Watching Hoops

I watch basketball nowdays, pretty much any level and recall the freedom of playing. Of moving around the court. It looks so easy as I watch. I get caught up in thinking that I can still do all that. Then the inevitable jolt back to reality when I walk around and my heel or ankle is hurting. Hell I don't think that I could run across the street anymore ..... at least while looking somewhat graceful . But in the occasional bizarre fantasies of my mind, I still feel like it's not a problem.

It's difficult to give up certain notions. I mean, why can't I still play? Even in those moments where seemingly every physical movement is a struggle, I still don't think of myself as old.

Even in those frequent moments these days where I feel at a total loss with technology, I still don't think of myslef as old. With each passing decade, I change my working definition of old, to the next decade. Approaching age 60 now and I view 70 as old. Of course at 50, I said that 60 was the age.

Possibly no defintion changes as much in the eyes of each individual as the defintion of "old age." Who wants to really admit to it? Who truly wants to give in to it?

Certainly not I!!!

Watching basketball causes me to feel young. Like I've defied the aging process. Just watching a game! I don't have the same reaction with any other sport. Not even with listening to music.

Rant!!!

On CCTV a few days ago, the local cable access channel ..... caught the tail end of a girls high school basketball game. Just your basic, 70-10 type of final score. Should never happen at the high school level among schools of approximately the same size. But in this case, a school from the rich part of town against a school from the poor side of town. It pissed me off watching it. A total blowout and the team with $$$ in their parents pockets, didn't even look all that good. It was mostly that the other team was so lacking in experience and ability and making repeated mistakes in basic basketball skills. Dribbling, passing, decision making, etc. Same mistakes over and over. It was a struggle just to get to a spot on the floor where they could make a pass that might lead to a bad shot attempt. Might as well forget the idea of a good shot ....

It's just the way that high school athletics are run these days. Recruiting!! Kids can transfer to schools outside their district it seems for no apparent reason. If certain teams had kids with skills in their area, I'm sure they could be easily convinced to go to a school with better resources and advantages. And they probably do!! Who do you think gets the benefits of attending the better off-season camps? Who has the better facilities? Who has any consistency in their coaching ranks and if there is an opening, can lure the better established coaches their way? Where do you think the first year coaches, especially those without a recognizable last name in the city, end up?

This game was like watching a bunch of kids who have played ever since they were old enough to dribble a ball against kids who are picking up a ball for the first time. Or the seniors up against the freshmen and sophomores. Hell the gap between the two sides was much wider than that. And it's the same situation every year. Do you think that it is solely the luck of the draw? Kids with athletic and difference making potential are identified and siphoned off to programs with influence and money behind them. Then those supporters sit smugly in the bleachers proud of what they've supported while they drink their lattes and enjoy the blowouts. And it pisses me off that you never hear anyone from the school district or the local newspaper making noise about the situation. Because certainly they could not have failed to notice!!