I've been working out a lot this term. Think Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook" (P.S. This column isn't about the Academy Awards, but rest assured I watched every second). Anyway, why am I working out so much, when it used to be torture when I played football?
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Girls
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Spring break in Cancun (which clearly relates back to number one)
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Guys (I have judgmental friends)
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I get bored easily
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I used to be an athlete (now I'm just a fratlete)
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Exercise gives you endorphins
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Endorphins make you happy
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White Goodman told me, "You don't have to be stuck with what ya got."
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Patrick Bateman
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Intramural basketball season
Clearly saving the best for last here. I'm still not quite sure how I ended up playing football instead of basketball. You know that saying, "Ball is life?" Well, that literally was me, until the age of about 13. At my bar mitzvah, my montage was a parody of me going straight to the NBA out of elementary school. The centerpieces were various basketball shoes and the Laker Girls made a cameo.
The real reason I stopped playing basketball, though, was the tragedy that I couldn't shoot, and still can't shoot. Everyone knew it my coaches, my opponents and especially my dad. One day I got home from school and went outside to work on my dribbling only to see that my dad had taped our tennis court with a three-point arc and a free-throw line. I could take a hint. Jennifer Lawrence needs to learn how to walk up stairs. Ben Affleck needs to learn how to slow down. Kristen Stewart needs to learn how to not appear intoxicated at the Oscars. And after all these years, I still need to learn how to shoot.
Long story short, after ninth grade I decided to hang up my Iverson's since I didn't want to talk about practice anymore. There was a logjam at point guard at my school and I figured I wasn't going to get legitimate playing time until I was a senior. A real winner's attitude, right? Assume the coaches think the other kids are better than you, then give up. I've learned from that mistake. In life it's all about persistence in everything you do, seriously.
Just like you kick yourself for not talking to that really cute guy or girl on Third Floor Berry, I will always regret ending my basketball career so early. That is why I was so ready for intramural basketball this winter. Time to redeem myself.
The preparation was serious. Pickup games with rapper and actor Common when I was back home in Los Angeles. Studying old tapes from the glory days back when I used to play AAU basketball. I was the guy who got in at the end of the game that all the other kids laughed at. But hey, I was on the team. And thanks to intramural sports, I was back on the team.
On Sunday my fraternity squared off against "Lob City" in the semifinals. Lob City is no joke. We are talking about ex-varsity players RJ Griffin '13, James Herring '14, Jenieri Cyrus '14 and big man Herve Kouna '12. That said, we weren't scared. In fact, we were pretty confident. And after the second play of the game when we went "Lob City" on them, I'm pretty sure they were the ones that were scared. They had everything to lose because no one expected us to win. Then sadly, we didn't.
At halftime we were down by 13. We ended up losing by seven but it never really got that close. The loss was a combination of three factors. One, we missed way too many layups. I blame this on the fact that these games are played on Sundays, when the majority of the school is wildly hungover. Two, I was too passive and tried to be too much of a facilitator. Three, at the end of the day they are just flat out more skilled.
For a second though, I think everyone in the gym smelled a potential upset. And it smelled beautiful. I immediately was brought back to the years where ball was life. The smell even brought me back to my days on the gridiron. That competitive sensation where you get totally locked in, and go to your own Kid Cudi Zone.
Yeah we lost, but as always there's meaning, sometimes a reason, for everything. So here's what I hope you guys take away from my experience. Live life without regrets. When you find a passion for something, anything, keep doing it. And last but not least, spring break is in three weeks. No days off.
