I lost Wilson today…

13 08 2008

Today… I lost my beloved Wilson. No, not Tom Hanks’ Wilson. My Wilson was much more special. About 3 years ago, I found him all alone at a playground after the lights went out. Worn and used but still as good as any other ball you’d see on the courts, he’s been able to hold his own all these years. Never lost his grip nor nor his grooves nor his air pressure… he was a good ball.

I would leave work everyday, looking forward to seeing him there in the backseat of my car. Much like you would expect to come home to see your dog happily waiting for you at the front porch when you got home. Wilson kept me occupied and was always ready at a moments notice to reciprocate my hoop dreams. He helped me exercise, kept me in shape and meet new people. He was conversation material when I had guests in my car. He was always there for me. He was even able to raise my spirits in my darkest days. How could you get mad at anyone named Wilson? He was a good ball…

Today, I lost my Wilson @ Woodbridge Community Park after the lights went out. I walked all around and asked everyone there if they had seen him. They had not… Today was a sad day. Wilson, you will be missed.





South Korean Ballers are Weak Sauce

5 07 2008

asian kid basketball

I ventured out for an evening stroll here in South Korea tonight. I walked about a mile in the direction of a set of basketball courts that I’ve noticed before to see if I could scope out how the game was played here. After about 20 minutes of walking in the most humid weather I have ever been in, I sat down on a bench at one end of the basketball courts and watched. This was my observation:

  • There were 2 full courts.
  • There were about 30 guys there to play.
  • They seem to prefer the half court game, 4-on-4.
  • They prefer to inbound the balls from the sidelines where ever the ball went out of bounds last.
  • Some could shoot, but by no means had a jump shot; 2 inches off the ground max.
  • They like to drive hard to the basket and flip up some of the wackiest underhanded shit I’ve ever seen.

In general, they were weak sauce and actually stereotypical of all the FOB Asians I see in the O.C. I think I finally understand where this type of playground basketball mentality comes from now. I think this is due to the fact that Asians would prefer to let more people play so they’d rather play 2 half court games of 4 on 4 then play a full court game of 5 on 5. That way 16 people could play instead of 10. Makes sense…

But that doesn’t really play out here in the states because I’ve seen plenty of times where a group of 20 FOBs would show up at a park and just play half court 4 on 4 all night on a single half court and wouldn’t give us the time of day. Even if we just needed one more guy for a full court game! So that leads me to the conclusion that they are probably too shy, don’t comprehend the full court game or are just plain lazy and aren’t really out there looking to run. That probably explains all the guys I saw in Korea walking around in a half court game.