David Guberman: I always have been supercompetitive.

https://soundcloud.com/fedor-pogorelov/david-gubermans-interview

The story. 

David Guberman was 3 years old when he started to play sports.

"I played basketball, tennis, football, soccer. I grew up being interested in sports, being a fan of sports. I was born in Los Angelos and LA is a big sports town. I love their Lakers, their Dodgers. So my parents took me to games and certain events I was growing up, I was a little kid, 4-6 years old. And I was overwhelmed with the environment. I saw how excited everyone was about that and emotionally invested in the game, in the sports, in players".

We sit and chat near Newhouse 2 on the warm wooden bench. The sun is shining, but David doesn't look relaxed. He looks pretty serious and think carefully about every answer. 

"I’m a kind of person who always has been supercompetitive. I want to prove how good I’m at something and I’m better then you are. And I always thought that a huge component in sport is competition, and that pushes me to studying and examining every little detail about sport in general".

The only moment during the interview when David looks stress-free that is the answer about his parents as sport fans. 

 "My dad is a sports fan but not as big as I am. And it’s weird, but I think that my mom is a bigger sports fan than my dad. She always checks ESPN on her new ipad, listening to ESPN radio in her car. She asks me: Oh, David, have you heard about this? – Yes, mom, I know it".

The Interview.

Q: As far as I remember in that short bio you provided via email you mentioned that you was always interested in sports.

A: Right.

Q: I wonder have you ever though why? Why you become interested in sports in general? What does sports, being a sports fan provide you?

A: I guess I grew up being interested in sports, being a fan of sports, of sports teams. I was born in Los Angelos and LA is a big sports town. I love their Lakers, their Dodgers. So my parents took me to games and certain events I was growing up, I was a little kid, 4-6 years old. And I was overwhelmed with the environment. I saw how excited everyone was about that and emotionally invested in the game, in the sports, in players. I’ve been playing sports since I was 3 years old.

Q: Basketball?

A: Yep, basketball, tennis, baseball, football. I played soccer too.

Q: Thank you.

A: Soccer was the first sport I actually played in an organized team.

Q: It’s great to hear.

A: So I always played sports. And I’m a kind of person who always has been supercompetitive. I want to prove how good I’m at something and I’m better then you are. And I always thought that a huge component in sport is competition. That pushes me to studying and examining every little detail about sports in general. And I always grew up with that in my head. I kept having in my mind thinking about it and elaborating about that, like trying to get better, and practicing, and team work, about all sports aspects. I think it just made me care about sport much more than the average person because I felt like personal emotional connection to sports. Not to just sports in general, but even to players. Like most of my friends thought that I went overboard in terms of analyzing sports and players’ statistics. But I liked not only to look at the stats and how they played the game. I also liked to study certain things about players’ personalities, their characters.

Q: That’s quite important.

A: So I am not just rooting for who they are as players, but I’m rooting for who they are as people also.

Q: Is your father a sports fan?

A: Yes, he is. He’s not as big a sports fan as I am. And it’s weird, but I think that my mom is a bigger sports fan than my dad. She always checks ESPN on her new ipad, listening to ESPN radio in her car. She asks me: Oh, David, have you heard about this? – Yes, mom, I know it.

Q: Do you play some sports here, in Syracuse?

A: I’ve been here for my undergraduate also, so I spent here 4 years. Sometimes I play pick-up football, pick-up softball. But the only organized sports I played here was Intramural basketball while I was an undergraduate student, that’s pretty much it.