Amy Sabo]

hello paul,

thanks for posting this article of you in the denver post. it was a
very good article indeed! as a matter of fact my mom found it on her
google page yesterday and, told me of it and, i kinda of knew that you
would post here to the list.

it shows that we as blind people in a positive way we can enjoy events
just like the sighted public way.

thanks again for sharing and, i will talk to you soon.




hugs,
amy

On 6/11/23, Paul Sandoval via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I thought I'd share a fun article featuring Cody Bair and myself with you
> all. There were a couple of inaccuracies, but all in all a pretty good
> story:
>
>
> Blind Nuggets fans see what Perkins, Smith can't The Denver Post MIAMI >>
> Blind men shake their heads and wonder what the heck Kendrick Perkins and
> Stephen A. Smith are looking at.
>
>
>
>
> Chris Tucker? Forest Whitaker? Shakira? Because it sure ain't the Nuggets.
>
> 'I just heard that Perkins is still doubling down on, 'Miami's gonna win
> this series,' Lakewood's Paul Sandoval told me with a laugh before Game 4
> of
> the NBA Finals between the Nuggets and Heat.
>
> 'It's just like, 'Why? What are you doing? I don't think these national
> guys
> watch these games.
>
> Exhibit B: Stephen A. hopped onto ESPN Thursday morning, fresh off Game 3
> of
> the Finals, and decreed that two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic 'isn't known for
> having some kind of dominant post game now. That's not his game.
>
> After which his three co-hosts looked at him, justifiably, as if he'd just
> broken wind at the Vatican.
>
> 'We're kinda used to that,' Sandoval said. 'We still get some of that small
> town treatment, but we're not a small town. We get some of that from the
> coasts. A championship in the NBA will go a long way. What do they say '
> we're a 'flyover city? Maybe. We'll see.
>
> Paul sees what comes out of Ball Arena better than most. Even though he's
> been legally blind for about 15 years.
>
> 'I think once they finally got past Phoenix (in the Western semis),'
> Sandoval chuckled, 'there was no denying they were going to be trouble for
> everybody else.
>
> At 47, Paul admits he got bit by the Nuggets bug early. The Denver native
> grew up watching Alex English, Fat Lever and Kiki Vandeweghe score for fun
> on Channel 2, those wild nights in the Doug Moe '80s when defense was
> optional.
>
> 'That's what sucked me in,' Sandoval said.
>
> He's called shotgun on this roller coaster car ever since. Before the
> pandemic, Sandoval attended six or seven home games per year, the voice of
> Nuggets play-by-play man Jason Kosmicki in one ear, wife, Shawn, or son,
> Paul Jr., whispering in the other.
>
> 'To be honest, we usually get the cheap seats,' Sandoval cracked. 'The view
> doesn't matter.
>
> 'Like Dirk. But not quite Dirk.
>
> Unlike Lisa Salters, Paul's still never actually seen Jokic play. Not
> literally, anyway.
>
> But he's been sketching a picture in his head for years. A rock in the
> paint, with the persistence of a hailstorm and a sparrow's feathery touch.
> Soft hands. Surgeon's hands. Eyes in the back of his head. A dancing bear,
> threading needles for fun.
>
> 'Seven feet, 300 pounds,' Sandoval said. 'It's a big man. When he plays
> like
> he played (in Game 3), I keep imagining it. I mean he literally touched the
> ball for a half-second, deflected it and I think it went to KCP and it
> ended
> up a dunk ' the ball always comes off of him right to where it needs to go.
> His hands, it's like a baseball to him. His hands have to be huge. Think of
> these other big players. He makes (the Lakers') Anthony Davis look like
> nothing.
>
> Pretty dang close.
>
> Closer than Perkins or Smith, anyway.
>
> 'I feel like the announcers describe him as this 7-foot, sensational
> center,
> right? added Cody Bair of Littleton, a friend of Paul's and a Nuggets fan
> who's been blind since birth.
>
> 'But with all the plays you listen to him make, shooting threes and driving
> it in and all those crazy plays ' really, based on that, you kind of come
> up
> with this image of what type of basketball player he is.
>
> 'The closest (comparison) I can remember, playing a little bit similar
> game,
> but not quite as good, was Dirk Nowitzki. Like Dirk. But not quite Dirk.
>
> 'Best gig in the world
>
> Sandoval grew up partially sighted. A fall when he was just 9 months old
> triggered 'a genetic disease that was going to happen anyway,' he recalled,
> prematurely dimming a baby's light. He attended public schools and the
> Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, reared bi-lingual, learning ABCs in
> both manuscript and Braille.
>
> He became completely blind in his 30s after marriage ' to a sighted woman '
> and the birth of two children. Eight years ago, Paul and Shawn founded
> Blind
> Tech Training, in which they tutor the blind on computers and technology in
> order to foster better career possibilities and independence.
>
> 'I have the best gig in the world,' Sandoval said. 'I really do. I get to
> help my community and feed my family every now and then.
>
> Paul doesn't mess around. If the TV feed is seven to 30 seconds behind
> Koz's
> voice, he pauses the action ' action he can't see ' until it sounds like
> it's synching up.
>
> 'It's funny, because two words are the only reason I can actually keep up
> and watch: Jason Kosmicki,' Paul said of the inimitable 'Koz. 'He always
> amazed me at how he can call such a fast-paced game. It's something unreal,
> how they can paint me a picture and in real time, while it's still going
> on,
> they can still give you a sense of perspective. I'm amazed at their talent.
> That's what includes us in this game.
>
> Bair and Sandoval rave about the experience at Ball Arena, from the
> accommodations by the staff to the live FM radio feed that lines up in
> tandem with the action on the floor below. The little things that go a mile
> high.
>
> Some of the last games Paul recalls visually were the Rockies of 16 summers
> ago, steamrolling to the World Series from out of left field. Shawn went
> into labor with daughter, Mia, the morning after the Rox finished off a
> four-game sweep of Arizona in the NLCS to clinch the city's first World
> Series berth.
>
> 'One of the things I actually miss about watching football is watching a
> play develop on the field,' Sandoval said. 'That, to me, was beautiful to
> watch.
>
> When he hears Koz and the national broadcasters talk about Jokic, another
> Denver sports icon pops into his head, too: John Elway. Capable of anything
> from anywhere. Never out of a game. Magician. Technician.
>
> 'When somebody understands their craft, they understand all the moving
> parts,' he said. 'They see the shooting guard in a specific spot. Out of
> the
> corner of their eye, they know exactly where the other guy is. That's the
> part, to me, I can really visualize, just as a fan, because I had sight
> before.
>
> 'It's a fun time
>
> He sees a parade. He sees fire trucks rolling past Union Station. He sees
> Jokic and those soft hands cradling the Larry O'Brien Trophy like a
> newborn,
> then raising it to the people the way Rafiki raised Simba at Pride Rock.
>
> He sees tough guys fighting tears. And losing.
>
> 'It's hard to really appreciate the moment fully, I guess,' Sandoval said.
> 'I grew up watching Elway. I grew up watching how hard that was for (the
> Broncos) to finally win a dang championship.
>
> 'And when we did, I sat there for two minutes after the game was over,
> thinking, 'What's going to happen? What's going to happen that's going to
> make us lose? You start to get kind of shell-shocked. This (NBA title)
> would
> be a dream come true. It's a great example for my son to watch. If he's
> going to watch any of that stuff, this is what I want him to see. This is
> just ' fun. It's a fun time.
>
> He sees Nuggs in five. Cody sees Nuggs in six.
>
> 'It'll be chaos,' Sandoval said. 'This city knows how to throw down. It
> won't be a rookie parade.
>
> He sees Stephen A., stunned and shamed into silence, ignoring the champs.
> Again. Oh, and he's got a word of advice for our man Kendrick. Just one.
>
> 'Watch,' Sandoval said.
>
> Paul laughed again. Knowingly this time.
>
> 'Just watch the next game or two. Because that's all that's left of the
> season.
>
>
>
>
>
> Paul Sandoval
>
> President - Wild West Metro Chapter
>
> Secretary - National Federation of The Blind of Colorado
>
> Board Member - Colorado Association of Guide Dog Users
>
> email: paulsandoval75 at gmail.com
>
> Phone: 720-620-8007
>
>
>
>