Arts & Entertainment
Don Shelby Visits 318 Cafe to Talk Basketball and Life
Popular Minnesota journalist is no stranger to Excelsior. He and his wife are currently building a house in the city and are often seen around town.
Don Shelby visited the 318 Cafe in Excelsior on Monday to talk about his recently published book, The Season Never Ends. The chat was part of the sponsored by .
, a popular Minnesota television journalist, retired late in 2010 after 45 years of reporting. He explained this week how he has told stories throughout his career and his book shares basketball stories that he has compiled over the years—stories that tie basketball to ten life lessons.
Although some people would be surprised that he has written a book about basketball, Shelby said that those who know him best would not be surprised. He played basketball for 28 years and coached for several years more.
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“Basketball has been a great part of my life,” he said.
As a high school basketball player, Shelby was on a team of highly-skilled players and compared to his teammates, Shelby says he was no star. During that time his brother saw one of his games. One night, the two sat and talked on the way home from the game.
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“You’re not as good as they are,” his brother said, “but when you’re on the floor, they’re all better than they should be.”
Shelby said that those words greatly influenced the rest of his life.
“I didn’t have to be the star if I could make people around me better,” Shelby said.
Excerpts from the new book were also read Monday. Through the stories he shared, Shelby demonstrated that his book puts readers through a roller coaster of emotions, as he described it.
Shelby listed the lessons learned from basketball, his major focus being that of teamwork. Today, however, he sees basketball players who care more about money and glory than they care about their team. Shelby compared that attitude to his view on the world.
“We don’t play as a team,” he said.
Basketball players do not show their teammates’ weaknesses, Shelby asserted. Instead they put their teammates in a position to succeed.
“Even in this country,” Shelby continued, “everyone’s trying to be a star. We keep forgetting that in America, we’re on the same team.”
