For years I have often heard (and I also subscribed to) the notion that age is just a number. They say 'You are as young as you wanna be!' or 'Age is just a state of mind!', suggesting that age is a fictional monster similar to the Lockness that only exists in people's dreams and imaginations and doesn't deserve any recognition.
Well ladies and gentlemen I'm here to testify today that AGE IS REAL!!! *church dance*
Last night my church had a 4 on 4 basketball tournament which was sponsored and organized by Tasha 'Procrastinator' Brown and The Gem School.
Sidebar: Gem School is basically similar to 'Charm School' on Vh1, but better.. They teach young ladies how to respect themselves, and it helps them recognize their own worth .. Eh, enough of that .. Maybe Procrastinator will blog about it later (pun intended).
Anyway, back to the tournament. So, the tournament was categorized into groups, more specifically AGE groups (under 18, 18-25, 25 and over). This was my first indication that 'I wasn't as young as I wanna be' because I found myself in the oldest group, waaay in the oldest group.. So far into the oldest group that if they had another group above that, I very well may have qualified .. Lol.
Then the games began. I sat and watched some of the younger groups (some of whom are college graduates with full time jobs) play. From start to finish (finish for some of them were three or four games later) the games featured lightning quick first steps, jumping ability as though they had pogo sticks in their $150 basketball sneakers (the fact that I point out the price of their sneakers is another indicator... Lol), endurance like they could participate in a triathlon, and highly competitive spirits.
Then came my group, which started with a session of stretching, followed by a conversation/pep talk between the two teams that went something like this (ok guys let's try to make this exciting, but don't over do it .. Some of us have work in the morning .. And some of us have no health insurance .. It's not that serious). Then the game began. Molasses slow first steps, leaping ability like 'why aren't u guys jumping? we are jumping!!', and endurance?, well let's just say when the score was tied at 7 we had another discussion about changing game from 16 to 11 but grown man pride wouldn't allow it. Oh, and let's not forget the game stoppages due to injury. In the end though, we had a great time and the crowd was into it.
Everyone seemed to have a great time and an enjoyable evening. Everyone left all smiles.... But some of us didn't wake up with those same smiles. Over night those smiles turned into grimaces. I don't even know when it happened. Somewhere between the fun on the court, the shower when I got home (gotta let u know I didn't go to bed funky), and the 5 hours of sleep, I woke up this morning sore in some places that had me thinking to myself "at what point could I have used that muscle?!!" (No, not That muscle.. Smh.. Lol). It was at that very moment that I realized that age is not a figment of my imagination but instead a 4 headed monster preying on and devouring unsuspecting victims while robbing them of their youth!! Age is evil! No, age is The Devil!! This morning I stood face to face with The Devil and I think I lost!
The French poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire once wrote 'the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he didn't exist'. I am convinced that must be what he had in mind when he shared that thought.
I just wanted, no, needed to share this revelation with those of you who have not yet been confronted by this demon and tell you to run while you can ... Save yourselves!! He got me, I'm finished .. My dear basketball sneakers can now be found hanging on a telephone wire near you..
But then again, The Devil is a liar!!! ... So maybe, just maybe... Eh, maybe not.
But then again what do i know .. That I know nothing!
Note: Some of the events were exaggerated for the effect, but not many.
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