What is an orgy belt?
In “Rockin’ Steady: A Guide to Basketball & Cool,” Walt Frazier lists his “Wardrobe Stats”: 49 suits (“vines” in Clyde-speak), 18 “lids” and two orgy belts among other duds. It was a compelling glimpse into a style all-star’s closet, but the classic 1974 tome – which was recently re-released – left me a little confused.
Is an orgy belt a sort of gang-bang utility strap? The legendary Knicks point guard did carry himself as a pimp. Through some super-sleuthing I found the answer – there on page 23 was a photo of Clyde balling, with youngsters no less, donning a white leather belt emblazoned with silhouettes of couples in various positions, a wearable Kama Sutra of sorts. That must be an orgy belt. What a cool guy.
As a teen growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I stumbled upon Clyde’s guide in my high school library. It was out of place for its hipness yet perfectly at home because it was old and yellowed. The words of Clyde – with assistance from Ira Berkow and photos by legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss Jr. – gave me insight into the life of a suave urbanite and professional athlete. Although I was a country boy, more apt to hoop it up with a Nerf in my bedroom than a Spalding on the cement, I wanted in. It was a thrill to see “Rockin’” reissued by Triumph Books, complete with an afterward from Frazier. I had no clue as to its enduring popularity – in a new introduction, Berkow writes President Obama bought the book as a 12-year-old – and I had little trouble finding a copy years ago on eBay. Coincidentally, it’s a discarded library book, well-worn like the copy of my youth.
Perfect for the ADD generation, “Rockin’ Steady” bounces from Clyde’s biography to basketball tips to statistics to a lifestyle manual that most famously includes an illustrated guide to catching flies barehanded. Frazier lets the reader in on all areas of his life from the mundane – his daily commute – to the extravagant – he admits to dropping nearly half of his salary, $10,000, on clothes during his rookie season. Among other revelations: Clyde has wall-to-wall shag carpeting in his bedroom along with a giant mirror above his 9-foot in diameter “super-bed,” he’s cut back on sweets because “no way you can be cool and be fat” and he follows a regimented lovin’ schedule – “If you start out like romancing once a week, and now do it twice a week, it’s going to affect you.”
Frazier – now a Knicks broadcaster – doesn’t disappoint in the afterward. He’s still a free-spirit, fond of wearing pink-and-green plaid sport coats and living the good life at his St. Croix summer home. It’s there in the Caribbean where he expects to retire from broadcasting to tend to his garden and fruit trees. “My only fans will be my ceiling fans,” he writes.
What a cool guy.
Bill Zimmerman wrote this while wearing his orgy belt and a pair of suede Puma “Clydes.” He can be contacted at [email protected].
Bill Zimmerman is a writer and editor at The Indiana Gazette in western Pennsylvania as well as a freelance writer whose work has appeared in magazines and Web sites such as Sole Collector, Marine Corps Times, Elite Fighter and AllHipHop.com. Bill also won a Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Keystone Press Award in the sports category in 2008. You can view more of his work at BillZim.com.
