Basketball

She is blunt. She is frank. She knows what needs to be done and lives with an aim. There is something about her that is easy-going, open and direct. She is the sort of girl who will stick faithfully by your side, yet needs to be reminded on when exactly is your birthday. Loose-fitting jacket, loose-fitting pants, and a pair of comfortable runners, she will choose basketball over shopping on any day of the calendar.

Could it be the basketball?

Yesterday, I have come to test it out for myself since Ellen asked me to basketball with two of her friends. Even after my ex expressed his awe for basketball players in great respect, little I did appreciate the game beyond running with the ball and getting it through the hoop. Standing on the court, it was then I learnt there was the spin, there was the duck, barely is it was about winning (or at least to me it wasn’t) but to show off your skills. Being generous and creative with your techniques and let them entertain your friends. It was about performance and meeting challenges, while at the same time being directed by intuition.

The subtle fact that came to obvious sense was that: To watch basketball, you need to have played basketball. Even though watching does not require you any of the skills that consist of a player, you need to have played to know what there is to watch – in order to appreciate.

There was the ‘defend’; there was the ‘escape’, the bounces that passes through the legs, the bounces that goes around the back. You need to be flexible with your moves, both mentally and physically. No surprise, that the game wasn’t designed for an analyst like me, who prefers to think and reflect then decide what to do next.

Would I have ever thought the many ideologies basketball reinforces? On the field, there is no such thing as think and act, but just act. There is no such thing as waiting for the ball to arrive at your hands, instead if you want the ball you act on it. And one more thing, you don’t pretend you don’t really want to the ball so no one blocks your path, you make it obvious that you want the ball. There is no drama, just raw energy demonstrating the essence of basketball.

It is a pity that most girls sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring. It is heart-breakingly sad that the stereotypical girl chats to her girlfriends analysing over one little word that was unintentionally said. Absolutely insane, that I am making such analysis over an afternoon that was meant to live-for-the-moment.