Back in the Day

Back in the day, I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I played all the time in our driveway and wore spandex and high-top shoes. I taught myself how to spin a basketball on any of my fingers and played on my junior high and high school basketball teams. (I quit the team in high school because I was super self-conscious of my arms and didn't want to be the only one on the court wearing a white T-shirt under my jersey). We played church basketball in Young Women and they nicknamed our team "Toone Town" because my sisters and I dominated. I made 3-pointers all the time and I was 15 years old.

Fast forward 15 years. (crap I'm getting old). Tonight I played in a church basketball game with my sister Heather. I was a little nervous but excited to play in a somewhat competitive atmosphere. I tried playing bball 2 years ago with friends and always got so frustrated because I wasn't as good as I used to be. Tonight's game was like a huge sledge hammer hovering over my bubble of self-esteem... and *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*... I'm not such a hot shot anymore.

If we could get points for "negative" plays in a game, I would have been the MVP.

1. After my teammate missed her second free-throw shot, I jumped up and grabbed the rebound (proud of myself) and took off dribbling at high-speed down the court. I passed half-court and the ref blew his whistle. Back-court penalty. What?! Everyone was pointing the other way and Heather reminded me it was OUR team shooting the free-throws... hence the direction of OUR basket. I'd completely sprinted off in the wrong direction. I wanted to put myself on the bench.

2. I had the ball and was racing down the court towards the basket (going the right direction this time) and totally lost control and the ball flew out of my hands and hit the wall as I awkwardly jumped in the air. The ref called a foul against another player and I got 2 free foul shots. The girl objected, "Was she even going up for a shot??" Yeah, I didn't even know.

3. I missed both of my foul shots.

4. After the other team made a basket I grabbed the ball to pass inbounds... but for some reason stepped forward too soon, crossed over the line and the ref blew his whistle. The other team got the ball. Just like that! Idiot. I was out of bounds and didn't have anyone defending me... and I still lost the ball.

5. I was passing the ball inbounds again, looking carefully for the right person to pass it to. Too late! Ref blew his whistle. My 5 seconds were up. Crap! Who even remembers that rule? I tossed the ball back with a little bit of frustration and attitude. Oops.

I'll stop there or I might decide to never play basketball again. The good news is I did make one cool shot (it was luck but it was a lay-up and it looked great) and I think that kept the others from thinking I was a complete loser. Heather played really well and I'm related to her so that's a bonus. And I was wearing a bright green bandanna, which is deceiving because I look tough and then people think I'm good. :)

So much for Toone Town. Oh to be 15 again with knobby knees and gangly arms and the energy to run back and forth for an hour. I will redeem myself. THAT is a promise.