basketball

The Philippines lost to Jordan in the FIBA-Champions Cup. It was a tightly contested game and we were ranged against bigger opponents reinforced by 2 American imports.

There was a post on a message board that implied that if our team isn't good enough then we might as well give up.

I told him that if that was his attitude he wouldn't amount to anything. We do things for a lot of reasons but the best reason is that because we love it. I told him that if he was fortunate enough to witness a Philippine Team in the Olympics in his lifetime then he should spare a few seconds to look back and give thanks to those he deemed were not good enough but have blazed the trail.

I love basketball. Playing it and watching it. I can't shoot with my left hand, I don't dribble that well, my passes are often weak and telegraphed and I can't say I have much height or heft or talent. But all that doesn't matter - I just love it.

Sometimes I'm happiest when I'm playing by myself trying to beat an invisible opponent. Faking and driving the lane, spotting up for a three-point shot, going for that mid-range jumper. It's often my stress reliever.

I can pound the backboard and it doesn't hit back. I can tire myself out with seemingly impossible catch-and-shoots. I can lose myself for sometime and be back with a clearer mind, a more positive disposition. Communing with myself, with God and the ball.

"...A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song..."