Getting Some Wear.
I mentioned a while back that I had joined the local basketball team. This amounted to a very expensive home and away uniform set, one of which I never used, as I apparently joined at the end of the season. Well, I am pleased to report that the uniform is finally getting some wear. 4 weeks back our team traveled to the far reaches of our prefecture to play 2 games in one day. I still don't know whether these are practice games, or a competition, or a sudden death match where the loser is beheaded and sacrificed afterwards. No-one tells me these things; I just play basketball.
These two games were a good measure of me and my team. We had 8 of us for the games, of which, one was severely hung-over from drinking until 4AM, one has the fitness level of a wet rag, and another felt sick and sat out the 2nd game altogether. Then there is me. I'm at least 5 years younger than all other members, and as the only non-smoker I was denied a sub for the whole 2 games. I was a good 4 months out from the last game, and the only regular excercise I was getting was changing shoes.
I, personally, still had a good game, twice. I don't mean to brag, because I've never bragged in my life. Not even when I scored 59 points in one game, did I brag. But I am a decent player. I know, it is very easy to get big headed when playing basketball in Japan. The skill level is lower, they play with the strength and agression that I would expect in a mixed gender social grade for the elderly, and of course, the average height is much smaller. So much so, that I, who usually plays small forward, spent a lot of time playing centre. (this basically means that I get pushed around by the opposition's biggest player for the whole game. It was quite annoying.)
Both games I played pretty well, getting just over 20 points and pulling down a lot of rebounds. It's funny that most opposition (and referees) seem intimidated by me, as a foreigner. Maybe it is more just in Toyama, as there are only 2 other (western) foreigners playing in our entire league. If you have ever seen a basketball game, you might have observed that a disproportionally large amount of the players appear to be of African-American descent. It is to the point, that being called "white boy" is a basketball insult. White men can't jump, yada yada... Yeah, well now I kindof know what being black is like...
Anyhow, the white boy had two good games, without getting a rest. Afterwards, I was completely dead. I have never felt that tired before. I slept the whole trip back to our corner of the prefecture, I nearly fell asleep in the shower (lucky I wasn't taking a bath), and collapsed to bed. Somewhere in that sleepy hazy memory, I decided that enough was enough. For the next 4 days, I couldn't so much as cough without collapsing in pain. I could not go through this again.
Once that wore off, I began my montage hitting the treadmill at the gym. It paid off. This weekend, we had another game. I wasn't told much; only that the opponent was probably strong. Well, we quickly proved that theory wrong. Not to brag, because as you know, I have never bragged in my life, but I was a complete animal. I scored 14 in the 1st quater, and ate rebounds like they were fat-free. I ended up with just over 30 points and an estimated 30 rebounds. Not since a guy called "Moses" did people get 30 rebounds in a game. MOSES! It was ridiculous. Now everyone really was afraid of me. Its good to be black.
What was nice about this game, was some ALT friends came to watch. It's odd, but I almost become a different person when I play basketball. (I used to have the Alias "Mad Dog"). When I play basketball, I'm confident. I'm strong. I'm good at what I do. People respect me. None of of these qualities are ones I posess in real life, so it was nice to put these on display, if only for a little while.
The reward for winning the game, was a 2nd game, versus the Grouses B team. The Grouses is the new professional team in Toyama. They are rubbish, but that's not the point. Their B team plays in the same grade as us, and is easily the best team. For one, they have a coach, and regular practices that all members attend. So, we got blown out, losing by 40 points. Even so, I had a good run around, and I wasn't wrecked afterwards. It's great to finally give my uniform some game-time.
I mentioned a while back that I had joined the local basketball team. This amounted to a very expensive home and away uniform set, one of which I never used, as I apparently joined at the end of the season. Well, I am pleased to report that the uniform is finally getting some wear. 4 weeks back our team traveled to the far reaches of our prefecture to play 2 games in one day. I still don't know whether these are practice games, or a competition, or a sudden death match where the loser is beheaded and sacrificed afterwards. No-one tells me these things; I just play basketball.
These two games were a good measure of me and my team. We had 8 of us for the games, of which, one was severely hung-over from drinking until 4AM, one has the fitness level of a wet rag, and another felt sick and sat out the 2nd game altogether. Then there is me. I'm at least 5 years younger than all other members, and as the only non-smoker I was denied a sub for the whole 2 games. I was a good 4 months out from the last game, and the only regular excercise I was getting was changing shoes.
I, personally, still had a good game, twice. I don't mean to brag, because I've never bragged in my life. Not even when I scored 59 points in one game, did I brag. But I am a decent player. I know, it is very easy to get big headed when playing basketball in Japan. The skill level is lower, they play with the strength and agression that I would expect in a mixed gender social grade for the elderly, and of course, the average height is much smaller. So much so, that I, who usually plays small forward, spent a lot of time playing centre. (this basically means that I get pushed around by the opposition's biggest player for the whole game. It was quite annoying.)
Both games I played pretty well, getting just over 20 points and pulling down a lot of rebounds. It's funny that most opposition (and referees) seem intimidated by me, as a foreigner. Maybe it is more just in Toyama, as there are only 2 other (western) foreigners playing in our entire league. If you have ever seen a basketball game, you might have observed that a disproportionally large amount of the players appear to be of African-American descent. It is to the point, that being called "white boy" is a basketball insult. White men can't jump, yada yada... Yeah, well now I kindof know what being black is like...
Anyhow, the white boy had two good games, without getting a rest. Afterwards, I was completely dead. I have never felt that tired before. I slept the whole trip back to our corner of the prefecture, I nearly fell asleep in the shower (lucky I wasn't taking a bath), and collapsed to bed. Somewhere in that sleepy hazy memory, I decided that enough was enough. For the next 4 days, I couldn't so much as cough without collapsing in pain. I could not go through this again.
Once that wore off, I began my montage hitting the treadmill at the gym. It paid off. This weekend, we had another game. I wasn't told much; only that the opponent was probably strong. Well, we quickly proved that theory wrong. Not to brag, because as you know, I have never bragged in my life, but I was a complete animal. I scored 14 in the 1st quater, and ate rebounds like they were fat-free. I ended up with just over 30 points and an estimated 30 rebounds. Not since a guy called "Moses" did people get 30 rebounds in a game. MOSES! It was ridiculous. Now everyone really was afraid of me. Its good to be black.
What was nice about this game, was some ALT friends came to watch. It's odd, but I almost become a different person when I play basketball. (I used to have the Alias "Mad Dog"). When I play basketball, I'm confident. I'm strong. I'm good at what I do. People respect me. None of of these qualities are ones I posess in real life, so it was nice to put these on display, if only for a little while.
The reward for winning the game, was a 2nd game, versus the Grouses B team. The Grouses is the new professional team in Toyama. They are rubbish, but that's not the point. Their B team plays in the same grade as us, and is easily the best team. For one, they have a coach, and regular practices that all members attend. So, we got blown out, losing by 40 points. Even so, I had a good run around, and I wasn't wrecked afterwards. It's great to finally give my uniform some game-time.
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