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Reaching to my past - Part 2
Written By: Gilbert P
Category: Sports | Key words:
Date: 2008-02-03 09:13:47 | Views: 1068

Growing up, I couldn't take the pain. From the time I was really young, six years old and onward, I had so many nights staying up and crying. My knees would hurt so much, and I could never understand why. My mother always told me that i was born in a pretty odd way. Not that I was abnormal, but my feet were facing each other, maybe that had something to do with it.

At this point, I've lost count of the number of doctors i've visited for this specific problem, none ever managed to help. There was a chiropractor however, that I saw when I was 13 and again when I was 20. She was so kind and gentle, and helped tremendously, if only for temporary periods of time. The problem with the chiropractor was that it was way too expensive, and my mother couldn't afford to continue. So the pain continued for years, and I learned to adjust to it.

In most cases, I loved just knowing I could dunk a basketball, if I just decided to. Sure, I couldn't pull it off in a game and I could only do it with one hand, but I kept practicing and trying to get better at it. Sports wise, I was on cloud nine, playing in the Ontario Basketball League gave me a sense of pride and playing on the school team was always quite an experience. But its like the age old saying, "What goes up...", you know what comes after.

Funny thing is, no specific event happened, I didn't run into anything, nothing got twisted, I just started feeling horrible pain. I couldn't run, couldn't jump, I couldn't play the game that I came to love. No more OBA, no more school team, and it all happened overnight. I can't explain it. My friends simply refer to it as my injury.

That period of being unable to play lasted several months, the pain wasn't really there, but my range of motion went down significantly. I was stiff. After a while, I started to get back into it but honestly it was wasn't the same. Forget OBA, the following school year, I wasn't even the best player at school. I could still grab a basketball rim, with one hand, if I jumped from a standstill position. I was never one to get down on myself, so, back to work.. that's what Michael would have done.

When I look back on it now, it's pretty clear that it wasn't meant to be. This was my final year in high school, my last chance to give myself a shot at being remembered but my body refused to do what my heart and my mind demanded. I think my frustration came to a peak when one of my closest friends called me a failure.. he was playing around, referring to me constantly striving to play like Michael Jordan and never achieving it. I went nuts, I had worked too hard to have even one person say that to me. That comment still rings in my head to this day. So, one day we had a scrimmage and I missed a lay-up.. one of the easiest shots you can take in basketball. I got so mad that I punched a cushion that was attached to the wall to prevent students from hurting themselves.. but for some reason that area of the cushion was hollow and I hit the wall directly.

It was torture, dressed in regular clothes watching the basketball team play, I wanted to play so bad. Instead, all I could do was stare at the fling on my hand and wish I could magically cure the bone that I had so foolishly fractured. When I was finally able to play (my hand wasnt healed yet), there were just 3 games left in the basketball season. And coach wouldnt let me play much. They had a set gameplan, and I rejoined the team way too late. End of high school, objective failed.

The following year, several friends and I decided to compete in the Hoop-it-Up tournament during the summer. I had a full time job and dedicated myself to playing well. We played the previous year and failed miserably. The tournament was in July and I started training in April. I was going strong and getting better and better, there was hope. Then one day in June, during a scrimmage, I went for a lay-up. Another player tried to block me, but hit my hand.. hard.. it got fractured again. Can you believe it? When the tournament came, I played anyway, we won 1 game and lost all the others, the pain was tremendous throughout.

Times since then were based more on reality, I dont think I was ever meant to do well at basketball. But 2007 was a magical year year, not basketball-wise but in my life overall. I achieved everything I set out to do. My confidence is back with a vengeance, and i've decided to get back what I worked so hard for.

I've decided this year, that I will be able to dunk again, and better than ever, I'm 24 and I won't accept failure. And this time I have a plan..

Stay tuned.

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Reaching to my past - Part 1
Written By: Gilbert P
Category: Sports | Key words:
Date: 2008-01-31 21:54:12 | Views: 698

Id like to start this post with a memory, thoughts that have been haunting me for a very long period of time. My hope is that you will then see why this is so important to me. This is an important part of my story, this is part 1 of the story of my shattered dream..

Almost on a weekly basis I have these memories of myself, some dating back all the way to when I started high school, playing basketball with a ton of hope, I wanted to one day be like Michael Jordan. I practiced constantly, spent most of my free time at the Bloor and Spadina JCC and my mother always had me going to basketball camps or playing in some kind of league.

Honestly, I was in pretty good shape and I was getting to a point I liked. At 16 years old I developed a pretty deadly fadeaway and was able to jump pretty high, so high in fact, that I could grab a basketball rim from a straight standing position with both hands. I was still working hard, wondering when the day would come that I would be able to dunk a basketball like my hero.

I remember this moment like it was yesterday, an opportunity of a lifetime, the Ontario Basketball Association season was going to start and a team called the Lords was having tryouts at a nearby high school. I was already on my high school team but playing on 2 teams at the same time was right up my alley. The team had a shoot-around and I was invited to a try-out along with a friend from my basketball team. During the try-out, I felt really good, I was playing my usual way but I felt I could do it all with a lot less effort. The coach then had us run a drill where we had to line up and make some layups. And with everyone watching, I ran up for my lay-up but instead of doing that, I actually dunked the ball. Who would have guessed it.. the first time I dunked would be during a try-out for a team in an elite league (by Ontario standards anyway). I remember the energy and joy I got out of it as I immediatly started celebrating afterwards, needless to say I ran around jumping for joy.

Eventually, it became a norm for me, I rarely showcased my ability to dunk. I found it took too much energy to do so and that I could play longer if I avoided doing it all together, at least until I became even stronger. Problem was, my days of even being able to dunk at all would soon end....

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