I Was One Of The Boys That Tried Out, And Was Cut From, The Basketball Team That Allowed Air Bud, A Dog, To Play
In the fall of my seventh-grade year my mom convinced me that I should get involved in some extracurricular activities. I liked basketball, so I decided to try out for the team.
Now, I wasn’t the best one out there. I wasn’t the best shooter. I certainly wasn’t the fastest or the most athletic. I wasn’t particularly tall (though taller than your average golden retriever, foreshadowing). But do you know
what I was? A HUMAN CHILD!
I know, so far, this story seems unremarkable. I’m not the first kid to ever try out for a team in middle school and not make it. I understand that. But, I am one of the only people who has ever tried out for, and been passed over by a team that eventually, not only found a roster spot for, but gave real, legitimate playing time to a dog.
Think about the courage it takes to go pay money and support a team that cut you. You’re just clapping and cheering, being the bigger man, when, into the game comes not some other child who beat you out during tryouts; not even some new kid that just moved here. But a Canis lupus familiaris, which is science for a god damn dog.
