Whew... what a night...
For those of you that don't know, I play basketball every Monday night with a bunch of guys over at the lighted outdoor court at National Semiconductor, hosted by gracious National employee Jason Chen. It's some of the most enjoyable exercise and competition I get to take part in, b/c everyone plays hard and clean, and despite the occasional hard foul, tempers rarely flare because we've been playing together long enough to know that no one's trying to hurt anyone else. Plus, the quality of play is pretty high; no one is truly dominant and no one is incompetent, so you can put together a team of any 5 guys and be competitive. Such was the case today... I was on a team that was severely undersized (I was the tallest player!), but we were able to scrap out 3 consecutive wins (we have a 3-win cap for winning teams to make sure everyone gets to play) through hustle, hard-nosed defense, and hitting open jumpers... 'twas a lot of fun. I think I play better at night... partially psychological and partially physical, the absence of a sun beating down on me seems to inspire me to hustle more, run more, and play tighter defense.
Then, I climb back into my car just in time to hear Kenny Lofton hit Steve Kline's first pitch for the game-winning hit, sending the Giants into the World Series for the first time since 1989 (Bay Bridge/Earthquake Series!). It's interesting... I've always been somewhat superstitious with regards to baseball, ever since I was a young Giants diehard... like, if I crossed my legs a certain way and the Giant at bat would get a hit, I wouldn't uncross my legs until the end of the inning and the Giants had scored a few runs. So over this past National League Championship Series, I noticed that the Giants won the games where I tuned in late in the game, 8th inning or later, and lost game 3 last Saturday when I watched most of it (going through several gut-wrenches at the same time). So tonight, I elected to continue with my regular Monday routine of hoops and exercise (which was great!) then tuned back in to hear the game-winning hit. Hm, am I on to something here?
Even better, when I flicked the station over to the 49ers MNF game against Seattle, the Niners were down 21-20 in the 4th with the Seahawks driving for a field goal to push the lead into two-score territory. Then, Okeafor deflects the pass from Seahawks QB Dilfer, and Ahmed Plummer makes the pick, and the Niners go on to win the game.
Finally, on a note of less magnitude but feels good nonetheless, I checked the box score and noticed that the Warriors killed the Trail Blazers (a pretty darn good team) 95-79. Sure, it's a preseason game that doesn't mean anything, but my "NBA comparison" in my scouting report below, the Warriors' Mike Dunleavy, had a decent all-around game w/ 14 pts, 7 rbs, 5 asts, 7 stls, 2-4 3ptrs... good stuff.
In the grand scheme of things... sports doesn't mean a whole heckuva lot. But perhaps the greatest benefit of sports is that it fosters community. When you play sports, you learn how to help your team win by being unselfish, doing what you do best, encouraging one another to do better, and covering for one another's mistakes, all for a common purpose. Following sports gives you the chance to learn and critique the game, but more importantly, gives you the chance to enjoy the highs and be disappointed in the lows of your team, along with all the other team's followers.
Tonight was definitely a high.
For those of you that don't know, I play basketball every Monday night with a bunch of guys over at the lighted outdoor court at National Semiconductor, hosted by gracious National employee Jason Chen. It's some of the most enjoyable exercise and competition I get to take part in, b/c everyone plays hard and clean, and despite the occasional hard foul, tempers rarely flare because we've been playing together long enough to know that no one's trying to hurt anyone else. Plus, the quality of play is pretty high; no one is truly dominant and no one is incompetent, so you can put together a team of any 5 guys and be competitive. Such was the case today... I was on a team that was severely undersized (I was the tallest player!), but we were able to scrap out 3 consecutive wins (we have a 3-win cap for winning teams to make sure everyone gets to play) through hustle, hard-nosed defense, and hitting open jumpers... 'twas a lot of fun. I think I play better at night... partially psychological and partially physical, the absence of a sun beating down on me seems to inspire me to hustle more, run more, and play tighter defense.
Then, I climb back into my car just in time to hear Kenny Lofton hit Steve Kline's first pitch for the game-winning hit, sending the Giants into the World Series for the first time since 1989 (Bay Bridge/Earthquake Series!). It's interesting... I've always been somewhat superstitious with regards to baseball, ever since I was a young Giants diehard... like, if I crossed my legs a certain way and the Giant at bat would get a hit, I wouldn't uncross my legs until the end of the inning and the Giants had scored a few runs. So over this past National League Championship Series, I noticed that the Giants won the games where I tuned in late in the game, 8th inning or later, and lost game 3 last Saturday when I watched most of it (going through several gut-wrenches at the same time). So tonight, I elected to continue with my regular Monday routine of hoops and exercise (which was great!) then tuned back in to hear the game-winning hit. Hm, am I on to something here?
Even better, when I flicked the station over to the 49ers MNF game against Seattle, the Niners were down 21-20 in the 4th with the Seahawks driving for a field goal to push the lead into two-score territory. Then, Okeafor deflects the pass from Seahawks QB Dilfer, and Ahmed Plummer makes the pick, and the Niners go on to win the game.
Finally, on a note of less magnitude but feels good nonetheless, I checked the box score and noticed that the Warriors killed the Trail Blazers (a pretty darn good team) 95-79. Sure, it's a preseason game that doesn't mean anything, but my "NBA comparison" in my scouting report below, the Warriors' Mike Dunleavy, had a decent all-around game w/ 14 pts, 7 rbs, 5 asts, 7 stls, 2-4 3ptrs... good stuff.
In the grand scheme of things... sports doesn't mean a whole heckuva lot. But perhaps the greatest benefit of sports is that it fosters community. When you play sports, you learn how to help your team win by being unselfish, doing what you do best, encouraging one another to do better, and covering for one another's mistakes, all for a common purpose. Following sports gives you the chance to learn and critique the game, but more importantly, gives you the chance to enjoy the highs and be disappointed in the lows of your team, along with all the other team's followers.
Tonight was definitely a high.
posted by Bob at
12:11 AM
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