Last week I posted about a former high school friend. Keeping in line with this theme, today I recall the game of my life. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I picked up a basketball. In high school I was much more consistent. At least every week during Phys Ed classes we would play full court five on five. I was a streaky shooter, sometimes I had the hot hand, other times I couldn’t buy a bucket. Whether feasting or famine, you could say I was in shape.

I didn’t shook off the cobwebs when the trials for the intramural basketball team was announced. The only prob was I didn’t have the right clothes. I only knew about the tryouts on the day so I had to race back home before missing the first game in progress. Before my match commenced Lex told some eager freshmen to wait til next year. On the first two possessions Melvin, from the other team, sunk two uncontested layups. On his third attempt, I hacked him pretty well. You can’t just feast in the lane Mano. No more cherry picking, brod.

Win or go fishing

It wasn’t my finest output, but I did left an imprint. Jay passed me the ball, demanding it back. I promptly squared up and released, the ball hitting the front of the iron…before falling through. Applause. Mucho gracias for the lucky bounce. Then on another play, I brought the ball up court only to be swiped by my man. I then guarded him like a glove and he gave up the leather. There were the nerves of course. I was wide open when I went ringless on an air ball. On another play I jogged up court only to find my teammates still playing defence. Then I was posting up when my defender pulled the chair on me; I played it cool and avoided a turnover.

What saved me was one play. My man gifted me the ball and I dribbled halfway up court. I surprised everyone when I stepped back from the key and unleashed a stop-and-pop jumper. The banker was strong and rimmed out. You should’ve gone for the layup, Ivan the batch mate admitted later. I grabbed the board on another possession and made the outlet pass which found my target perfectly. Score! It was a solid game in front of an audience. Two points on 1-3 shooting, 2 steals, one rebound, and one turnover. There were other instances where I scored more points, or hit more threes, but this was different. I had become a much better defender while facing off against weaker opposition. As we were running up the hardwood, it started to drizzle. The game was called off. 

Champ and forfeit

You might be wondering if I made the cut (I did). The only snag was that I also wanted to play scrabble. I’ve played the board game for three years, winning the trophy once. I would win again that year, forfeiting my place on the team. Sometimes I still dream about that intrams. You know, shoulda, coulda, woulda. I find it odd that it still manages to find its way into my subconscious. It’s either that or running out of time for a PE exam. I’ve had weirder dreams though. At times, I dreamt of dunking (just not windmills). Apparently I wasn’t alone; my former competitor (shorter than me) said he dreamt of dunking, too. He has an interesting background Chinese-Viet but lives in the US. 

It’s remarkable that I can dunk in my dreams but sometimes have difficulty hoisting up three pointers in them. Regardless, this is not a dream manual. I was glad to learn that my former crush was watching that game lol, cheering and all. Sometimes, everything can go right. Even though I missed the intrams basketball tourney, one game, and a few moments, are more than enough.