Todd's Stories #15

I've always prided myself on my basketball skills (I've also always greatly overrated them). When I was a youngin, I would practice my skills outside in my backyard day in and day out, honing my shot making abilities all by myself. The downfall of this system is that it makes you suck at defense. I'm slow as shit as is, and without proper footwork and good timing, I am not much better than a garbage can at defense. However, there was one time when my play far outreached my skills, and it was legendary (at least to me it was).

This specific event occurred in the 3rd or 4th grade. At this point in life my height was similar to it is today: average. I had yet to hit my growth spurt that would sky rocket me to the top of the food chain, and as such I was nothing more than a puny little kid on the basketball court. This was not true of Kenny Reinartz. Kenny Reinartz was a monster. Looking back, it seems as though he was seven feet tall, and I wouldn't be suprised if he was. He had to have at least a foot on me, and probably 80 pounds. However, I was fearless on the court and would back down from no challenge. While at lunch one day a group of guys, including myself and Kenny, were playing basketball. It was a small game of 3 on 3, but everyone was trying their hardest. I'm not going to pretend to remember the score or how the game went, but what I do remember is that on one possession Kenny got the ball, and I went at him like a bat out of hell. He went up for the shot and I flew across the air like a flying squirrel, swatting his shot down with force seldom seen in pre-professional basketball games. It was one of the best moments in my basketball career, and possibly even in my life, and one that I will never forget.


(This is exactly what my block looked like.)






The morals of the story are that anything is possible, to never back down, and to step up to the streets.