SuperNova Afterglow: End Of Days

Point Guard For A Day

Very few people showed at the gym today, which meant I didn't get any rest between games. We started three-on-three until enough people arrived. I enjoyed the back and forth play and the many opportunities to handle the ball and shoot. We had UnderArmor headband guy on our team complaining if I shot too much and missed. I used that to motivate me, but it wasn't much.

I played well. We had five-on-five after two games with just the six players. I huffed and puffed a bit, off to my usual slow cardiovascular start. I noticed my heart was beating out of my chest at times and thought after I told others about it they would be able to mention that to the paramedics after I got carted off the court.

Cardiac arrest would not be an issue on this day. Though, my legs started to give out after over two hours of near non-stop pick up games. I had a lot of sweet plays. I was stripping out the ball and stealing it from a lot of people...a point that Matt made by saying I had quick hands and get "more steals than anybody."

My defense has been especially suffocating of late. My energy was good at times, when I wasn't winded from trying too hard.

A lot of what happened today was a blur. I remember finishing off two games with winning shots. The first was a three-pointer to end our first three-on-three tilt. I caught a rebound in the lane and went back up in one motion and knocked down a mid-range jumper with a guy's hand in my face to finish another. I saw Matt flash in the lane on a perfect cut to the basket just as I made up my mind to shoot. I didn't give it a second thought, which is good, because indecision gets me sometimes.

I hadn't been getting a lot of touches on offense because we had a lot of scorers on my team. But when I did, I made the most of it. The tallest guy on the court and a fellow that has blocked more than a few of my shots in the past ran at me on the three-point line. But I was so confident stroking my shots all day that I let one off over his outstretched mitt and bent it like a rainbow that was perfectly netted.

I did a bit more talking today and doing a little strut after big shots. My team complained about my defense at the end of the day when we went back to three-on-three. I had no legs. I didn't really blame them and they said it kiddingly (that might not be a word). I jokingly (that is a word) used it for motivation when we had a chance to go four-on-four the next game and I discretely switched teams by going skins. My shirt was pretty sticky from sweat, so it was nice change.

First play, I got the ball and perfectly netted a three-pointer and yelled with attitude, "Bam!" in my loudest voice. Walking back up the court with my defender in tow, I told them that was payback for 'kicking me off the team," which wasn't true. I was pretending my motivation was to get back at them. It worked. I nailed another three in that game and we finished them off. I think we won three straight before dropping the last one that went to 21 points.

I had some sweet drives in the lane and did a lot of ball handling. My old teammates were yelling to strip the ball from me, but I just split the defense and held the ball to the last second. When no pressure came, I rained little overhand and underhand shots from eight feet away to just under the rim. I wished I could handle the ball all day.

But, other people like to dribble and shoot, too. I got a little tired and disinterested at the end. My bandana was soaked. I switched headbands midday. I hovered around the conversations later, but they were talking about basketball video games. Not my thing. I left and bought some Lunchables for the kids and picked them up at school, smelling to high heaven.

It was a beautiful day outside. Is this really Spring?

I did bust my goggles again on a play where I got swiped across the face. They flew to the floor and I kicked them aside and kept playing until the action stopped and then put on my regular glasses. I could have suffered an eye injury, but I didn't care. I'm crazy when I'm in my groove. I will glue them again and hope to get a new pair...SOON.

I was so drained afterwards. I couldn't enjoy relaxing in the sun with my daughter outside school while we waited for Alex to be done with his after school program. I actually felt irritable and ached like I had done a hundred crunches in a row. I almost felt sick like you get before throwing up and had to keep calming myself from acting out or getting frustrated with feelings that were difficult to deal with. It all eventually subsided.

I showered after I got the kids home. I made myself something to eat and sat in the basement to catch up on the NCAA tournament and recorded shows in the basement. Like usual, I was dosing and waking up, rewinding the bit I missed and repeating and doing over again. My wife had to ask me why I do that and told her I couldn't stay awake.

Now, after my little cat naps, I'm up. I should be in bed. This is the time of the evening where I find it difficult to dose off after putting the kids to bed. It's quiet time and I can write or watch TV or do anything else with the dark walls of night to seal me in my solitude. It's nice here, even though I was tired and didn't want to write.

I'm forcing myself, Alfred.

Not all blog entries can be gems. But you never know what beauties will sparkle the best later on, unless you bury these treasures to dig up later. Even if it's just to write banal metaphorical ditties like that.

Later...