playing basketball

my weekly monday night game now features a dude who played 3 years in the NFL and another who was an all-american cornerback for Maryland but blew his knee out on pro day. they are both prob 10 years younger than me. it's a blast

When I hear Jones say this phrase, I imagine that I'm playing basketball on a Sunday morning on the good courts at Roosevelt Park in Sacramento. It is not yet 9 a.m., but the June sun has already begun to bake the asphalt, trees, and detritus, an ominous sensation you smell more than feel. I have already played two games to 15 and am sapped to exhaustion when a new player joins the run, someone whose presence instantly heightens the game's tension. On every possession, they talk to themselves and their opponents. They hit beautiful swishes with an ugly jumper, and they staunchly refuse to call a foul even when they're thumped. They are making a really stupid ball fake work. They score the last bucket. Nobody sees them arrive; nobody sees them leave. They are wearing black Air Force 1s.

i was taking my child to the playground today and we have to walk by some basketball courts to get there. there was a one-on-one game happening between a couple of teens, one very lithe and muscular but small and one who was just enormous, not in shape at all but with an offensive lineman's body. i watched the bigger kid mercilessly back down the smaller kid and make an ugly layup adjacent to the rim, and a third kid who was watching yelled at the smaller kid about the quality of his defense. the smaller kid looked at the spectator with complete disgust and anger and said "he's 6'5", what do you want me to do?"

lol

played tonight for the first time in a couple of months — have really only been playing a few times a year since the pandemic, which is sad to think about. I play a good amount of reasonably high level pickleball, which is a solid workout, and I walk a lot, but it’s nothing like full court pickup. you get reminded pretty quickly that it’s a different beast when you’re out of playing shape. and pushing 35 and playing with college kids

anyway, I’m on the faculty at BU, so I decided to check out the rec center. (I’m trying to take better advantage of these faculty perks, like free museum passes etc, before I move to LA this summer.) got into a game pretty quickly, and overall think I played fine especially considering how rusty I am. played 2 games to 15, had 4-5 buckets each game including a couple of really tough finishes, and some nice dimes. but man was I gassed about halfway through that first game, and I had some sloppy turnovers in traffic just because I didn’t have the burst my brain thought I had. or maybe I’ll never get that burst back because I’m old now, idk.

anyway, legitimately nothing like pickup culture, man, I really miss it. always say I should get back into playing regularly, but never actually follow through. maybe the better weather in LA will make it easier

the only thing i ever found that kept me in basketball shape at all was olympic lifting which makes sense cause theyre both about explosive actions, not that i was trying to stay in ball shape just i had been doing a bunch of cleans and i played after a long layoff and was like what im not totally gassed, but i was still kind of gassed

just read this whole thread btw getting very wistful about my long gone youth and athleticism, getting old
is sad

nice moves, u rly shook ur defender, how is casper irl btw (or ird in his case)

― rhyme heals all goons (m bison), Tuesday, December 31, 2013 5:03 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

the defender was ur mom but she was too tired after the first video we made, if u know what i mean

― k3vin k., Tuesday, December 31, 2013 5:09 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

fucking wrecked m bise here tho lmao

just read this whole thread btw getting very wistful about my long gone youth and athleticism, getting old

ugh, fuck you

there's always That One Old Guy With the Set Shot but i don't like my chances for that either

also wtf don't go to la

I know but it’s “for love”

la is nice, driving is bad tho

xp aw

um exCUSE me k3vin (more like k0vin), missing some important context....

nice moves, u rly shook ur defender, how is casper irl btw (or ird in his case)

― rhyme heals all goons (m bison), Tuesday, December 31, 2013 5:03 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

the defender was ur mom but she was too tired after the first video we made, if u know what i mean

― k3vin k., Tuesday, December 31, 2013 5:09 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

why was my mom playing basketball after filming a porno with u? what a weird date.

― rhyme heals all goons (m bison), Tuesday, December 31, 2013 4:10 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

she's a grown woman, she knows better than that.

― rhyme heals all goons (m bison), Tuesday, December 31, 2013 4:11 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

What happened to granny dainger?

bise you got legit truck sticked there cmon take the L it was a long time ago

i just feel like for the scientific community's sake that we be presented with all the facts in order to make an informed decision (that my jokes were better)

can’t believe that was 11 years ago now man. glad to have you jokers in my life

I play with a 82 year old. It’s insane. He’s pretty awful, especially if the other team doesn’t have a dud to match him up against, but I’m so amazed by this man he is my hero. We have a chat going to notify everyone on court availability and the last time we had to bail he wrote, ok I guess I’ll start drinking. My heart melted.

let's get to it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5969183/

been a year since i broke my wrist and i think im retiring for good. i kinda left it open in my mind that i might try again but every time i get the itch (often) i just think about the pain and rehab and how much it jacked up my life for a while and then i talk myself out of it. my old crew still texts me to come play and makes me sad. my wrist still isnt right, prob like 85% mobility and still gets achy.

playing at 82 is some life goals man, im hanging it up 40 years earlier...