So! Let's just say there's a reason I'm a runner and not a competitive sport player... or what some people would call an "athlete." Which I must say real runners are legit athletes, they have INSANE bodies, and real drive that pushes them down the street at crazy fast paces. As it so happens, I don't think I would put myself into the "athlete" category just yet. I'm merely a girl who runs for the joy of it.
Hm, come to think of it, that doesn't sound very accurate either. I'm usually bitter while running and mumble cuss words under my breath so Reese's doesn't hear me and think me any less of a person than she already does.
ANYHOW! Getting off topic here.
Athletes
You know, those super competitive people. They're good at a sport, they have their heart and soul invested in the game, they're willing to "take one for the team."
So imagine this, when a non-competitive person (hmm, I wonder who I'm talking about) joins in on a competitive game of basketball, it turns out, the real athletes on the court aren't too pumped about it.
So the story allllll started when I sat down in one of my nursing classes today, Therapeutic Communication to be exact. My newest nursing friends, both male nurses, thought it would be a good idea to form a boy-girl intramural basketball team for the nursing cohort 2011! What a great bonding experience right!?
...Wrong. Sooooo wrong. I told them countless times, "I'm not a basketball player. I've never played an actual game of basketball in my LIFE." Yet they carried on and finally convinced me to join them in a friendly game of bball at the rec center, 7 p.m. sharp.
I rescheduled my run with Reese's for Tuesday so I could bond with my new classmates whom I'll be with for the next 2 years. They're both older than I am, AND one is married with children, so I just assumed this wouldn't be a freaking NBA playoff game...
Boy was I wrong.....yet again.
When will the humiliation end?
I arrive at said rec center on time, glasses on, and ready to play some ball with my fellow nurses. Hm? What's that you say? We are playing against other people in the rec? This isn't just a friendly game amongst nurses? Ohhhhhhhhhh. So you want me to cover that WNBA player who's been playing basketball for the past 15 years?
No problem. I got this.
The reason I will be avoiding said rec center for at least a week
1st team to score 15 points wins: My teammates turn out to be HELLA-GOOD! This one cat keeps scoring 3-pointers like he's been training for the NBA his entire life. The 30-something year old Filipino is shocking people with his "hurt wrist" that happens to crank out basket after basket, and the innocent 20 year year old busts loose with moves that probably got her a scholarship to play basketball here. Crap, I totally should have asked if she played for the lady Islanders basketball team before I decided to join in.
The REAL reason I will be avoiding said rec center for at least a week
Turns out that I not only lack the coordination to play basketball, but I failed to acquire the competitive edge to play a sport I've never engaged in before....imagine that. Oh, and let's not forget the lack of sportsmanship.
Between yelling at the girl guarding me to "back off!" and yipping when a teammate threw me the ball (and then of course throwing it back to them....I'm not gonna shoot that thing), it was an AWESOME game to say the least.
Oh, and what better way to end the game but by going up and hugging the girl who guarded me, and apologize for being rude. What can I say, I'm a lover not a fighter.
In the end
So to soothe my broken basketball-playing heart, and mend my ego that had been ripped to shreds, I parked my car at a gas station and hustled my body down the street for 2 miles. Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, a bruised ego will seriously increase your mile time.
So now I sit, ego mended and wine glass in hand. I have learned my lesson for the day: Don't waste your time yelling at sports-playing-people, just embrace the inner human-loving-hippie that I you are and just stick to runnin'.
Or as Keltie from the Bachelor would say....
I'll just stick to kickin'. (She was one of the sweetest girls on there this season!)
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