three the hard way
i'm playing in a basketball league again. it's basically comprised of the same ol' guys i usually play with...me, darren, pat, ray, rick, daniel, gary, and a new guy named hector (i'll let you guess his ethnicity.) i really like playing with these guys for several reasons. they are all very nice; they are all good ball players who know how to play; and some of jackson's best friends are children of some of these guys. it's funny how that happens.
the league we're in right now is a 30 and older league at the san marcos activity and rec center. we've played in this league and the open league several times each. obviously, the open league is higher competition; but, you might be surprised at how good the old-man league can be.
our team name is "wide awake." it always is...i don't know what that means. often, i think it's a bit of irony directed at our first-half performances. we have come from behind more often than i can remember. tonight we played a bunch of guys i have known around san marcos for a long time. well, you know what i mean; i don't know any of their names, but i have played with- and against -these guys alot over the years. their team is called "the church."
only four guys showed up tonight. i don't know what happened to the rest of our team; but, we got to start the game because they also only had four. luckily we tipped-off when we did, because their fifth showed up less than a minute later. we would have had to forfeit if they had started five and we only had four. we played four on five for the first half and eight minutes of the second half. after 3/4 of the game had been played, we were losing by about 3 or 4 points. this is when i fouled out. i haven't fouled out of a basketball game since i don't know when. i always keep track of my fouls, and can refine my defense to play indefinitely with four fouls. the problem is that i only had counted three up until the last foul. either it was my screw-up or the scorekeeper's; but, the result was the same...we were stuck with three on five for the final eight minutes and a half minutes of the game. darren can dribble through and around most anyone; he can also score on anyone from 24 feet in. pat is 6'7'' with a great three and strong inside moves. ray is a police officer who doesn't feel nerves or confusion. somehow, even though i looked like an ass sitting on the bench, i thought we had a great chance to come back and win. i say "we" ,but i had nothing to do with it.
although we had to play a triangle-and-zero defense, and they double-teamed darren and pat; we took the lead. up one...up three...pat missed a free throw that would have given us a two-possession lead. with less than a minute, darren missed the front of a one-and-one that would have given us another four point lead. they hit a three. ray with a short jumper from the baseline. they get a put-back lay-up, and we're down one again. with seven seconds left, pat gets fouled. double bonus. the first hits the back rim, bounces up higher than "the goat" could jump, and falls in the bucket. the second is all net. they get the ball down to their best player (not "shooter") and he is short with his shot, which is then rebounded by ray. the horn blared, and our guys celebrated like i haven't seen them do after a championship game win.
losing four, and then three on five has got to be a brutal, ego-sapping, manhood-robbing, avalanche of basketball disaster. i wish i had been part of it; but, it sure was fun to watch.
the league we're in right now is a 30 and older league at the san marcos activity and rec center. we've played in this league and the open league several times each. obviously, the open league is higher competition; but, you might be surprised at how good the old-man league can be.
our team name is "wide awake." it always is...i don't know what that means. often, i think it's a bit of irony directed at our first-half performances. we have come from behind more often than i can remember. tonight we played a bunch of guys i have known around san marcos for a long time. well, you know what i mean; i don't know any of their names, but i have played with- and against -these guys alot over the years. their team is called "the church."
only four guys showed up tonight. i don't know what happened to the rest of our team; but, we got to start the game because they also only had four. luckily we tipped-off when we did, because their fifth showed up less than a minute later. we would have had to forfeit if they had started five and we only had four. we played four on five for the first half and eight minutes of the second half. after 3/4 of the game had been played, we were losing by about 3 or 4 points. this is when i fouled out. i haven't fouled out of a basketball game since i don't know when. i always keep track of my fouls, and can refine my defense to play indefinitely with four fouls. the problem is that i only had counted three up until the last foul. either it was my screw-up or the scorekeeper's; but, the result was the same...we were stuck with three on five for the final eight minutes and a half minutes of the game. darren can dribble through and around most anyone; he can also score on anyone from 24 feet in. pat is 6'7'' with a great three and strong inside moves. ray is a police officer who doesn't feel nerves or confusion. somehow, even though i looked like an ass sitting on the bench, i thought we had a great chance to come back and win. i say "we" ,but i had nothing to do with it.
although we had to play a triangle-and-zero defense, and they double-teamed darren and pat; we took the lead. up one...up three...pat missed a free throw that would have given us a two-possession lead. with less than a minute, darren missed the front of a one-and-one that would have given us another four point lead. they hit a three. ray with a short jumper from the baseline. they get a put-back lay-up, and we're down one again. with seven seconds left, pat gets fouled. double bonus. the first hits the back rim, bounces up higher than "the goat" could jump, and falls in the bucket. the second is all net. they get the ball down to their best player (not "shooter") and he is short with his shot, which is then rebounded by ray. the horn blared, and our guys celebrated like i haven't seen them do after a championship game win.
losing four, and then three on five has got to be a brutal, ego-sapping, manhood-robbing, avalanche of basketball disaster. i wish i had been part of it; but, it sure was fun to watch.
posted by cm at 10/24/2006
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