Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Inspiration through slience: CSUN
Michael Lizarraga, 22, the only deaf player in Division I men’s basketball last season, had his inspiring story covered by “The New York Times,” “Los Angeles Times,” ESPN, Fox Sports, “Los Angeles Daily News,” CBS Sports and many other media outlets.
Having to cover the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team for the last two seasons, I had the opportunity to see all the attention Lizarraga received from reporters and began to wonder if he ever got tired of the spotlight.
Prior to a road game against UC Riverside in February, Erin Matthews, Lizarraga’s interpreter, told me the 6-foot-7 senior forward does get annoyed at times, especially if the interview is after a loss, but he understands it’s for a good cause.
Lizarraga has become a role model to many young deaf athletes and has been receiving countless fan mail through his personal and fan page on Facebook.
“Mike you are an amazing inspiration. I just worked a basketball tournament for hearing impaired children and these kids are learning a lot from you. Keep up the good work,” Maura Baginski said.
Lizarraga doesn’t only encourage deaf children.
“It was amazing and inspirational being able to sit on press row and watch you (Lizarraga) play in person tonight at Pacific. From one D-I athlete to another, congratulations on all that you have achieved in your career and good luck in the Big West Tournament. You represent everything that is great about an athlete overcoming a challenge to pursue their dreams,” said Gwen Arafiles, a senior softball player at UC Berkeley.
I asked Lizarraga if we could schedule a meeting so I can ask him a few questions.
“Sure, but how do you want to do this?” he said.
I paused and realized his interpreter Matthews wouldn’t be around since the basketball season was over. We arranged to meet in front of the Matadome with our laptops to talk through Google chat.
During our one-hour chat, I got to know Lizarraga’s personality off of the court and how he handles being a role model.
Off to a bad start
Lizarraga and I decided to get together at 3 p.m. on May 6 after he was done playing pick-up basketball with current and former teammates. It’s 20 minutes after 3 p.m. and I’m starting to think he forgot about our interview or he just didn’t want to talk.
A CSUN assistant coach walks by and I ask him if he can remind Lizarraga about our interview.
“Oh, no, I can’t do that. Michael (Lizarraga) won’t stop playing until the game is over,” he told me.
A few minutes later Lizarraga comes out of the gym and points at my laptop and gives me a disappointed look. He then pulls out his fancy Apple MacBook and I realized that he was making fun of my less-expensive PC Toshiba.
So far I’ve learned that Lizarraga takes pick-up basketball seriously and is a jokester. Oh, wait, and he gets bored easily.
While I ask Lizarraga who he has winning the NBA Finals (he picked the Heat and was right about the Lakers going down), I catch him on his Facebook and watching YouTube videos of Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin.
It turns out Lizarraga wanted to show me one of the letters he received on his fan page.
Popular Mike
Gilberto: Do you respond to most letters?
Michael: Yea some, but sometimes I get e-mailed long letters and at times I’m not in the mood to respond back.
Gilberto: Does it get tiring being a role model?
Michael: Not really. I like to get attention (laughs).
I then remind Lizarraga about the video Telemundo, a Spanish-language TV channel, ran about him.
Michael: Oh yeah!! I love that video, but sucks that I don’t understand it at all!
Gilberto: So you don’t know Spanish?
Michael: Te amo (I love you)…. hermano (brother)… hermana (sister)… lol
I guess that’s a no.
Lizarraga, a native of Dixon, California, will return to his high school, California School for the Deaf, on May 26 to be a guest speaker at a banquet. He will discuss his time as a student-athlete at Northridge.
Gilberto: Have you ever been a guest speaker?
Michael: Never! I’m looking forward to it! I am so excited about it.
Just a regular guy
Lizarraga’s teammates began to walk by and he would stop them to show them videos on his laptop or just to talk. Freshman forward Jordan Mitchell began to talk about the movie “Thor” with Lizarraga.
“I love Jordan (Mitchell) but he’s a big nerd,” Lizarraga, said. “He loves to read comics.”
I then noticed that Lizarraga is watching at least his third dancing video during our interview.
Gilberto: You like to dance huh?
Michael: Yeah, I love to dance because of my team! I dance a lot at bars and parties. Oh, I went to Dublin’s (a bar and grill near campus) and some girls and guys came up to me. They were so crazy.
Gilberto: I then thought about how tough it must be to dance without being able to listen to the music.
Michael: I don’t need to follow the music to dance. I can feel the beats or just dance without the music.
Lizarraga, who is polite, funny, friendly and a leader, has shown that being deaf has not stopped him from living a normal life and doesn’t expect anyone to feel sorry for him.
Except for movies without subtitles.
“Don’t they understand not everyone can hear?” Lizarraga said jokingly.
Just a minor complaint.
Michael Lizarraga, 22, the only deaf player in Division I men’s basketball last season, had his inspiring story covered by “The New York Times,” “Los Angeles Times,” ESPN, Fox Sports, “Los Angeles Daily News,” CBS Sports and many other media outlets.
Having to cover the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team for the last two seasons, I had the opportunity to see all the attention Lizarraga received from reporters and began to wonder if he ever got tired of the spotlight.
Prior to a road game against UC Riverside in February, Erin Matthews, Lizarraga’s interpreter, told me the 6-foot-7 senior forward does get annoyed at times, especially if the interview is after a loss, but he understands it’s for a good cause.
Lizarraga has become a role model to many young deaf athletes and has been receiving countless fan mail through his personal and fan page on Facebook.
“Mike you are an amazing inspiration. I just worked a basketball tournament for hearing impaired children and these kids are learning a lot from you. Keep up the good work,” Maura Baginski said.
Lizarraga doesn’t only encourage deaf children.
“It was amazing and inspirational being able to sit on press row and watch you (Lizarraga) play in person tonight at Pacific. From one D-I athlete to another, congratulations on all that you have achieved in your career and good luck in the Big West Tournament. You represent everything that is great about an athlete overcoming a challenge to pursue their dreams,” said Gwen Arafiles, a senior softball player at UC Berkeley.
I asked Lizarraga if we could schedule a meeting so I can ask him a few questions.
“Sure, but how do you want to do this?” he said.
I paused and realized his interpreter Matthews wouldn’t be around since the basketball season was over. We arranged to meet in front of the Matadome with our laptops to talk through Google chat.
During our one-hour chat, I got to know Lizarraga’s personality off of the court and how he handles being a role model.
Off to a bad start
Lizarraga and I decided to get together at 3 p.m. on May 6 after he was done playing pick-up basketball with current and former teammates. It’s 20 minutes after 3 p.m. and I’m starting to think he forgot about our interview or he just didn’t want to talk.
A CSUN assistant coach walks by and I ask him if he can remind Lizarraga about our interview.
“Oh, no, I can’t do that. Michael (Lizarraga) won’t stop playing until the game is over,” he told me.
A few minutes later Lizarraga comes out of the gym and points at my laptop and gives me a disappointed look. He then pulls out his fancy Apple MacBook and I realized that he was making fun of my less-expensive PC Toshiba.
So far I’ve learned that Lizarraga takes pick-up basketball seriously and is a jokester. Oh, wait, and he gets bored easily.
While I ask Lizarraga who he has winning the NBA Finals (he picked the Heat and was right about the Lakers going down), I catch him on his Facebook and watching YouTube videos of Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin.
It turns out Lizarraga wanted to show me one of the letters he received on his fan page.
Popular Mike
Gilberto: Do you respond to most letters?
Michael: Yea some, but sometimes I get e-mailed long letters and at times I’m not in the mood to respond back.
Gilberto: Does it get tiring being a role model?
Michael: Not really. I like to get attention (laughs).
I then remind Lizarraga about the video Telemundo, a Spanish-language TV channel, ran about him.
Michael: Oh yeah!! I love that video, but sucks that I don’t understand it at all!
Gilberto: So you don’t know Spanish?
Michael: Te amo (I love you)…. hermano (brother)… hermana (sister)… lol
I guess that’s a no.
Lizarraga, a native of Dixon, California, will return to his high school, California School for the Deaf, on May 26 to be a guest speaker at a banquet. He will discuss his time as a student-athlete at Northridge.
Gilberto: Have you ever been a guest speaker?
Michael: Never! I’m looking forward to it! I am so excited about it.
Just a regular guy
Lizarraga’s teammates began to walk by and he would stop them to show them videos on his laptop or just to talk. Freshman forward Jordan Mitchell began to talk about the movie “Thor” with Lizarraga.
“I love Jordan (Mitchell) but he’s a big nerd,” Lizarraga, said. “He loves to read comics.”
I then noticed that Lizarraga is watching at least his third dancing video during our interview.
Gilberto: You like to dance huh?
Michael: Yeah, I love to dance because of my team! I dance a lot at bars and parties. Oh, I went to Dublin’s (a bar and grill near campus) and some girls and guys came up to me. They were so crazy.
Gilberto: I then thought about how tough it must be to dance without being able to listen to the music.
Michael: I don’t need to follow the music to dance. I can feel the beats or just dance without the music.
Lizarraga, who is polite, funny, friendly and a leader, has shown that being deaf has not stopped him from living a normal life and doesn’t expect anyone to feel sorry for him.
Except for movies without subtitles.
“Don’t they understand not everyone can hear?” Lizarraga said jokingly.
Just a minor complaint.