Thinking Aloud - My Random Thoughts

I didn’t realize how much I missed watching basketball games until I watched our basketball team play in our company’s basketball league. I missed the adrenaline rush. I missed the hyped emotions. I missed the game. I missed the people associated with my baskeball memories.

I was exposed to basketball at an early age. My parents are PBA fans. My sister used to play basketball at her school. But I never really paid much attention to basketball until I reached highschool. I cannot recall now whether I was first hooked when I saw Jason Webb (JW) playing for La Salle or when I chanced upon Johnny Abarrientos’ (JA) amazing basketball moves. Hehehe. Anyway, from that time I watched almost every basketball game on TV. I watched UAAP, PBA, PBL and even NCAA. I watched NBA championship games. I knew the names and some stats of a lot of basketball players. I am ecstatic when my team wins, dejected and affected when the team loses. I bought sports magazines when Alaska won the Grand Slam and JA was named MVP (and JW played for the Philippine team and was drafted into the PBA).

I remember one time I asked my dad if we can watch an Alaska-Ginebra game live at the Araneta Coliseum and I cried when my sister started teasing (taunting may be the more proper term) me that our dad wouldn’t agree. (For the record, my whole family watched that game. I still have the ticket stubs to prove it. Hehehehe.)

I really like the sport (not just the players… honestly… hehehe). I know the rules, I know if a player just put on a good acting job to get an offensive foul off the other player or if the referee anticipated a call or if there should be a jump ball at the center court because a player from each team stepped too early into the lane during a freethrow. I know a great shot when I see one. I admire cross over dribbles and great alley hoop plays. JA is my favorite player of all time because he did not only stand out in a game supposedly for giants, he managed to make his other teammates look good and perform well.   

Anyway, I was so into basketball that most friends would give me basketball-related gifts -JA’s autographed keychain (official PBA merchadise), Alaska’s button pin, a basketball pillow… etc… I also had the chance to have my picture taken with PBA players (friends with connections yah know… hehehe). I even interviewed a basketball player (Boybits Victoria) for a school project. Hehehehe.

It was during my college days that I began to watch less of basketball. My highschool friends and I rarely get the chance to meet up, more so to watch basketball. My college friends weren’t big basketball fans except for one. JA got traded to another team (which I found hard to accept) and soon lost major playing minutes. PBA got tangled up in the Fil-sham controversy… etc… etc.. 

When I started working, I got to watch basketball even less. On those rare occasions, I realized that there were a lot of faces I had not seen before, there were player trade-offs I had not heard about and there were many changes I had not been aware of. Worse of all,  JA is no longer part of the starting line up and labeled as ‘over the hill’. :( 

Fast forward - - - > This past month I had been invited to watch our "project’s" basketball team in the playoffs… I only knew half of the players and I only went the first time because I already gave my word and I wanted to show my support for my project mates and start groupmate. But after I watched that first game, I looked forward to the next one.:)  I got caught up in the excitement. I found myself cheering for players, calling out their names when I did not even know them. I joined the good natured teasing of ‘Uwian Na’. Hehehe. I went to see the championship games even with a sprained foot. I enjoyed the "workout" as I seemed to be drenched in sweat after every game (yuck noh? hehehehe). Best of all, I enjoyed the winning moment of our young, rookie team. (last second shot, they won the championship by just 1 point. they transcended all the odds and beat all the ‘favored’ ones… hehehe)

*Sigh* It’s been quite sometime… certainly missed watching basketball big time pare… hehehe…

Trivia: I often use j14div or jdiv14 as email address or messenger id or as code/user name… DIV does not entail a lot of explanation… J and 14 then should stand for something right? No J in my name… my bday does not fall on the 14th either… When asked, I often say, J is my fave letter and 14 is my fave number… applies to a lot of things and people in my life but it had to start with something in particular… if you’ve read this blog post and if you are a PHL basketball fan, it wouldn’t be too hard to figure it out… hehehe ;)