Hoop Dreams

Man, I awoke up to the alarm at 4:30 a.m. to play ball today. After Commencement the other night, my co-workers insinuated that I needed to show up for a run at school.

Otherwise, I was a wus. It is not like they said it. But, I knew that it was going to be the blow-back.

While I worked on my Ph.D., I layed low on potentially injurious activities. Riding the bike, playing basketball, and getting hit by a SEPTA bus in Philly. Just let the bus merge...no matter if I was right to hold my lane or not.

I did play for a team for a spell that went 1-19 during the Doctoral program...I just decided that it wasn't worth killing myself for something so vacuous. Plus, our team had no talent besides one other guy. We just didn't have the big guns. So, I showed up, but my heart was elsewhere.

Now, as Dr. B., I really had no excuse to show up today. Besides the fact that I am 47 years old who is almost 48. I am like ready for the Senior Games where I broad jump 3 foot four inches and get the Gold.

So, how did I play? Well, I held my own. I just didn't want to suck. Basketball, when I was a teenager, was in Idol that bounced. My self-worth depended on the box score and my coaches and teammates opinion of me. After I blew my knee out, I walked away from it all. I couldn't be the man and I knew it. It was too much for me to live up to. And too little.

Sometimes God takes away to give us something better. Although I thought not being a basketball star was the end of the world, it eventually caused me to ask what kind of world that was.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shake the Dust: Anis Mojgani

Pslam 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." I am not real certain where Anis Mojgani comes from belief-wise. Cats like him tend to be synchrestic spiritually rather than Christ-centered. Yet, this poem captures the spirit of Jesus. What this poem also needs is grace....we shake off sin and mortality and take on Christ and immortality. This is for the fat girls This is for the little brothers For the former prom queen And for the milk crate ball players This is for the school yard wimps And the childhood bullies that tormented them Shake the dust. This is for the benches and the people sitting upon them. This is for the bus drivers driving a million broken hymns And for the men who have to hold down 3 jobs, Simply to hold up their children. For the nighttime schoolers And for the midnight bike riders trying to fly Shake the dust. For the two year olds who cann
Read more

White Shoes, White Stones

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. (ASV) With the white stone mentioned above in the Scripture verse, "And will give him a white stone" it is "Supposed that by the white stone is meant pardon or acquittance, and the evidence of it; and that there is an allusion here to the custom observed by judges in ancient times, who were accustomed to give their suffrages by white and black pebbles; those who gave the former were for absolving the culprit, those who gave the latter were for his condemnation." (Clarke) What has brought about this essay was my purchasing the other day of some very white and new Nike jogging shoes. My old pair of Nike's have been worn down. I was developing serious pain in my feet which is a solid sign that it is t
Read more

Going Rogue: Dare, Risk, Dream

Image
I picked up a bumper sticker at a Pub recently from the Rogue Brewery . On it there are the words: DARE, RISK, DREAM. Typically, the word Rogue is a negative term. I will let you decide if Sarah Palin and her book has made the word less or more so. Initially, I taped the bumper sticker to my computer lap top with the backing still on it in case I wanted to remove it. Just a second ago, I committed fully, and pulled the backing off and affixed it to my Dell. No turning back. Is that not an illustration of how to accomplish great things? We have to stick and commit. If we go taping ourselves to the backs of things, it leads to easier removal but also to tepid efforts. Now, if I take this bumper sticker off the back of my lap top it is going to be a mess...I am all in. Consequences be damned. My summer vacation officially began today at noon (why else would I be blogging at 3:26 am?) and my creed for the summer is DARE, RISK, DREAM. A Kerouac quote to light the fireworks... "Great th
Read more