i am not so good either
maybe that's what draws me so strongly to the game these last few days
there is a public middle school near my buddy's house
with an outdoor court,
that at night
i can always make it to
for an hour or so before the sun sets,
that
time of night when the beauty of day
meets the beauty of night
like love at first sight
i shoot
i dribble
i drive down the lane
and attempt to roll the basketball
gently from my finger tips into the basket,
sometimes i relive the former games i've played
sometimes i dream about the ones i wish i had,
and sometimes I think about nothing but the life before me
and the life behind
all my rights,
and all my wrongs,
like wins and losses
and i wonder how i'll ever make the playoffs.
then i shoot some more.
i am 27 years old,
but it still feels incredible
when you hit
nothing but net,
and the sound of the chains ring out for an audience of school busses.
maybe that's what draws me so strongly to the game these last few days
I have never been so good at basketball,
yet i was never so bad either
maybe that's why coaches kept me around
i was
about the only player in the history of the game who could
ride the bench with such esteem
to still leave the gym with the homecoming queen
but sincerely,
i hustled,
made practice competitive,
and could perform well enough in warm-ups to make the opposing coach think we had the reserve squad of the 96 Chicago Bulls.
warm-ups were my fourth quarter,
and to this day,
no high school junior has ever made so much of glossy blue and gold tear aways.
in my defense,
i did earn a starting spot by my senior year
for at least a game or two
or three,
and on one of those
i scored my varsity career high of 11 points in front of a home crowd
but i'll say this,
any love of mine
for basketball
and anything else for that matter
is not paved in my successes,
my love
for basketball
for life
and the women I keep in the deepest depths of my hopeful
is paved in the field between the outdoor courts and my buddy's house
the daily afterwork trek,
and each of my attempts to make the chains ring out
for a sold out crowd of the rising moon and last rays of sunlight
i am not so bad at basketball
i am not so good either
maybe that's what draws me so strongly to the game these last few days
