I’ll take “Events that Happen When You Turn 50” Alex, for $1,000….That’s right–the answer is “Colonoscopy and Senior Basketball”….Fun, fun, fun! At least the basketball part, anyway….Actually, there is another relationship between the two, as during the colonoscopy, it feels like something the size of a basketball is used in the process….But I digress….
Let’s stick with the basketball portion of this discussion…. I just finished my third season playing basketball in a recreational Men’s Senior (50 and Over) League….and I enjoy it more each year….
I was never much of a basketball player growing up….Oh, I was into sports, just not basketball….I think it had more to do with the fact that I did not make the team in 7th grade, and the fact that the other kids in my neighborhood were better basketball players than I was….So, “Tell me Jeffrey, have you always been such a sore loser?” Guilty as charged….I stuck with baseball, tennis, track & field because I was better at those sports….But…. ever since I talked myself into going to the “Basketball Try-Out Night” three years ago, I’ve had a blast!
I ask myself, why is it so much fun to play basketball with a bunch of old dudes that are way past their athletic prime? And the answer is, ‘I have no idea’….But it is….
Maybe it’s the cameraderie….or the competition….or the challenge of a new sport for me….Anyway it’s thoroughly enjoyable….For me, it’s fun to play “The Big Man” at the center position at 6′-1″ tall….Sometimes I wonder how that keeps happening, that I end up playing center (of all things) for my new team each year, but I think it’s because I can jump–something most guys my age either cannot do, or do not want to do. So I get a chance to pretend I’m Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (I almost slipped and said Lew Alcindor) and put up the “sky hook” every now and then….Jostling around with a handful of sweaty dudes may not be your cup of tea, but I like getting out there on the court and competing among friends for bragging rights, and possibly the season title….
Actually you’d be surprised just how athletically-skilled and conditioned some of these guys can be in their 50’s–as they take you to the hoop….I’m still hoping to win it all one year, but….No matter what the outcome, you end up with a group of great buddies and you get some exercise at the same time….Walking out of the gym following the last game of the season, with another year ending up in second-place, I find myself mumbling the predictable “Wait ’til next year!” At least with the colonoscopy, I know it won’t happen for another five years….Maybe by then we’ll be in first place!
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