Player Profile – Matt Mahar (EA Sports)
Matt says that his favourite contemporary athlete is Georges St Pierre and strangely enough, that really makes sense. I’m sure a lot of people respect GSP (St-Pierre was voted the Canadian Athlete of the year by Sportsnet viewers through a week long voting process to win with a staggering 89% of the vote), but when Matt is on the court, he actually has the same steely look in his eyes. This intensity is probably fueled by a work ethic developed in his early mornings in the hockey rinks of rural Ontario and early coaching instilled a mantra of “compete. compete. compete. The rest will take care of itself.”
Matt has the fire and drive of a true competitor and I think one of his greatest gifts on the court is his ability to completely focus on the game. Removing distraction is always a bit of a trick, but Matt seems to quickly hit his stride by nailing a few early 3’s and then relentlessly pursuing the “W” for the rest of the game. A key to his success is to set your “goal and don’t let anything get you off track. Keep your head down, train hard and smart.” I swear, I’ve heard that in a GSP interview in preparation for his upcoming battle vs BJ Penn. Although it sounded much funnier in GSP’s stilted accent – remember his interview about the UFC coming to Montreal??
Whoops, enough about the UFC and back to Mahar. Matt played for Carleton under Dave Smart whose total bball addiction gave Matt a ton of game time experience. Smart also believed in a lot of competition and took the Guardsmen on several trips to the US. Playing Boston College is a cherished memory for Matt – they headed down to BC to play in front of 8,000 crazed fans. Even in that kind of atmosphere, Mahar was probably zeroed in on the game at hand. His team only lost by 12 to the highly ranked Boston College team. These numerous trips to the States was also enlightening about our southern neighbours. . . Matt vividly recalls a moment in Kentucky just prior to taking the court when a cheerleader asked: “do y’all speak American?” Disclaimer: not all Americans are ignorant of other countries/cultures. Right, Starkey?
Quick & Dirty with Matt Mahar
- Best athlete of all time: MJ
- Most exciting person in pro sports today: GSP
- Favourite moment in sports history: MJ jumper on Utah for the W
- Toughest guy to guard in the Metro League: Mike Smit
- Favourite Olympic Winter sport: Mens Hockey
- Would you rather take a charge from: Shaq, Karl Malone or Dwight Howard? Yikes! I don’t want to take a charge from any of them. Karl is cheap as hell, Shaq is just enormous and could possible kill you if he fell on you. I would say Dwight is the best of the worst choices.
- NHL All-Star starting line-up: fair or foul? FAIR!!!!
- Best stat: 10 steals, 20 rebounds, or 4 blocks? 20 boards. No doubt you