Defense

Defense

Life is sometimes like basketball to me. Now we have established how I feel about sports, but here’s the idea. Life requires you to be on your toes, ready to protect yourself from people’s comments and actions. You also have to take it to the line as it were, and prove yourself. As well, though, other players take the position of just forging ahead through rough territory instead of staying in one place and defending.

I am tired of defending ideas and people. I find that I spend a lot of time debating things that are not of real concern. I don’t like when my friends don’t like another one of my friends. That kind of situation will see me arguing as if I am in court for the valor of this person. What do I really need to care about that for?

I do that with songs that I like, programs l like, stars I like – in general, with things I like. I guess because I have always been very independent, having a group of friends thrusts me into a situation where people don’t have as set opinions as I do. I am also that way with my opinions and my level of comfort. I always feel like I have to defend these points, instead of being like the rest of humankind and just being sure about my feelings and learning not to relent.

For instance, one night, the guys wanted to go play basketball. I thought, well, ok, normally I would try to find some way out of this, but it was the three-month anniversary of my father’s death, and I really didn’t want to be by myself. However, even the threat of loneliness on this day was not enough to make me want to play basketball. Fortunately, I had three saving graces on my side to prevent me from getting to the core of the issue, that I really don’t like anything about basketball (except for watching a live game of it, which requires no proximity to sweaty people grunting things that are only spoken in the course of a basketball game).
1. I was still recovering from a recent ankle injury, so I really shouldn’t be doing anything truly strenuous.
2. I had on boots, which, especially for someone that doesn’t play basketball, is probably not advisable. (I don’t know about the veracity of that, but I figured that either way, sneakers would be more advisable.)
3. I wear size 13, and most of friends have smaller feet than I, which means that no one would have size 13 sneakers to let me borrow.
The push was for me to play basketball though. I think, though, that once I eloquently explained that I was just going to watch (“I’m not playing!!!”), things were not so bad.

Until I mentioned that I don’t play basketball.

This slight comment turned into one of those jaw dropping moments that happen in movies, like when the precious, ancient vase is dropping to the floor as someone dives to catch it, yelling “No-o-o-o-oo-o”.
I was imagining that this was going to be the moment that Captain Testosterone was going to come and save the day, infuse me with the gene that I definitely missed, the gene that every guy but me received, the one that allows them to cancel wedding plans and quit jobs before they would miss a basketball game on TV. I even left the door unlocked, but sadly, he never showed up.
So I found myself where I find myself many a time, explaining away why I don’t like to play the evil game. Basketball I like more than other sports, but to play it would require my life being threatened. Not that I have ever heard of someone having to play because their life depended on it, but that is how serious it would have to be to see me dribbling a ball. Just take the word dribble. What kind of a word is that? Dribble. It’s like drizzle and quibble, which are two things that I think of when I consider basketball. Drizzle because of all the sweat that happens playing basketball. It just always seem like people that play basketball are always drenched. I get sweaty just thinking about that much activity. And it’s not like I don’t exercise. I run and walk and do all sorts of calisthenics every day. I am not afraid of sweating, but basketball seems like it requires undue perspiration, and I am not one for the wet t-shirt look. Quibble because it seems like basketball, especially street basketball, has 4 thousand different rules, that all differ wherever you may go. Every line and half circle means something different, and the points are different, and I just get frustrated. Just when you think that you have mastered the game, Joe from down the street plays a game with you and you find out that all the rules that you know are wrong in his book. That is why I don’t play basketball anymore. Too much red tape for something that is supposed to be fun.

However, it’s just a part of my person. I remember that once I actually admitted to someone that I was arguing with them just literally for the sake of argument. I just wanted to see how long I could go on in the conversation without relenting or wanting to give in.

This is why I plan to go to law school and never, fortunately, to be a basketball star.