Basketball is an American Sport

21 January, 14

I used to play basketball everyday of my life, whether it was in the backyard by myself, or with friends down at Prestwood, or over at Noog Crowley's house. That's exactly what every other kid in America did, too. We all played basketball, even if you were short, uncoordinated and wore Coke-bottle glasses with rebar frames. I was so good that I could dribble with my left hand, three or four times, before it bounced away off my knee or foot.

As I got into high school and started to fill out a little bit, my game was actually competitive enough to not be picked last anymore. Second to last is still not last, so don't go raining on my parade. Prestwood Country Club unwittingly played host to games that made the NBA and NCAA Finals look like tiddlywinks tournaments. This was war.

I played like Kurt Rambis or Dennis Rodman;

solid defender, fearless rebounder and odd-looking athlete, something akin to the duck-billed platypus of the basketball court.

Kurt Rambis, my hero

Greg was the star. He shot the "J" from downtown, he drove the lane like a boss, he tossed no-look passes with surgical precision. Greg was the only white player on our high school basketball team. Hartsville High stunk so bad, that we would grade the other teams' dunks. We would chant from the stands, "Put in Token! Put in Token!", which would guarantee that Greg never played. He was so good, however, that he got a scholarship to play at a Division-II college, which was the only scholarship offered for the entire team. No scholarship was forthcoming for me, however. My only hope for basketball stardom was to be a walk-on at Clemson, which didn't seem very likely. Big time ACC universities, and Clemson, just don't appreciate the scrappy platypus kind of player.

This scene could be played over and over all across America. South Carolina shares a basketball heritage with the rest of the country. Baseball is "America's Pastime"; Football is "America's Spectator Sport"; but Basketball is the "Universal Game". Okay, "Universal" is a little bit of an American overreach, but work with me. I freely admit the possibility of sports on other planets.

Baloncesto, or basketball, in Spain is a big deal, too, but not even close to futbol. While I have grown to appreciate and even enjoy futbol, it has not grabbed my heart like basketball.

Before Christmas, one of our new friends, Amanda, told us that her boyfriend, Unai, had connections with the local professional basketball team, UCAM Murcia. She said she could get us free tickets to a game. Butter my butt and call me a biscuit. As a professional mooch, I am always ready, willing and able to accept invitations to free stuff.

We finally made it to a game last Sunday, where UCAM played worse than Hartsville High School would have played against the Lakers. It was a desastre, disaster. The other team won by 40 points, and UCAM's coach was fired on Monday. I still had a great time, however. After the game, we waited for the players to come out. Unai is a good friend of several of the players, so we had plans to eat dinner with the team afterwards. As it turns out, one of the Americans on the team, Scott Wood, is a friend of a friend. Scott attended NC State, and one of his friends cheered with one of my friends. We saw him outside the locker room and struck up a conversation.

Scott has been in Spain, alone, since September. He was starved for some American contact, so we had a great time at lunch talking about our mutual experiences. The girls peppered him with questions, and we all traded stories about the strange foods and unusual customs in Spain. Scott is only 23, so we are old enough, just barely, to be his parents. Susan and I felt like adopting him.

The rest of the team gathered at the other end of the table, as there is a culture and language divide, but I plan to bridge that gap on subsequent visits. We have an open invitation and free tickets to the games, so this promises to be fun.

With a little practice and the right shoes, I might even be able to make the team...