Historical story

Dusan Ivkovic only calmed down with his pigeons

We don't know if Dusan Ivkovic after all he breathed his last because, as Dusko Vujosevic said, his lungs were infected by the pigeons, which he loved and cared for so much his whole life. But we know that this passion of his, something like a sacred hobby, accompanied him in the company of basketball. It is difficult to understand this devotion of Duda, his worship and his preoccupation with the birds, which calmed him and took him up to the clouds, away from the pressure and stress of the benches.

You should live next to him, or share the same passion with him. As happened with Argyris Kampouris. We didn't know it, but the former captain of Olympiakos has been dealing with pigeons (since he was a small child). A reason to love and admire, even more, Ivkovic whom he welcomed to Olympiakos in the summer of 1996 and spent many hours with him, organizing pigeon races, with improvised cups, lots of teasing, more laughs and in the end a ... traditional tsibusi.

It is said that Duda Ivkovic was influenced (as was his brother Piva, for whom he had a great weakness) by his famous uncle, Nikola Tesla, an inventor and engineer who refused the Nobel Prize in physics because he had to share it with Thomas Edison. Ivkovic's grandmother, Olga Madic, was the sister of Tesla's mother, who died in 1943 shortly before Dusan was born. He had a weakness for pigeons, he also left behind various texts about these birds, which he loved very much...

His two nieces, Dusan and Piva Ivkovic, followed in the footsteps of their famous uncle, despite the advice of their father, who believed that "those who deal with pigeons, fly in the clouds" and therefore do not mind their studies and in real life. After his brother passed away, Duda continued to develop his talent for coaching both basketball people and pigeons, which he devoted the rest of his days to.

Alexander Trigas when he visited him in Belgrade, for the historic interview as it was to be the last of the great coach's life, he felt a huge surprise entering the space with the cups that indicated the size of the great Serbian's huge career:"Coach, all this from basketball..." Alexander commented, with Duda laughing:"No bro, most of them are from the pigeon races. Did you see what big cups they make?"

Ivkovic was a World Champion in pigeon racing:"As in basketball, so in pigeons, Dusan was a perfectionist trainer and champion together with his birds" comments Argyris Kambouris who, like the great trainer, has the same hobby:" Ivkovic's dedication is impressive, but those of us who work with pigeons understand why he devoted himself soul and body to these birds. There is nothing more beautiful than caring for them, raising them, training them and watching them tear the sky and then come back to your house. I read that he died because of the birds. They don't know what is happening to them. And most of all they don't know how he treated his pigeons, how much he took care of their cleanliness and health. Whether he was sitting in his living room or in the cage with birds, it was the same, there was no difference," adds the former captain of Olympiakos.

When Ivkovic took over Olympiakos, in the summer of 1996, Kambouris had finished his career and was already working in the infrastructure departments of the "red whites":"They told him that I also deal with pigeons and one day he came and found me, to let's talk. It was the beginning of a great relationship. He honored me with his friendship and we spent many hours, talking about our common hobby..." remembered Argyris who also made an emotional post on his Facebook page where he also published some photos of himself with their improvised matches on the roofs of their houses.

The training of pigeons, as those in the know say, requires enormous patience with absolute love for the birds, who grow up learning who their family is, and how they must return to their nest every time. They tie their wings when they are young and release them when they can fly. It requires a lot of time, but also money. Recently, a two-year-old pigeon from Belgium was sold in China for 1.6 million euros!

"Duda was a top trainer. One of the best in the world," says Kambouris, adding:"He had a tremendous sense of what each individual bird can do. I'm being honest, but I've never seen him tie a pigeon and when he loosened his bonds, the bird's wings were not damaged in the slightest. He had a gift and of course he dealt with the pigeons from Serbia, which are special and different from ours. I will never forget what he taught me and how much we had a good time with the pigeons"

Only the pigeons calmed him

Ivkovic used to call Argyris "trash":"He wanted to tease me, like he was telling me that I usually got him birds that had no prospects. One day I took him a horse and I said to him, coach, this will leave you speechless . He started saying things, you don't know, what they are and he was laughing. A couple of days later, he called me and said "wow this pigeon is amazing bro". Dusan was a real master. And he knew that only in doves he would find his peace..."

But how was this all happening? Kambouris says:"He was an explosive character. Basketball at this high level has a lot of stress. He can't stand the pressure of the result, of consecutive games.

Many times when the tension in training rose, I closed the door so as not to hear his voices. I knew he would come to talk to me about the pigeons later. That was the only way to calm down. And especially when he was among them".

Duda himself once explained his devotion to pigeons:"First of all we are talking about a sport, with competitions at the level of clubs, cities and countries. There are rules like in all sports, which must be followed. Then we talk about the symbol of peace and friendship, of love itself, And this is a very great truth.

To get close to the pigeons, you have to be completely focused and start thinking like them. It is necessary to realize what they want. Just like with basketball players. If you don't have a psychological bond with your players, you can't function as a coach. Obviously I'm not comparing pigeons to players, but I never had a psychologist in my teams. I was trying to create these psychotherapeutic tactics on my own.

And in the end it's about true beauty. As the pigeons grow, the lilac, green, and gray begin to fade on their necks. The most beautiful colors in the world, you see them there, on them. When the sun itself illuminates them..."

The tough, unruly Duda, who never lifted a fly on his sword in the field, became a loving father, holding the pigeons in his hands, taking care of them, with an excess of love. He devoted everything to them, took them with him wherever he went (except in Moscow, where the temperatures did not allow it) but, strange as it may seem, he discouraged his children from continuing the hobby that turned the genius coach's mind like orange basketball...