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don't mind me, it's the whiskey talking again.
2002-11-15-5:56 p.m.
True story, true story: Wait, first let me add, whiskey drinks consumed: One. Ok back to the story. When I was a kid, my dad made me play sports. I hated sports. I couldn't see the point, I didn't give a damn if someone knocked a ball of string over a rusted cyclone fence or not. I was bored to tears in between innings waiting to bat. It's not that I wasn't coordinated, I was actually a pretty decent runner as a kid, always playing outside, very outgoing etc. I just thought it was lame and a waste of time. Particularly getting yelled at for messing up. My dad would ream on my little brother and I if we ever missed a catch or ran when we weren't supposed to. A lot of kids were like that too, more afraid of screwing up and dissapointing everyone than making a good play. It was like prison, keep a low profile, and you might make it through ok. Christ, I'm 8 years old (They started me in kindergarten), I want to go ride my bike and climb trees, I don't want to put on some faggy little striped socks and white pants and stand around on a perfectly good saturday,in a bunch of unkempt grass, bordered by advertisements for local feed stores and car dealerships painted on sheets of plywood, while all our fathers live vicariously through us, projecting all of their insecurities and lost dreams on a bunch of kids who don't even care if their shoes are tied for christs sake. I bet if my dad had known I could have made a lot of money skateboarding he would have encouraged it instead of always telling me "If you break your leg, I'm not bringing you to the emergency room". Later on, the same thing happened with basketball. At first I liked basketball too, like baseball, I'd play it at home or with friends and have a lot of fun, and I was pretty good too. I'd always do well at the try-outs, but when it came time to play a game, I couldn't give less of a shit. I'd amble back up and down the field, half ass playing, because I didn't want to be there, they managed to take every bit of fun out if it with pressure, and stupid looking jerseys, and way too much emphasis on winning. Why the fuck was basketball invented? Why was baseball invented? Why was football invented? For fucking fun, that's why. Not to win, not to make money, not to sell shoes. The only reason they have rules and scoring is to keep it from deteriorating into a wrestling match, and to make it more fun. And do you think when junior high came and I had to play football that it got any better? I'll just say this: I'm not even comfortable talking about it yet. Anyway, it's not like I was scarred for life or anything. I did learn a couple of valuable lessons from sports. 1) Being competitive only makes you a real loser. Trust me, all the guys who cried when they struck out at t-ball, and were glory hogs never had any true friends, and they never went on to accomplish much. (Think about those guys like that you knew, I'm not a that far off here.) 2)Anyone can be good at something if they want to be, so do what you want, and you'll be good. The funny thing is, I was never awkward of uncoordinated, I'm actually fairly talented and have pretty good height and strength, I would have been great at sports, but I just never gave a damn. My senior year I realized I still needed a half semester of PE credit, so I just took general phys. ed, which means the regular coaches just do paperwork in their office and leave you in the gym to fuck off. All I did was shoot freethrows and jog all day. I could hit 10 or 15 in a row, and once even nailed 30 or so straight. Our teacher was actually the basketball coach, and he came up to me and told me he'd like me to try out for the basketball team. From the look on his face you'd have thought he was giving me a winning lottery ticket or something. He just couldn't understand why anyone would turn down such a golden opportunity to be "cool." Heh. I think that's enough rambling for now. I'm going out for the evening, and I've lost my buzz. p.s. music of the day: Sleater Kinney's new album "One Beat"
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