I’s just thankful it coincided with the Holy Week hence it was mistaken for a “penance,” as throughout the period my body suffered all kinds of aches known to man, or in this case, to me, at once.
The culprit? The usual suspect, my first and last love, my ultimate desire, my passion, longing and pride: basketball. It’s the only exercise I knew which could set my body and soul in motion without really trying. As the sight and sound of a bouncing ball is more than enough to bring back to life my dead cells and fading adrenaline.
But not all the best things in life are free. Somewhere, somehow, there’s always a price to pay.
Yeah, in the middle of the game, your never-say-die attitude is there to go on the fight, to make or break. But even in the field of sports you could prove that the Bible is true when it preached about the spirit that is willing and the flesh that is weak.
You could anticipate the ball where it’d be going yet you lost your reflexes as you see it coming, thus the next scene is you’re going up for the rebound, summoning all your spring to jump up high but realizing later you just elevated yourself in the air by not more than five inches high and subsequently securing the ball all by your lonesome but not without it hitting your face first and then it rolled through your chest to diaphragm.
However, playing with the youngsters is an exhilarating feeling. Imagine, running toe to toe with those kids half your age who are your ex-playmates’ kids, banging bodies and rubbing elbows with them aside from cymbals-like crashing of heads. We oldies are just thankful the same old great “hilot" from Gines, Tay Crispin, will always be around when we have twisted ankles and separated joints with free unbearable pain.
But that’s basketball, the game of the tough and the best if not the beast. Jaworski once said if you don’t want to get hurt physically, play chess.
If the game had taught me anything, it’s the principle that if after several tries you’re still scoreless and your offense’s still sour, just stand up and go back after the fall and defend and get the rebound. Never lose hope at anytime and persevere, there’s always a chance to win as it ain’t over till it’s over.
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