There are individuals who during their life-marking unique and indelible, it’s the case of Cesare Rubini only Italian to be in the Hall of Fame of two different sports, basketball and swimming.
To understand how Cesare Rubini was decisive in sport at the international level there are no better words than those of this article in the Corriere della Sera by Alessandra Farkas :
” Cesare Rubini joined forever in the legend of basketball stars and stripes. In front of 1204 people in smoking and décolleté (who had shelled out $ 100 a head to applaud him ) the seventy years old coach became the first European, Monday evening, to be immortalized in the prestigious temple Use basketball : the legendary “Basketball Hall of Fame .” It’s the first time that an Italian receive this coveted honor” said President Clinton in a tape recorded at the beginning of the ceremony at the Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. “He could not deserve it more”he added. “In addition to putting the Italian basketball on the international map , Rubini has done so much for the friendship Europe-Usa in sport.” From the thunderous applause aroused by the words of the president, it has been realized that the public “who ‘s who” of American basketball shared the choice.” Listen to the speech of Cesare Rubini that evening.
Rubini was a warrior who lived matches as battles. “In the decisive minutes you have to be brave, daring, the desire to win pushes you to force players to fight even if they are so tired . Riminucci remember who went in with fractured apophysis . Sardagna that held together the patches with an ankle almost broken … Gamba left two knees into the fray, but all resisted to the pain, all those of a certain period, then things have changed, some say thankfully, but it is the battle spirit that there is no more. I had not mercy of my players, workouts were definitely harder than a lot of games in the league. If a player of mine said he could not do it I tried to force it, i wanted heroes, I admit, and many were … It’s not possible to train without knowing men and your opponents.”
