The Basketball Bug

I've been playing basketball with my officemates every Thursday for the past 4 weeks or so. And despite some scary setbacks (an officemate broke both forearm bones during a basketball related accident) I have continued to soldier on.

In fact, you could say I've been bitten by the basketball bug.

It started out with me thinking I could still play. This continued on for a few weeks. But then I saw video evidence that I actually suck. Bad. But I did not quit. I just started going back to the basics.

What makes this weekly basketball game exciting for me is that I have some officemates who want to learn the game and are very enthusiastic about playing. This rubbed off on me, and now I too am enthusiastic to re-learn what skills I had during my "youth."

This is not without some problems. But these problems can be solved relatively easier.

1. I'm out of shape. But the weekly playing has my body slowly adapting back to having a (relatively) active lifestyle.

2. I'm old. Yes, I'm still only 30 years old, but I wasn't exactly active the past five or six years of my life. So now my body recovers longer from fatigue, and I'm not as flexible as before. I also have to take things easy as I could encounter some serious heart problems if I force myself too much. Remember the late great Pete Maravich passed away because of a heart attack during a pick-up basketball game. I do not want the same thing to happen to me.

3. I need goggles. My eyesight is so bad I cannot play anymore without my glasses. Unfortunately being one of the only few "bigs" in the office, I have to play down low. This poses a problem as one bad pass could shatter my glasses and blind me. I hope this doesn't happen. My officemate has offered me some playing prescription glasses. I just hope I can afford them. Plus I need to have my eyes checked since its been about four or five years since I last had them checked. I'm pretty sure my eyes have gotten worse.

4. I need basketball shoes. These past few weeks I've been playing with my adidas rubber shoes. I'm not sure if they're tennis shoes or cross trainers, but I definitely need my own pair of basketball shoes. Just because basketball shoes are built for basketball. And using my shoes now I feel I'm not getting the cushioning I need.

That's it. Four problems that I can solve either with time or with money. No problem. I just hope I can keep this weekly ritual up so that I have at least one activity that can keep me healthy.

Out.