Goals (cont.)

The 101 Goals Challenge rolls on as do the final days of summer. Several have been started, a few completed. Let us take stock of what has been, what is, and what will and might be.

In the far-less-satisfying-than-I-thought-it-was-going-to-be category, we have Goal #85: Reach 100 followers on Twitter. In all honestly I'm not sure what achieving this goal represents. It certainly does not make me feel more interesting or more popular. I don't feel as if I've actually gained anything by completing this.

What was satisfying was completing Goal #16: Score in the double digits in the company basketball league. What follows is a telling of this fabled event.

On the eve of our final game of the regular (summer) season I had all but lost hope of achieving the aforementioned goal. Surely I've been gaining more and more confidence on the offense side of things, but still did not think that this milestone, which I had set for myself was within grasp. What made it seem even more unattainable was the fact that the team we were scheduled to play against was one that we lost to previously by the widest margin in all of our games played. These guys were no slouches. The one thing that was in my favor was that we would not have our complete 10 to 12 person roster for this game. Indeed, only 6 Fidessans came to play on that glorious night. None but one will remember it forever.

Given that we only had one other player available for substitutions, I knew that I would get plenty of playing time. I knew that setting a good pace and not wearing out early was key. As it turned out, I ended up playing the entire game, which was no easy task given the absence of air conditioning inside the sweaty and humid upper west side junior high school gymnasium.

My first basket came from a quick, pull-up jumper just below and to the left of the free-throw line. The next score came after receiving a laser pass down in the paint, right in front of the basket. A quick turn around sky hook added two more points to my total, which now stood at 4. Points 5 and 6 were came from of a bad pass made by the opposing team that was deflected toward me, sending me down the floor on a fast break. In my sprint up-court, I was being closely guarded, and even though I had an outlet pass to a trailing teammate, I knew if I took it strong to the hole, I would stand a very good chance of drawing a foul. As I stopped dribbling and prepared for my 1-2-jump-shoot, the defender peeled off and gave me an uncontested layup. Thus ended the first half, with my total points scored at 6.

The beginning of the second half brought a handful missed opportunities. After coming off the first half high of having scored 6, I was starting to get nervous about my chances as we approached the mid-point of the second, and final period of play. With approximately 5 minutes left in the game, I was fouled and got sent to the line for 2 free-throws. Alas, I made but one. Clearly, I thought, 7 was not my lucky number. I would require 2 more baskets to complete my goal, and given how my offensive effort was turning out in the second half, it looked like my chips were definitely down.

At this point, the more astute of my readers would have surely noticed that in order to consider the stated goal complete, I would be required to amass a minimum of 10 points in the game. Having already scored 7, a three-point shot would put me into the black. Therefore, my previous statement that I would need two baskets to complete the goal was wrong. One long-range field goal from beyond the arc would suffice. To this, I would have answered, "But I'm playing forward, and I haven't attempted or made a three-pointer all season long." The bellyaching of one with no vision nor cunning.

I continued to play on with regulation time running down along with my spirits. But who says miracles don't happen? Who says wishes can't come true?

In the final minutes of play and Fidessa Corp in possession of the ball and the lead, we decided to take it to our opponents, and not to sit back on our lead. Our veteran point guard pushed the ball up-court. I scrambled around underneath the basket trying to shake free of the down-low defenders and get open. The ball was swung to the left side of the court and back to the right. As I weaved up through the opposition's zone defense, I ended up up-top in the land of the PG and SG who have since rotated elsewhere.

I was open.

The PG saw the breakdown in defense and looked for the open man, who happened to be yours truly. He fed me the rock, and without an extra dribble or an extra thought I let fly. As the ball left my fingers, I felt it leave true.

Swoosh.

As I made the casual turn to get back on defense, I glanced over to my right at the referee, who was jogging up the sideline. The referee had both arms in the air making the sign of the touchdown.

There are some referee signals that are common between American football and basketball; the sign of the touchdown is one such signal. However, in the game of basketball, this gesture does not represent the scoring of 6 points by gaining the opponent's end-zone, nay, in basketball, this pantomime indicated a successfully-made three-point field-goal.

You see, in my haste to get off the open shot before a defender had a chance to come to me and make the opportunity flee, I failed to look down at my feet. Had I done so, I would have seen that they were planted just outside the designated arc that is the three-point line.

I made my 10.

Oh and some time ago, I read the Nikon manual.