Ballin Part One

This past Wednesday, I ran in some pick-up basketball games at a local church gym, as I have in the past. But this night proved to be different, although in ways unimagined while I was warming up.

I shot two airballs while waiting for some players to lace up their shoes. Uh-oh, I thought, it's gonna be one of those nights.

My squad won the first game despite my hesitant offensive play. Those airballs caused ripples that became waves rocking my confidence.

The next five strode onto the court to match up defensively. I turned to see who would be my foe. It was this dude I called Ease, as in Eazy-E (from N.W.A., long story). Suffice it to say he had 5 inches and 100 pounds on me.

The last time Ease matched up against me I spent offensive possessions passively camped out on the perimeter to prevent him from clogging the lane, and on defense, I got banged around, backed down, bumped, and boxed out while Ease rebounded and scored with nothng else but ease. I loathed every minute of it, and my bruised body didn't let me forget the frustration for a week.

So that's why when I saw Ease standing there, I grinned like a fool.