It was a Friday night basketball game and my team was playing Oldenburg Academy. The gym was hopping as it was “Pack the House Night” and the Jazz Band was jamming. The school invited eight graders from Orchard who were bug-eyed watching the upperclassmen be wild and crazy. The game was very tight and Oldenburg was a close match up. I remember I was running up the court knowing there was little time left on the clock. It was at the end of a quarter. I got the ball and was nervously dribbling up the left side of the court. The clock was ticking down and the crowd was yelling 5…4…3…2… I decided that I should shoot the ball, but I could not shoot it with my right hand because of a defender. I had no choice but to shoot it with my left hand. I got past the half court line and did a cross over dribble and let the ball fly with my weak hand. The defender even bumped throwing me off balance. I went up and just threw the ball hopelessly not expecting it to reach the basket. After I let the ball go, everything felt right. I kept watching and praying. The ball was going straight towards the basket with the right velocity and arc. It went in!!! I made the shot with my left hand from just inside half court. While I was watching the ball in the air, it felt like it took 10 minutes to travel to the basket. But when it finally did go in the basket, I felt ecstatic. I leaped up in the air and then I ran to the bench while everyone was cheering. My teammates gave me high fives and everyone was smiling, yelling, and hugging me. This was the highlight of the game. We ended up playing very hard and winning only by a few points. It was an awesome experience.
After the game, there was a winter dance. We took showers in the locker-room and then went to it in the cafeteria, where it was being held. My boyfriend at the time was named Nick and I went with him. I can just imagine the funny first impressions the eighth grade basketball girls that were coming University must have had after watching me dance. They saw me grinding with Nick and this is what they remembered about me. They told me what they thought about it at the Illinois Basketball camp in the summer our basketball team went to. All the girls gave me a hard time because they remembered me at the dance. They were joking with me and imitating my dance moves on Nick. It was a good thing that this happened because it broke the ice with the incoming freshman, so they did not see my shy and timid side. The basketball camp was a memorable event as we all bonded. We had a great time laughing, joking, and making fun of each other. It was as if we had known each other for a while. I attribute much of our success during the basketball season to the moments we shared at basketball camp.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
i loved the description of the ball taking forever to go in the hoop. i know the feeling and it is so exhilerating when it does. i laughed out loud at the part with all the grinding and you saying that this is what the eighth graders would remember you by. overall the story was funny and you made good choices for description.
basically, anything with you playing basketball is what i`m interested in. i thought your memoir was awesome, thinking about the game you have described [with great detail] makes me think about this past basketball season. =]
very detailed writing, i could actually picture what you have described, like the ball seeming like it took forever to the hoop && never the less, you grinding on nick. && yes, even though i wasn`t there at team camp the year you are talking about, camp being with the basketball girls is amazing, i really could relate to this blog.
Post a Comment