For The Love Of The Game (Book 1)

Chapter 18: Have A Good Weekend

I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self all at once, as I watched the coach go on ahead and start to put the kids in some groups, all at the exact same time as well, as it was clear that he was in fact going to be the one that was choosing who it was that was going to be on who's team, all at the exact same time as well, which did in fact kind of scare me, as I was worried that it was going to be bias.
Luckily how ever, I noticed that he put Andrew and his friend on different teams, and that scrimmage was already filled up, as it was based off of first to 21 at that, on 2s and 3s as I let out quite a bit of a soft sigh to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I was for sure glad that I did not have to play against either one of them, all at the exact same time as well, never the less, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had been thinking on long before now, once again.
There was still a few tall kids, but eventually, as I watched the coach going around and choosing the kids to be on who's and which team, all at the exact same time as well, I finally began to start to see the coach begin to start to head him self over to me, as my heart kind of stopped for a few moments as well, as I was expecting kind of the fact that he was going to have a bit of a smirk on his face, all at the exact same time too.
Luckily enough, he did not do as such a thing like that, all at the exact same time as well, as I let out quite a bit of a soft sigh of some relief to my self all of the sudden, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on long before now once again, as I then all of the sudden just began to start to see the coach go on ahead and point his finger towards me all of the sudden.
I blinked my eyes a few times, all at once, as I stared at the coach for just a few moments, all at the exact same time as well, at that, never the less, as I saw that he did in fact start to go on ahead and start to speak to me all of the sudden, as I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could in the mean time, as I did in fact begin to start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say to me in the very first place any ways, at that, never the less.
"Alright kid... Go ahead and go to that court..." He said to me, as he pointed to an empty court, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I was a little bit afraid at first that he was not going to add me to the scrimmage with the rest of the kids that were even here right now in the very first place any ways, but in the end, I then began to start to realize that there was no need for me to be worried about that at all, what so ever, all at the exact same time as well.
I just kind of let out a bit of a soft sigh, as I knew, as I began to start to remember, all at the exact same time too, that he had in fact just filled up the last court, and that he was setting up a new one, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that I needed to calm my self down, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that there was no such sort of reason what so ever, as to the fact that I needed to be upset, or angry at all right now.
I felt like I should instead be a little bit happy that I was the first kid that was on the court, all at the exact same time as well, as it was quite a bit rare for me, if I was not going to lie to my self either, as to the fact that I was in fact to be chosen first, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden just cracked a bit of a soft smile on my face all of the sudden, as I calmed my self down quite a bit, all at the exact same time as well, once again.
I kind of just got my mind, and I kind of got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus on the thoughts that kind of felt like had to do with me turning my head around, and realizing that there were a bunch of other kids that were heading over towards me, all at the exact same time too.
I blinked my eyes a few times, all at once, all at the exact same time as well, as I let out quite a bit of a soft sigh of some relief to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I was in fact quite a bit glad to see, if I was not going to lie to my self either, as to the fact that there seemed to be no sort of really tall kids that were on this court with me at all, what so ever, none the less.
There was a group of 9 other kids, 10 if you wanted to count my self, as none of them seemed to be all too scary what so ever, all at the exact same time as well, as I wondered if that was a good or a bad thing, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that it would mean, all at the exact same time as well, that the coach probably would not be looking our way all too much, all at the exact same time as well, sadly.
I saw that the most of the athletic and big kids seemed to be on the court playing up against Andrew, all at the exact same time too, as I got a little bit disappointed on all of that, all at the exact same time too, though I felt like I should not be, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that it would mean that it would be a lot easier for me to shine, as I was sure that I was going to be the best player that was going to be on the court, all at the exact same time too, none the less.
I blinked my eyes a few times to my self all of the sudden, as I then all of the sudden just began to start to nod a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to see, all at once, that there was in fact my team that was standing right beside me right now, all at the exact same time as well, at that, as it was nothing all too special at all, all at the exact same time as well, as I could see that the other team was not all too far away from us.
I blinked my eyes a few times, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that it would be quite a bit quick, and quite a bit easy for me to find out, all at the exact same time too, as to just who it was that was in fact the shooter, and who it was that was good on defense on my team, all at the exact same time too, as I began to start to breath in quite a bit to my self all of the sudden, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts, all at the exact same time too.
I knew that I needed to get this over with, all at the exact same time too, so I felt like, just as it was that Xavier had in fact told me to be, all at the exact same time too, which was of course that I needed to step up in front of every one, and I needed to show that I was going to be the point guard, and I was going to be the leader going to down the court, all at the exact same time as well,  none the less.
I just kind of nodded a bit to my self, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus on all of my team mates all of the sudden, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden then began to start to go right on ahead and start to speak to them, all at the exact same time as well, to let them know as to just who it was, and just what it was that I was going to be doing.
All of the kids seemed to be a little bit surprised right now, all at the exact same time too, that the little kid right now seemed to be the one that was in fact stepping up to go on ahead and start to speak, all at the exact same time as well, as I began to start to breath in quite a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on before.
Now that it was that I had began to realize at the very least, that I had the attention of all of the kids on to me right at this very moment in time as well, that was when I then all of the sudden did in fact begin to start to go on ahead and start to speak to them all, all at the exact same time as well, now that it was that I did in fact realize that they all were in fact beginning to start to listen as to just what it was that I had to say to all of them in the very first place any ways, at that.
"Alright... I will be the point guard... That is what I am good at... So I need to know who is good at shooting..." I said to all of them, as I looked at all of them, all at the exact same time as well, at that, once again, as I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I possibly could, all at the exact same time too, once again, as I stared at all of the kids, all at once, as I waited for one of them to go ahead and step up and start to speak all of the sudden, to let me know who was good at shooting.
Luckily enough no one seemed to be against me being to point guard, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh of some relief to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that there was not really all too much else that I could really do right at this very moment in time as well, as I began to start to breath in quite a bit heavily to my self once again, as I felt a little bit better due to that, at the very least.
How ever, there was some thing that I did not feel better about, which was of course the fact that I knew that, all at the exact same time as well, that no one had in fact responded what so ever as to just what it was that I had in fact just said, all at the exact same time as well, as to the question that I had in fact just asked as to just who it was that was in fact good at shooting the basketball, as it was clear to me that none of them seemed to be all too good at that area of their game.
That was also the problem with me as well, at that, which was of course the fact that I knew that I was not the best at shooting the ball my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden began to start to gulp, all at the exact same time too, as it was clear that this was going to be a very hard game if that was going to be the case, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that we were going to have to win on the defensive end, if that was in fact going to be the case, as well.
I kind of just shook my head a bit to my self all at once, all at the exact same time too, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on long before hand, once again, as I just kind of shook my head a little bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to go right on ahead and start to nod a bit, all at the exact same time too.
I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could in the mean time, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus off of all of that stuff, and all of those other thoughts that had to do with that all, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to go right on ahead and hear the loud whistle of the coach, all at the exact same time as well, that did in fact let me know that he was in fact about to start to speak to all of the kids that were in fact in the gym right at this very moment in time too, once again.
I quickly began to start to turn my head over to the coach, all at the exact same time as well, just as it was that I saw every one else go on ahead and start to do, as we all just stood there, and waited for him begin to start to speak to us, which he did in fact begin to start to do after just a little bit more time, as I then began to start to listen as to just what it was that he even had to say in the very first place any ways, once again, at that.
"Alright every one! The person that I chose first, their team will get the ball first! Best of luck to you all!" He said to every one, as I then all of the sudden began to start to see that the coach was now throwing a basketball to each and every team that was in fact on the court right at this very moment in time as well, as I began to start to breath in quite a bit to my self once again, as well, as I then all of the sudden began to start to see a basketball start to fly my way.
I made sure that I was the one to catch it at that, as I stepped in to grab it as it dribbled our way, all at the exact same time as well, as I then grabbed the basketball, and I began to start to look over to which ever kid it was that was on my team right now, that did in fact want to in bound the ball, all at the exact same time as well, once again, at that, as I then turned my head over to them all, and I looked at all of them, waiting for some one to step up.
As I stood there for quite a bit more of some time, that was when I then all of the sudden began to start to give up on all of this, as I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, all at the exact same time too, as it kind of felt like I was around a whole bunch of idiots right at this very moment in time as well, and it really was in fact kind of getting on my nerves if I was going to be for real with my self, all at the exact same time as well, once again.
Eventually I kind of just let out quite a bit of a heavy sigh to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus on the stuff that it felt like had to do with me having to step up for some one once again, so that we could get on the move, as I saw that the other team seemed to already know what it was that they were doing right now, as I saw that they had in fact headed back to get ready to play some defense.
I grunted quite a bit to my self, as I kind of felt like I wished that I had been chosen to be on that team, but it was fine, as I knew that I needed to work with what it was that I did in fact have, all at the exact same time too, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of that, and I then all of the sudden did in fact begin to start to step up and speak to all of the kids that were in fact standing right in front of me right now, all at the exact same time too, never the less.
"Alright... So is any one going to step up and grow a pair?" I said to all of them, as it felt like I was the big guy right now, and that the rest of them were small, with the way that things were playing right at this very moment in time too, at that. I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could in the mean time, as I kind of just rolled my eyes a bit to my self, all at once.
Just as soon as it was that it had seemed like I had in fact done as such a thing like that, that was when I then all of the sudden began to start to hear the voice of one of the kids begin to start to step up and speak, all at the exact same time as well, luckily enough for me, as I let out quite a bit of a soft sigh of relief to my self as soon as it was that I had in fact seen some one do as such a thing like that.
It felt like it kind of did in fact ease my mind quite a bit, as it felt like it did in fact kind of make things feel a little bit better, and a little bit easier, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden just kind of got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of that other stuff that I had in fact been thinking on long before hand, all at the exact same time too, never the less, at that.
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I then nodded to the guy, to let him know that I was in fact paying attention to him right at this very moment in time as well, as in the end, he did in fact begin to start to go right on ahead and speak to me, all at the exact same time as well, once it was that he had seen me do as such a thing, as I did in fact begin to start to listen as to just what it was that the kid even had to say to me in the very first place any ways, never the less.
"I got you..." He said to me, as it seemed like he was almost even a little bit nervous, and a little bit anxious on just what it was that he had said, as I saw that he was looking all around him, as if he was a little bit scared that they were in fact going to judge him for the fact that he had been the one and only guy that had in fact stepped up for me, all at the exact same time as well, which did not seem to make all too much sense what so ever to me, all at the exact same time too.
I blinked my eyes quite a few times, all at the exact same time as well, as I kind of felt like I was playing with a bunch of misfits, and a bunch of kids who did not seem to want to even be in this place in the very first place any ways, as I kind of just began to start to breath in quite a bit to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden passed the ball over to the kid that had in fact stepped up to speak, all at the exact same time too.
I was not all too sure as to just how it was that my team was going to win this game, just based off of the way that things had seemed to be going already so far, all at the exact same time as well, at that, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on long before hand, as I then all of the sudden began to start to see the kid begin to start to go to where it was that he needed to be at, to inbound the ball to me.
As soon as it was that he had done as such a thing like that, that was when I then all of the sudden began to start to notice that luckily enough for me at that, none the less, that the rest of my team had then all of the sudden began to start to wake them selves up a bit, all at the exact same time too, as I saw that all of them were in fact dribbling down the court right now, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.
I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and get my focus on the fact that felt like it has to do with the fact that the kid had now all of the sudden passed the ball to me, as I had been too focused on the rest of the team to even notice him do as such a thing like that at first, that I had nearly missed as to just what it was that the kid had in fact just done, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.
I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus on the thoughts that more or less had to do with me needing to grab the ball before it went past me, and it got to the other team for them to have an easy fast break and score all over us, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that I could not stop that entire team by my self.
I kind of shook my head a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of that other stuff, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and get my focus on the stuff that felt like it was more or less me needed to dribble down the court, and hope that I could find an open man that I could in fact pass it to, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
As I got closer to the perimeter line, I looked around for just a few seconds, until I then began to start to realize that all of the kids that were in fact on my team right now, were all just standing still and staring at me right now, as they were not moving around at all, and they were also being heavily guarded, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I got my mind, and I got my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on long before now, once again, as I just kind of shook my head a  bit to my self, all at the exact same time as well.
I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, as I just then began to start to get my eyes on the man that was in fact guarding me right now, as I saw that he was perhaps a few inches taller than me, all at the exact same time as well, though it was clear to me that he was still not taking me all too seriously, all at the exact same time as well, as he had a bit of a calm, and a relaxed mood in his eyes, as he was about 5 to 6 feet off of me, all at the exact same time as well, none the less.
I stared at him for just a few seconds, as I waited for him to come up on me and try to guard me, as I felt like I might be able to brush by him if that was the case, but he just kept on leaning, meaning that I would not have any sort of chance what so ever to blow by him, all at the exact same time as well, sadly enough. I just stood there for a little bit longer, until then all of the sudden, a bit of a thought came to my mind, as I then all of the sudden began to start to stop dribbling the ball.
This was after all what it was that I had been practicing on with Xavier for quite a bit of some time now, as I knew that I had got fairly decent at it. But that was when I was not under pressure at all, all at the exact same time as well, as I began to start to realize. I kind of gulped for a few moments, all at the exact same time as well, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I should even do right at this very moment in time, in the very first place any ways, once again, as I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I could possibly do in the mean time, once again.
I just kind of began to start to lift my self up, as I knew as to just what it was that I should do, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that I did in fact need to shoot right now, which this time, unlike all of the other times that I did it, I did not hesitate to do as such a thing as soon as it was that I had in fact got in to my shooting motion, and in to my shooting form, all at the exact same time as well, never the less, at that.
I stood there and stared for just a few more moments time, all at the exact same time too, as I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to put the ball up in to the air, all at the exact same time as well, at that, as I watched the ball soar through the air.
Time seemed to go extra slow as it did in fact do as such a thing like that, as I was scared for just what it was that it was in fact about to go on ahead and do, all at the exact same time as well, as I felt like I was about to have an air ball, kind of like it seemed like I did a lot of the time before it was that I had in fact practiced with Xavier, as I knew that was why it was that I was always so scared to shoot the basketball in the very first place as well, never the less, at that.
How ever, as I saw the ball going towards the basket, all at once, that was when I then all of the sudden saw it go right over towards it, and it went right in to the net, as it drilled it self right in to the net, all at the exact same time as well, as it was in fact a splash, all at the exact same time as well, which I was in fact quite a bit surprised to see, all at the exact same time as well, if I was in fact going to be for real with my self, as I felt like I was quite a bit proud of my self for what it was that I had done.
No one seemed to say a word how ever, as I kind of expected to here some praise or some congrats, but I realized that was not going to be the case what so ever, all at the exact same time too, as I knew that no one was going to be proud of me at all right now, as I knew that this really was not a team scrimmage, as every single player was trying to fight for a spot on the team, all at the exact same time as well.
I knew that if I did good, than the rest of the players and the rest of the kids would not be happy about that what so ever, as I kind of just blinked my eyes a few times, and I shook my head a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind and my focus on the fact that I knew that now I needed to head back and play some defense now, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as well.
I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, as I watched the other team inbound the ball, all at the exact same time too, as I noticed that it seemed like their team had a bit better energy, and a bit better correlation than my team did all the exact same time as well none the less, as I then all of the sudden began to gulp quite a bit heavily to my self, as I felt like this was going to be a lot of pressure put on me right now, to go and lead my team, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.
I blinked my eyes a few times, all at once, as I then all of the sudden began to start to see that the point guard of the other team was heading right towards where I was at right now, all at the exact same time as well, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on long before now, all at the exact same time as well, at that.
The kid was going right towards me, all at once, as it almost seemed like he was trying to post me up at the perimeter line, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as it was clear that the kid was not taking me seriously at all, what so ever, as I got my mind off of all of that, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I then all of the sudden just reached my hand and, and I smacked the ball away from him, all at the exact same time too.
It was clear that the kid was a bit surprised, and he was not all too sure as to just what it was that he should do for a few moments, after what it was that I had in fact done. For me how ever, that was not the case what so ever, as I was so used to people not taking me seriously what so ever, all at the exact same time as well, as I easily began to start to go after the ball, as I easily picked it up, and I got my eyes on the basket that was on the other side of the court.
I expected to have a quick and easy lane to the basket, but I was quite a bit surprised to see that was not the case what so ever, as it almost seemed like some of his team mates had in fact expected him to do that, all at the exact same time as well, as I began to start to breath in quite a bit heavily to my self all at the exact same time too, as I then began to start to get my mind and my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had been thinking on long before now.
I saw 2 team mates running back, as I then began to start to realize that this was not going to be as easy of a fast break as I had thought at first, all at the exact same time too, as I then began to start to breath my self, as I then began to slow my self down as I went down the court, all at the exact same time too, as I made sure that the kid was not running up on me to get the ball back, before I continued to head up the court, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.
Once I realized that, I let a few team mates begin to start to pass me, all at the exact same time too, as I saw that the other team did the exact same thing as they had, all at the exact same time as well. I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self all at once, as I did my best to try to keep my self as calm as I felt like I possibly could, as I then all of the sudden began to start to speed up a little, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.
I breathed in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden began to start to get my mind, and I began to start to get my focus off of all of the rest of those other thoughts that I had in fact been thinking on long before now, all at the exact same time too, as I then all of the sudden heard a kid shout from not all too far away from me, all at the exact same time as well.
I was a little bit lost at first, until I then all of the sudden began to start to turn my head around to the kid that was in fact yelling to me right at this very moment in time too. I began to start to listen as to just what it was that the kid even had to say to me in the very first place any ways, once again, as he did in fact begin to start to continue to speak to me, all at the exact same time too.
"Over here! I'm open!" The kid yelled to me, as I saw that he was in fact wide open on the 3 point line, as it seemed like no one had in fact guarded him what so ever, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as I saw that the other team was a bit lost as to just who it was that their match ups were in fact going to be on that fast break, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, at that.
At first, I felt like I was a bit hesitant to pass the ball to him, all at the exact same time as well, as I remembered that no one had stepped up to speak when I had asked if any one was good at shooting the ball. How ever, I knew that I had played, and I knew that I had known about basketball long enough to know that I needed to pass it to him, as he did in fact have a wide open shot, all at the exact same time too.
I did in fact do as such a thing as that, all at the exact same time as well, as the kid then did in fact catch the ball as I threw it to him like a bullet, all at the exact same time as well. I saw a few kids sprinting to try to catch up to him to stop him from shooting the wide open 3, all at the exact same time as well, but sadly enough for them, it was too late for all of that, all at the exact same time as well, none the less, as the kid had already had the ball long in the air by the time that got any where close to him, all at the exact same time as well.
I blinked my eyes a few times, all at once, as I began to start to breath in quite a bit heavily to my self, all at the exact same time as well, as I then did in fact watch the basketball go right towards the hoop. How ever, when it got there, it had a bit of a different response than mine had, as when I had shot the ball, it had got nothing but net, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.
For this kid, I saw the ball fly up in the air a little bit, as I let out quite a bit of a heavy sigh to my self all at once, at first, as I felt like it was a missed shot. Of course that was until I saw that the ball began to start to fly back down, all at the exact same time too, as I did in fact see that the basketball went around the rim for just a few seconds, and then it did in fact go in to the net, all at the exact same time as well, as I was quite a bit surprised by it, all at the exact same time too.
This was not what I had expected what so ever, when it was that I had seen how this had all started, all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that we some how, just like that, as it had been less than a minute, and we already had a 6-0 lead, all at the exact same time as well. I was in quite a bit of shock, all at the exact same time too, as I was not all too sure as to just what it was that I should even do.
It felt like every thing was falling in to place perfectly for me right now, as I sure as hell hoped that the coach was in fact paying attention to me right now, all at the exact same time as well, never the less, as it seemed like nothing could go bad at all, what so ever, all at the exact same time too, as much as I did in fact kind of feel like I did not want to jinx my self, all at the exact same time as well, never the less.