weekend warrior
i think i finally understand.
last weekend i played my first basketball for almost 3 months.
my team was leading 6-4 in a race to 7 points.
i posted up on the left side and received the ball in good position. the defender was almost half a head shorter than me.
"oh, you're goin' down, boyee!", i sniggered to myself.
i looked up and quikly assessed the situation. none of my team mates were in a good position to receive a pass, so i looked down and checked the defender's footing and spotted an opening to his right (dumb guy).
i turned to face him and pumped faked a dribble to his left. he bought it (man, i'm good) and took a step back with his left foot.
"you're mine now, foo!"
i drove hard to his right with my left hand, leaning in with my body, using it as a shield as i always do, overpowering the poor, skinny guy that probably wished he didn't decide to play tonight, or wondered to himself, "Why, oh why, do i have to defend the big guy?!".
i passed him easily (of course). wide open now, i picked up the ball, took a small pro hop and launched myself into the air just under the free-throw line for a quick and easy two-point jumper to finish the game.
and my right calf cramped up.
now usually when this happens (which was almost never, mind you) i'd calmly sit down, grit my teeth and swallow the pain, stretch out the offending leg and pull on my toes until the calf muscle stretched back out. simple.
but on Friday night, i simply stood there. i was shocked and confused and didn't have any clue what to do as pain surged through my right leg.
'ow, my leg. ow, ow, ow. what do i do? ow, shit, it hurts. do i sit down? dammit, ow. i know, i'll camly walk off the court. ow, f**k, i can't walk. *collapse to the floor* ow, damn, now i'm on my butt. got. to. get. up. ow. sh*t. can't stand. calf hurts. stretch it, stretch it. *grab ankle like it was a sprain* wait, thats not right. argh.'
my team lost 7-6 that game.
but as i sat there, stretching my calf and rubbing the muscles down, topping up on fluids and salt, and laughing at myself and how old i've become and remarked out loud, "i was 18 once", as i watched the rest play another half an hour of ball while i sat on my ass, i realized that deep down inside, despite it all, despite all thats happened,
i loved every second of it. and i miss it so bad.
last weekend i played my first basketball for almost 3 months.
my team was leading 6-4 in a race to 7 points.
i posted up on the left side and received the ball in good position. the defender was almost half a head shorter than me.
"oh, you're goin' down, boyee!", i sniggered to myself.
i looked up and quikly assessed the situation. none of my team mates were in a good position to receive a pass, so i looked down and checked the defender's footing and spotted an opening to his right (dumb guy).
i turned to face him and pumped faked a dribble to his left. he bought it (man, i'm good) and took a step back with his left foot.
"you're mine now, foo!"
i drove hard to his right with my left hand, leaning in with my body, using it as a shield as i always do, overpowering the poor, skinny guy that probably wished he didn't decide to play tonight, or wondered to himself, "Why, oh why, do i have to defend the big guy?!".
i passed him easily (of course). wide open now, i picked up the ball, took a small pro hop and launched myself into the air just under the free-throw line for a quick and easy two-point jumper to finish the game.
and my right calf cramped up.
now usually when this happens (which was almost never, mind you) i'd calmly sit down, grit my teeth and swallow the pain, stretch out the offending leg and pull on my toes until the calf muscle stretched back out. simple.
but on Friday night, i simply stood there. i was shocked and confused and didn't have any clue what to do as pain surged through my right leg.
'ow, my leg. ow, ow, ow. what do i do? ow, shit, it hurts. do i sit down? dammit, ow. i know, i'll camly walk off the court. ow, f**k, i can't walk. *collapse to the floor* ow, damn, now i'm on my butt. got. to. get. up. ow. sh*t. can't stand. calf hurts. stretch it, stretch it. *grab ankle like it was a sprain* wait, thats not right. argh.'
my team lost 7-6 that game.
but as i sat there, stretching my calf and rubbing the muscles down, topping up on fluids and salt, and laughing at myself and how old i've become and remarked out loud, "i was 18 once", as i watched the rest play another half an hour of ball while i sat on my ass, i realized that deep down inside, despite it all, despite all thats happened,
i loved every second of it. and i miss it so bad.
posted by bobby @ 3:14 PM
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