Athletics

I am not an athlete. Not by any stretch of the imagination. At some point in every boy's life they have to make a decision which direction they will go. Either they will go the direction of the running back, high school stud going by such nicknames as "The Mule" or "The Bear Trap". (I'm not confident anyone has ever been called these names) Or the less impressive(but eventual owner of Facbook), artsy beatnik kid who reads Yeats and talks about his "angst" and wears scarves when it is 95 degrees outside.

I am somewhere in the middle. I have been known to make it out on the "Court" or the "pitch" as they say across the pond. But, from early on I know I just was not set up to be the baseball stats guy.

However, in the last 2 or 3 years I have become obsessed with the NBA. Watching guys like Blake "The Rhythm" Griffin cram a dunk down a dudes throat, Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant make a game winning shot, or Kevin "The Durantula" Durant embarass a defense, this is good television as well as nice distraction from the Quinean web of Epistemology I am way to often concerned with. To feed this need, I have been reading this guys sports blog, Tony Gervino. I like this guy because he's not an annoying sports writer who presumes that Sports-center (Da na na) is the only thing out there and references Henry James. Man after my own heart.

Well, in this spirit I wanted to try my hand at a "Sports" blog. Or at least offer my (unique?) perspective as a Humanities major now working on a degree in theology.

Let me list off what it is I like about the NBA:

1.Nicknames: His Airness, The Logo, The Hick from French Lick (More where that came from)

Whether you want to believe it or not, sports journalists are some of the cleverest writers out right now. They take something that has a dedicated audience week in and week out and makes it even more engaging. A simple way is to let people in on the secret, welcome them in to the club, is to give an athlete a nickname that everyone can refer to.( i.e. King James)

2. Dunks. Oh my dear lawd, there is nothing sweeter than a sweet Crammer Jammer!

The sheer athleticism of getting to the basket, with ball in hand, rising up and slamming that ball through the iron. Every little boys dream! Just watch this.

3. The Arrogance and Razzle/Dazzle

-Lebron James begins every game by putting powder on his hands and throwing it into the air. With flashing lights and some techno song playing in the background, I'm sure I would be in tears because of the beauty of it all.

-Yesterday a 48 years old Michael Jordan suited up and practiced with his Charlotte Bobcats. I'm pretty confident it's because he just wants to shoot a jumper over someone half his age, proving he still the greatest. He could probably still run with some of the b-players in the League, I mean why couldn't he? He is only Michael Jordan, he is why basketball was created.

Finally, I think the reason I have begun to develop an appreciation for the NBA (and maybe all of sports) is because of the narrative of it all. You can't tell me it was not a beautiful thing watch Boston win the world Series after 50 years of choking. There is something special about it all. Often, sports is the one thing that a son can talk to his Dad about, who am I to demean that?

(This may be the opposite of a "Proper" sports blog, something akin to if Esquire or GQ wrote a sports blog. Or the cliche' of a woman watching sports because of the "cute butts", either way I am hooked to the NBA. )