I’m sure I will give my age
away when I say I had a Binatone tennis game as a child. At the time it was the
height of technological entertainment. You plugged it into the TV and on a
black screen two little sticks could be moved by two players to hit a ‘ball’
back and forth. It was exciting for the first five minutes, fuelled in part by
the toxic fumes emanating from the plastic casing slowly heating up. Unless the
game was timed it could go on for hours with little differential between the
scores – unless one player was closer to the fumes! I was reminded of the hours
of ‘fun’ my Binatone gave me when I went to see my first ever Basketball game!
This time the little sticks
were replaced by very tall sticks and more than two. I’m not sure how many
there were. They ran up and down and wouldn’t stand still long enough for me to
count them. The light-headedness I had as a child inhaling nauseous gasses
(mostly from the overheated Binatone) was caused by vertigo up in the rafters
in the cheap seats. We were some distance from the $1500+ ring side seats and
had to share a pair of opera glasses I had the foresight to steal when I went
to the theatre once. The game action was almost exactly the same as Binatone
tennis. The ball went from one side of the court to the other at a relentless
rate! I found myself sleeping for much of the time, lulled by the hypnotic
pendulum effect of the game. That and total boredom!
I liked it much more than the
other American sports I have been subjected to. At least the game was lively,
if a little monotonous! I felt I knew something about the game from playing
netball when I was 12. Watching some American movies featuring basketball, like
High School Musical helped too. I know the difference! In basketball it is a
hoop and not a net and netball is loads harder because you can’t do a slam-dunk,
which until now I thought was something rather vulgar you did with a Rich Tea
Biscuit in a cup of tea! You have to keep your feet on the floor in netball, the net is smaller and without a backboard. Basketball is netball for Americans! We
have a basketball illegally erected on our drive. I received a letter from the
Neighbourhood association telling me I had to have planning permission!
Wanting to demonstrate my
expertise I tried to join in as much as possible. I did get a few funny looks
though when I shouted ‘Goal Attack, shoot the outside J’ and ‘gotta keep your
head in the game!’
My hubby declared a love of
the game and a desire to buy a season ticket. I thought this was really odd as
the only time he paid any attention was before they started playing and
intervals during the game when the cheer leaders were on. Still, he seemed to
be taking it seriously and even practiced dribbling. He may have even performed a double dribble!
Unlike American football and
baseball, the players actually move which made it seem more like watching a ‘sport’
rather than a warm up session on ‘the
Biggest loser’. They weren’t fat like the muffin topped baseball players and
wore no protective gear at all. They were certainly fit but what amazed me was
how often they missed the hoop. The average height of an NBA player is 6’7” and
the hoop is 10’. They haven’t got to throw it that far! Seems like an unfair
advantage if you are very tall. If they put the hoop lower, shorter people
could play! Even missing it frequently the
score was pretty tight all the way through. Binatone standard!
We left early. My son had
been shouting for the New Orleans Hornets to win and we were in a stadium full
of Red T-shirt wearing Houston Rocket fans. There is no demarcation between
home and away fans but given the cost of tickets and travel you would have to
be pretty dedicated to travel to away games in different states. I think he was
the only Hornet fan there! The locals tolerated my son’s Rocket booing in very
good humour considering the rockets were losing. Sport here really is a family
affair and there is no spectre of threatened violence hanging in the atmosphere
like you get at football matches in the UK !
As we left, with just a
quarter of the game to go we noticed people arriving and the stadium filling
up. I realised why when I checked the score the next day. The game is all about
the timing of the final whistle. It is so close in point scoring that it matters
who has the ball last and scores those final points. The Houston Rockets won
84-77. When we left the point difference had been the same against them.
Binatone scores!

Nice post.
ReplyDeleteAs says,
ReplyDelete"Basketball
It's not a sport
It's a lifestyle
No one understands
What it means to play it
Not for the money
Not for the fame
But the love for the game
Basketball
Not a sport
It's a lifestyle"
@Kevin Smith.