< ><STRONG>Carlos Arroyo is living his dream</STRONG></P>
<>As a boy in Puerto Rico, Carlos Arroyo had a huge goal: Playing in the NBA. Today, the Orlando Magic guard says he couldn\'t have made that dream a reality without the love and support of his family.</P>
<>Andrea Adelson | Sentinel Staff Writer <br>osted November 12, 2006 </P>
<>Carlos Arroyo takes a seat after another long practice with the Orlando Magic. He speaks softly now, occasionally bowing his head and looking down at his hands.</P>
<>The conversation meanders to his family in Puerto Rico, to his brothers and father and mother, all still living near the old basketball court where Carlos learned to play. Arroyo finally allows himself a smile and talks a little louder, the emotion rising with every word.</P>
<>\"My favorite memory of Puerto Rico?\" he asks with a laugh.</P>
<>Not all the trophies he won, or the fans he made. Not the smell of his mom\'s home cooking or the main hoops arena in his hometown of Fajardo.</P>
<>\"Being in the car with my twin brother and my dad,\" Carlos says. \"We had songs we used to put on the radio from the \'80s we used to sing together. Chicago songs, Michael Jackson, Michael McDonald, Lionel Richie, Juan Luis Guerra -- all of those. My dad would play the piano on top of the dashboard. We thought my dad knew how to play the piano and used to say, \'Man, Dad is good!\' \"</P>
<>Then, Arroyo grows quiet again. He is back in that car, with his family, loud and wild. Back to where his heart is. Back home.</P>
<P>Make no mistake, Carlos is happy in Orlando, where he has become a hero to the Puerto Rican community. At every Magic home game, Puerto Rican flags fly and salsa music plays whenever Carlos enters the game as the sixth man off the bench. At the season opener, one fan held up a sign that read, \"Carlos Mania in Orlando!\"</P>
<P>His face graces billboards off Interstate 4. His jersey is one of the few on sale at the concession stands inside the arena. His fans adore him. Because Carlos is Puerto Rico. In a game last week, he scored 23 points to lead the Magic to victory over Washington.</P>
<P>\"He notices everything,\" says Carlos\' wife, Xiomara. \"One of the games, he called home and was like, \'There were hundreds of people with Puerto Rican flags!\' Every game, he\'s going to watch for those things.\"</P>
<P>But with that happiness comes a quiet sadness for Carlos. Because his brothers and parents are not in the stands. Because he cannot watch his fraternal twin, whom the family calls \"Berti,\" play basketball in Puerto Rico\'s Superior League; their seasons run concurrently. Because he cannot be there for his youngest brother, 15-year-old Jose, who is chasing the NBA, too.</P>
<P>All he can do is call, or play virtual basketball games against them on the computer. He gets to see his family about once every four months, including summers in Puerto Rico with his wife and daughter. When he is with them, the quiet, serious Carlos that Magic fans know disappears. He and Berti become a pair of jokers once again.</P>
<P>\"It\'s really hard because he\'s experiencing a lot of things he wishes his family could be a part of,\" Xiomara says.</P>
<P>Back to the beginning</P>
<P>Stoplights and American chains, from Home Depot to KFC to Chili\'s, dot most of the 35-mile drive east from San Juan to Fajardo. Heavy traffic and narrow lanes turn the drive into a nerve-rattling hourlong trek. A small bridge and bronzed dolphins -- the symbol of Fajardo -- signal the entrance to town.</P>
<P>This is home, where Carlos became the best player ever to make it out of Puerto Rico, achieving his dream of playing in the National Basketball Association. He shared the goal with his twin brother, born 30 seconds before him.</P>
<P>Now, Berti lives in their childhood home with his wife and daughter, a modest beige-and-peach three-bedroom house on a corner lot. Their mother, Glorian Bermudez, lives next to their grandparents a few blocks away. Their father, Alberto, lives in the next town.</P>
<P>Alberto taught the twins how to play basketball when they were 5. Soon, they formulated a goal: Make the NBA. They traveled all over the island with their club teams -- music blaring in the car -- and became excellent players.</P>
<P>Alberto and Glorian got divorced when the boys were 14. The kids did not handle the news well. \"What about my dreams?\" Carlos cried to his father. \"Your dreams are my dreams,\" Alberto told him. \"We will make it through together.\"</P>
<P>They did, because the boys came first. The family supported Carlos when he got a scholarship to Florida International University. Berti came to the United States, too, going to Palm Beach Community College. But after less than two years, Berti went back to Puerto Rico for good.</P>
<P>Carlos was left alone to chase his dream.</P>
<P>\"It was very hard because I grew up all my life in Puerto Rico. It was a different culture,\" Carlos says. \"I miss being with my family, the way we used to go everywhere together. Just waking up knowing my brother was going to be there every day next to me and my family was going to be there. It definitely changed me.\"</P>
<P>Everything got much quieter in Fajardo.</P>
<P>\"It was so hard when he left,\" says his 24-year-old sister, Glory, who is in graduate school at the University of Central Florida studying to be a Spanish professor. \"He used to play his music every day. I knew he was really gone for good because the house was so quiet.\"</P>
<P>Slowly, Carlos became quieter, too. Without his family around, there really was not much to say to anyone.</P>
<P>Bringing back memories</P>
<P>Alberto Arroyo drives through town in his glistening blue Chrysler 300 with his nickname, \"Master,\" stitched into the leather back seats. Carlos gave Alberto the car as a surprise gift last year while he was home visiting.</P>
<P>After a short journey through twisting roads, Alberto heads for the old concrete basketball court. It sits on a small hill, cracked and weathered. Tall weeds and overgrown bushes block what once was a glorious view of the Atlantic Ocean.</P>
<P>Alberto tramples through the grass and stops at the edge of the court. He closes his eyes and remembers how he coached his twins here. Back then, the place was alive with voices, with the thud of the ball, with the dreams of all the little boys who wanted to make something of their lives.</P>
<P>Now, silence engulfs the neighborhood. Dads no longer take their boys here. No one comes here much anymore. The old Arroyo home stands a few blocks away, but now there is a gate behind the house, blocking the path to the court. Most of the homes in the area have bars on their windows, or big fences boxing them in.</P>
<P>\"Everything has changed. I have a lot of melancholy right now,\" the eldest Arroyo says in Spanish.</P>
<P>Alberto trudges back to the car and heads for his office. He is a lawyer, representing the mayor and the city of Fajardo. At the entrance to the office, he has a drawing of Carlos wearing his Puerto Rican national team jersey, and another piece of art with three images of Carlos made out of clay.</P>
<P>He goes inside and excitedly boots up the Internet to play the latest commercial that Carlos filmed for Holsum bread in Puerto Rico. In the commercial, Carlos picks up the last loaf of bread from the shelf of a supermarket, then has to use his jitterbug moves to avoid a horde of angry women who also want the bread (quelepasaacarlos arroyo.com).</P>
<P>Alberto laughs, then replays the commercial again and again. He misses his boy as much as Carlos misses him.</P>
<P>Changes affect entire family</P>
<P>After Carlos left for college, he tried to stay as close to his family as possible.</P>
<P>He went home and played in the Superior League during the summers, teaming up with Berti on the team in Santurce to win five championships.</P>
<P>Carlos made the Toronto Raptors as a free agent in 2001. Berti was with him in his hotel room when they found out Carlos made the team. They both started jumping up and down on the bed. Finally. Carlos had made it.</P>
<P>From that day forward, the entire Arroyo household bought the NBA package for their televisions. Carlos calls Berti after every game and always asks: \"How did I play?\"</P>
<P>Carlos also made stops in Denver, Utah and Detroit before being traded to the Magic in February.</P>
<P>\"Of course, my career can\'t compare to Carlos\',\" Berti said. \"But I can\'t complain. I have a good job, a great family. I get to spend time with my dad and my brother. I have a great life.\"</P>
<P>Indeed, Alberto and Berti coach Jose in a club league called Little Lads. At 6-feet-2, Jose already is the same height as Carlos. He looks more like him than Berti, and has some of the same moves on the court.</P>
<P>Carlos tries to bring his brothers over as much as he can. When Carlos played for Detroit, he had Jose come for the NBA Finals. Jose was a ball boy during a few of the games. \"Oh, my God; that was like a dream,\" Jose says.</P>
<P>After playing in a recent game at the YMCA in San Juan, Jose dialed Carlos. No answer. Carlos finally called back during lunch, and the phone was passed around the table. Laughter quickly ensued. It got louder. \"He might be away, but we are like one,\" Berti says.</P>
<P>So far and yet so close</P>
<P>Yes, Carlos and his family are apart. Yes, there is a void in their lives because he is so far. But somehow, they are as close as ever.</P>
<P>\"I see my family as being together no matter what -- negative, positive -- and support each other in everything we do in life,\" Carlos says. \"That\'s what my family has been to me: my support, my backbone. It\'s love no matter what.\"</P>
<P>Love brought Berti to Orlando for the Magic\'s season opener against Chicago on Nov. 1 as a surprise with a family friend. Berti went to Carlos\' house and knocked on the door. Carlos answered. He stood there with his mouth open. Finally he managed to say, \"What are you doing here?\" before giving his brother a big hug.</P>
<P>When they got to the arena, Carlos beamed. He introduced Berti to everyone, and ended his warm-ups early to chat with his brother. Wearing a T-shirt that read, \"Property of Carlos Arroyo\" with a big picture of Carlos on the front, Berti beamed right back.</P>
<P>Music blared over the loudspeakers. But neither brother sang like before. They were already at their destination.</P>
<P>————————————————————————————————————————</P>
<P>我知道很长，不过写的很好，有兴趣就看一下，没兴趣就算了</P>
<P><img src=\"images/post/smile/dvbbs/em09.gif\" /><img src=\"images/post/smile/dvbbs/em09.gif\" /></P>
<P>顺便附上一张图</P>
<P></P>
<P>站在最远处那个是arroyo的双胞胎哥哥 alberto arroyo 中间这个小孩是arroyo的小弟弟，15岁的jose，最前面这个是他们的父亲</P>
<P>他双胞胎哥哥在波多黎各职业联赛打球，同时还和他父亲一起兼任16岁以下球队的教练——教他的弟弟打球<br></P>
[此贴子已经被作者于2006-11-13 19:13:39编辑过] |
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