Centripetal Forces

It’d been a while since I’d been to the court. They reminded me that it wasn’t. In fact it had just been 4 and a 1/2 weeks ago. It felt like forever.

Jumping out of the car eager to do my best Steph Curry impression, I dribbled up the sidewalk, errantly bouncing the ball into the bushes.

They rolled their eyes as usual.

The court was jam packed. Okay slight exaggeration. You could easily see the skill differentiation on the court. A group of much older kids were running a 4 on 4 sideways across the court, while a set of up and comers were living the dream, randomly shooting into an open net on the other side of the court.

I called next, and involuntarily delayed my ascendance to greatness .

I threw the football at her. She caught it. She threw it back. I caught it. This happened a couple of times, per the name of the game. I was throwing ducks while she was throwing beautiful spirals, per unusual. Was it a sign?

One of the teams lost. So I was called upon to fulfill my legendary destiny.

I guarded some older guy with a beard. Fit, but not too fast. My team scored a couple. Momentum, talent, height, and athleticism seemed to be all on our side. The odds were in our favor. Then, one kid on the other team caught the ball at half court.

I picked him up, per the name of the game. It was just me and him. Him and I. Mano a mano. Iso. He took a jab step and dribble towards my right then moved to my left towards the basket. I wasn’t having it.

Did he really think he was going to get past me? With such a weak move? Elementary in fact. There was no way.

His step towards me turned into a spin move, and I was right there with him pace for pace when upon his complete turn…. Whackkkkkkkk.

I was fine. No one else seemed to think so.

“Are you Alright?”, “Yo, I think you need to stop”, “Daaayyyyuuuum”, “Oh my God”, “Bruh, he knocked his teeeth in”

I showed them. Their faces said it all. The blood oozing out of my mouth probably spoke volumes as well.

We went home. Then to the ER. Then Home.

Sports are bad.