The death of one of the icons of our basketball, Wlamir Marques, two -time world champion (1959 and 1963) and twice the Olympic Bronze Medalist (1960 and 1964) with the Brazilian team, immediately brought me a memory.
That has nothing to do with his performance on the court, either by club (star of Corinthians), or for Brazil, since I did not see him play and the available audiovisual content was scarce – if it was not, no one was strength to show.
I remembered that Wlamir was my Physical Education teacher at the São Luís College, during the so-called Gymnasium (after primary education, prior to high school). I bothered, however, because I had few memories of the time, about 30 years ago.
I have these records: he was older than most teachers, already a middle-aged man with gray hair; It was taciturn and seriously, never smiled; He had a predilection for basketball, which did not make his popular classes to most, who really wanted to practice football (including me, who, if he had some competence, was with his feet); It did not stay all year teaching, left the function for some reason I do not know.
I couldn’t recall, however, what his classes were like, even in what series I was, whether on Thursday, Friday or seventh, which today equals the sixth, seventh and eighth year of elementary school.
I decided to resort to friends/colleagues of the time, today fifty like me, to help me. Only to men, because women did not have class with Wlamir –Havia separation by gender, and girls did physical education with a teacher.
I made contact with a fortnight, and all, except for one, said they remember (some more, some less) from the teacher who had once been a basketball star, something few knew.
I was surprised, however, with the lack of standard in the memories.
Ivan El Murr, a basketball fan, woered Wlamir: “Good memory … He was sitting in the corner of the court watching us. He taught me to get into the diagonal carboy to make a tray. And the right form of the throw. We were very young to understand who was there with us.”
“I enjoyed learning from him,” said Luciano Ferreira, another Basquet. “I like basketball thanks to him and the friends I made in basketball.”
That is, he taught the sport, including the fundamentals, right? No, according to others I studied.
“In fact, he gave us a ball and sent us to turn around,” said André Martins, nicknamed Chita. “It was not the foundation, it was not much to train foundation. It released the ball there [para os alunos]”Said Eduardo Grosso, nicknamed Indian.
And the series, what was it? No confirmation. Some said Thursday, another Friday, others seventh. The time Wlamir spent teaching us was not a consensus either.
“In the first class, he said he liked ‘a little’ basketball, taking a joke, but would teach all the other sports as well. Soon after, he was replaced,” said Luiz Claudio Bez. “We had a little class with him,” said Luiz Otávio Ferreira, Tavinho.
“I don’t remember it was only in the 1st semester. I have the feeling of being all year round,” said Luis Eduardo Dix. “I remember basketball classes, obviously, and he releases the soccer ball from time to time [risos].”
Wlamir’s personality then had extremes, going from “sulky” and “disciplinary” to “smiling” and “welcoming”.
“Very polite. Good person.” (Ricardo de Souza, nicknamed Frequês) “Very generous and kind.” (Guilherme Afif Domingos Filho) “Speaks soft, very serene.” (Rodrigo de Menezes, nicknamed Taruga) “calm but disciplining.” (Dix) “Half Success.” (Indian) “Very serious! Always sulky.” (Cheetah) “Very sweet with everyone, humble, smiling, very welcoming.” (Zé Ricardo Pinotti, nicknamed Fly) “A Gentleman.” (Pedro Genta)
And that was the “multifaceted” Wlamir Marques, my teacher when I was 12 years old (or 11, or 13).
This text is an example that the excellent memory of when we are young can weaken over time, making our memories uncommon, cloudy, inaccurate. People who lived the same moments, together, have uneven memories.
Does the solution that in the 30 -year interval something similar does not happen to anyone? Document.
What a missing video of Wlamir’s classes. At that time, it was unfeasible: no cell phone, no filming, just writing in the notebook – what no one did. Today, with smartphones, you can record everything.
Or it gave, since from this year the students were forbidden to use cell phones in schools in Brazil … The way, then, is writing shortly after, so as not to forget much later.
And before I forget: this text, about basketball, is an exception, because the blog is about football.
