The Shadow Knows

There's a great cartoon from the New Yorker posted on the bulletin board in the Men's locker room at the gym where I work out. Two galley slaves are chained to the same oar, and one is saying to the other: "I dropped twelve pounds the first week and kept it off."

That cartoon reminds me that there are very few aspects of my game that wouldn't be dramatically improved if I simply dropped 20 pounds. OK, 30...well, maybe 50....but the thought of losing over 20% of my current body weight just seems impossibly ambitious. Of course, having grown up "lean, supple and rugged," I don't really think of myself as heavy anyway...it's only when I accidently catch sight of my naked body in a mirror that I wonder what the hell that old, weird, fat, bald guy is doing looking back at me with my beautiful blue-green eyes....

Of course, weight comes off the same way it goes on...one bite at a time. Before I can drop 50 pounds I need to drop the first, and then another after that and another after that. The only real problem is, I love to eat! And at least at this weight I set a pretty solid pick. And can screen taller players off the boards....

***
Having left my regular Sunday game early to watch the NBA Playoffs, decided to play Monday night as well -- and had a pretty decent run almost in spite of myself. Got off to a good start by filling a lane on an early turnover and finishing the break with an easy left-handed lay-up just like I was back in High School. Then knocked down an open three in rhythm to answer one on the other end the previous possession, retaking the lead and putting us at game point. But most of the night we really didn't have very good ball movement, and what open looks I did get were all coming up short off the front rim...which tells me that I just didn't have the lift in my legs that I needed to knock them down. Missed three tricky lay-ups too that I created for myself off the dribble, but was sweating so hard I couldn't get a good handle on the ball once I beat my defender to get to the basket. Very frustrating to do something truly amazing only not to be able to finish. Ended up scoring about a dozen points for the evening, along with a fairly decent number of steals, rebounds and assists...and yes, even another blocked shot. But I could have easily scored another dozen almost effortlessly, if only I were still a shadow of my current self....