Still looking for a game.

I dunked the ball last night. Admittedly, it was on a seven-foot rim in an elementary school gym with nobody around, but at least at long last at the age of 51 I finally know what it feels like to throw one down. You wanna know something? It ain't as easy as it looks.

Showed up again last night at the open gym at the elementary school two blocks from my apartment hoping to get back into the routine of playing regularly, only to discover that it was just me and the gym supervisor. Shot around for about 45 minutes waiting for everyone else to show up, but when they finally did...well, lets just say it was just one other guy, who when he dribbled and shot with both hands really dribbled and shot with BOTH hands.... So this whole pick-up scene in here in my own neighborhood is really turning into a big disappointment. I may have to stray a little further afield before I find the game I'm looking for.

There's supposed to be a regular over-30 game Sunday afternoons over in South Portland, which is probably the one I'll check out next. And then there's always the "Y" and the college. I actually prefer to play with better, younger players...because even though I may not get that many touches myself, it gives me a chance to help their game by doing the "little things" I can still do well: screening out, setting picks, playing help defense, passing the ball, and getting back to defend against the fast break...and still getting a chance to down open "J's" when the ball comes back to me in rotation. What I hate is 1) playing with REALLY young guys who don't know what they're doing, and therefore can't appreciate what I can do to make them better; 2) playing with old guys who THINK they're still young guys, and; 3) playing with a bunch of old guys who all want to do the exact same things I do (although this probably the best of the three options I've just mentioned).

Anyway, this is getting to be a pretty long-winded post for someone who hasn't really played in a competitive game for over four months. And it shows too. Not to mention feeling it in my body. And who knows? Maybe at 51 it really is time to think about hanging them up....