Air Pup

Being a one foot tall stuffed bear has its advantages. I’m snuggly and the chicks dig the clothes I wear. But like any mutant power, this short cuddly stature comes with its disadvantages as well.

The one big disadvantage I’m talking about here is during basketball season. I have a big fondness for basketball. No, not the NBA or all those punk ass spoiled millionaires. I like the game.

Ever since middle school, a group of my friends would wander around neighborhoods playing basketball. Running at the local hot spots for pick-up games. Having your crew run against others in the neighborhood. It sounds silly, but it was great. When night time came, we would go to certain houses that had a flood light to keep playing. Damn we spent a lot of time playing basketball.

These were my boys. If we weren’t playing basketball, we’d just be hanging out. If one of us got in trouble on the court or off, the others would jump in without a second though. I know I’ll probably never have that kind of bond anymore (well, mainly cause I don’t play street ball anymore, or get in fights with groups of people, and anyone I know that I could really call is hundreds of miles away).

So every year, like a moth to fire, I sign up for a couple of rec. league basketball teams. Just hoping to recapture a little bit of that feeling from the past. Sadly, every year, I think I get worst.

You would think after all these years of playing, I would be decent at the game. Oh how wrong you would be. I like the physical inside game. Mainly cause I like the hitting and bumping and pounding things inside, but also because I can’t dribble that well.

This is where being one foot tall is problematic (Unless you can assign 100 points to blocking/rebounding. You know what’s up Furdell). I can still play some D, rebound, and box-out (thanks to 2 years of daily box-outs drills), but the offensive is just shit.

This last Monday was our first official game of the season. We were killed. I don’t think I helped any with my game.

Last Monday’s stats:

Pup: 0 points 2 rebounds 1 assist 7 Turnovers (6 in the first half, but only 1 in the second)

~sigh~ 8 more weeks.