Hoop Dreams part 2

I remember coming to class the next day after the game. I was still smarting from the embarrassment. And like true buddies, they would not let me live it down. Damn.

So what to do? Now I could have just left it at that. After all, I was at a school that prided itself on academic achievement. It would be ok to let things be. Let's hit the books! Forget about hitting the hardcourt. Let's think about Physics and Chemisty and not lay-ups and boxing out. Yes, forget about the basketball.

Except, I couldn't. I knew I was bad at it. I was determined to learn the game. So, how else but to keep on playing it. Not that it would be difficult. You see, basketball is like breathing in the Philippines. It was part of life. We played at every opportunity. Every politician would even donate a basketball court, just in time for the election. I guess it was just their good will and nothing to do with trying to suck up to people for votes. But I digress.

So play I did. After school. During lunch break. With glasses on. Half-blind without them. In the rain. In the hot sun. I twisted my ankle to the point I couldn't feel it at times. I got my dad to set up a ring at home. I would practise my lay-up over and over again. I kept dribbling until my fingers hurt. I played until dark.

And I still sucked.

Nothing seemed to work. I still didn't seem to improve. I had the confidence level of a falling brick. So what now?

By this time, it was my sophomore year in high school. The school games were coming up. My batch decided to start putting a team together.  Somehow, regardless of how bad I was, the guys convinced me to join. I knew I wasn't going to get the first team, but I was happy and nervous as well. We kind of figured my role. Defence. Rebound. Don't even think about shooting.

I came on as relief. We were demolished by the opposition, but I didn't embarrass myself. A couple of rebounds. No turnovers. Great going! We still lost, so not a real victory. But hey, we had one heck of a losing streak anyway, so what was going to change?

But leaving the game, it dawned on me that I hadn't done badly. So I played about five minutes during the game. I played at least!

We came into our junior year. Basketball wasn't on out top priorities that year, but we still played every day after school. It became almost ritual. School. Basketball. Crash at a friends house. Make up some dumb excuse for coming home late. Stay up till 2 am studying. And repeat.

We went into the school games and this time, I was back up center/ forward. I pretty much came on for my best friend Paul. Which meant I was going to get a lot of stick for replacing him on the court. By this time, we knew how to play with each other. We knew our strengths and weaknesses. I  played the distraction. I knew how to look threatening, by just moving constantly. Faking them out. Grabbing each rebound like crazy. Blocking shots. And we won.  OK, we did play against the freshmen regular class, but we did win!

Last year of high school. Our last chance to leave a bit of a legacy. This time it was different. I was starting power forward. Suddenly, I wasn't afraid anymore. We played more and more as a team. I found my niche. It was like breathing. We actually began to compete. I scored my first points. I averaged double figures in rebounds. I blocked shots. Basketball was suddenly my game.

We came in third place that year. I started that game and played one my best defensive games ever. I did foul out of the game. But we took our nerd filled team further than any previous. It was a good feeling.

We graduated and went to college. We didn't get to play as often. Suddenly I couldn't get away with my height. I was too short to play forward. My skills were too poor to play point. I ended up playing a back up role  in any team I played. I finally learnt to shoot. It became my way, not shooting from the hip. I learned to shoot overhead, ala Larry Bird. An European way. Fitting, I suppose.

I finally beat Paul in a one and one match. I never beat him before. Perhaps he had slowed down but I felt good. He joked that I should have learnt to shoot that well in high school. I smiled back at him with quiet contentment.

It has been years since I played regularly. I tried on my last visit home and nearly keeled over from exhaustion. I was so out of shape. It was so bad that one of the opposition was asking if I was ok. I quickly subbed myself out of the game. I looked out to the court as I watched the others play. It was like yesterday again. But I didn't feel as bad. Perhaps one day I will be able to shoot as well as before. Perhaps one day I will be able to play with pride.

But not yet.

Perhaps it's time to hit the court again.

Hoop Dreams. Part 1

I was never athletic as a child. I guess I was because I was sickly as a child. I mean really sickly. We used to stock so much Calpol, it was like a pharmacy. I was taking antibiotics for my tonsils so much, by doctor pretty much started to ban me, lest I develop immunity. So, a pathetically thin kid was not going to be the first kid chosen in games.

To be fair, I was a pretty good runner. Not fast over long distance, but I could sprint pretty well. When I was very little, only one of my schoolmates could beat me. (Ah yes, Mulukumbala! I will beat you one day at a race.  OK, we were 5 years old, but that guy could run.)

As I got older, I knew that there would be inevitable comparisons to my elder brother. Don’t get me wrong, I was always proud of his achievements. There is a reason why he is arguably the best goalkeeper Central Philippine University ever produced. Heck, they still talk about him fondly, even now. Not that I would ever admit to it. But with that came the unceasing pressure of everyone asking if I would follow in his footsteps. "So when are you joining the football team? " " What position did I play?" " When can you start? "

Are you serious? I was more chess team material. I love football, don't get me wrong. But I wasn't about to join just to pander to them. And let's be honest. I sucked at the game.  Better to not tarnish the family name. 

Perhaps it was fortunate that I left CPU to go to high school elsewhere. It was typical that I end up in the nerdiest of schools available. At least then I wouldn't have to worry about athletic achievement. But it was here that my love affair with a bouncing ball and rusty hoop began. 

I had played basketball with my friends in my elementary days. There was a court next to the university church that we would frequent. It wasn't much, but it was far away that we could mess around even if we had no idea what we were doing. 

But in high school it was different. First of all, I was taller than most my age. So it was assumed that I played basketball. I couldn't even dribble the ball properly. It was embarrassing. Especially amongst the guys. I was awkward. I jumped like a hippo. Couldn't see without my glasses and couldn't shoot the ball to save my life. Not exactly the second coming of Michael Jordan. 

It would get worse. I got slotted with my best friend on a basketball team. He always was very good at the game. He also took the time to give me tips on how to improve. From positioning, dribbling, shooting to simply holding the ball. I probably learnt more from him than anyone else.

Unfortunately, I sucked. Badly. I blew passes. Missed shots. Couldn't defend anyone. I even tried to redeem myself by pulling off an ally- oop shot. That shot has gone down in infamy as one of the silliest exhibition shots ever. Thank God there was no You Tube back then. So much so I was crying after the game out of embarrassment. I had never been so humiliated. 

Where could I go from there?  

Without saying

I could write a thousand love notes,

Fill your room with roses,

Hold you till it's time to go,

And still fall short of what you do...

The brush of your hand across my face,

Light touches to fix my ill-kept hair.

A single kiss.

And I am floored.

Jokingly I say, " I'm not the best at this."

You nod in complete agreement.

Then leave me speechless by saying, 

" You're not the best."

"Just the only."

Quills

Life is a quill.

Fragile remains of failed flight.

The solitary debris 

Left in the wake of someone else's glorious rise

Dipped in the dark muck of ink

We find meaning and clarity

leaving our mark 

Long after the words have faded away. 

Being Adam Russell (originally written 10 May 2005)

(This is a repost. I wrote this six years ago prior to my birthday. I was still a bit messed up emotionally back then. Still, it is one of the more raw contributions I ever wrote. I'm reposting it because I believe it is worth revisiting. So, this is for you, my dear brother. We still miss you.)

Being Adam Russell

Being Adam Russell isn't easy...

First, be born into a family that will forever have to listen to tales of elders of how the family name was literally and figuratively lost at the roll of the dice or more specifically through endless sessions of Mah-jong.

You then have to realise that you cannot feel any of the supposed sadness usually associated with said loss as you never experienced said luxury.

You also have to be born miles away, on the other side of the world. You are then expected to grow with the stiffest of upper lips and still eat adobo (look it up!) with gusto. That stiff upper lip will come in handy at the first experience of eating Balut.(look it up, you'll understand why)

You will then return to the land of your forefathers as the desire to defend the family honour burns anew in your parents hearts. You will then swap snow falls for typhoons, Tottenham Hotspurs (Fave football team) for Ginebra (would be fave basketball team), and a cockney accent for one that will forever assure you will never fit in anywhere.

You will see no fault in this plan, as the world is ok and nothing will go wrong as long as you still have book to keep you company.

You will also learn that this is lie.

You will learn you family is not perfect, and neither are you. You will know the pain of betrayal and see innocence forever lost.

And you will learn how to hide it all... behind a smile.

You will compromise. You will sacrifice. You will defend and protect them.
And they will never see, will never know.

You will bide your time, do what is needed, shelve your dreams hoping to dust them off another day.

And when your dream is finally threatened, you will fight, even if it be from your own blood.

You will bargain away a fragile peace with your parents for a shot at your dreams.

And you will then find you.

For once, the smiles are real, the laughter loud and the face in the mirror is actually recognisable. It will be a time of joy that no one will never really understand. Even the saddest moments in the four years will be happier than those past.

You will test friendships, loyalties, principles and above all your heart.

You will learn take the blows that no one will take. But you will find comfort in company of friends. A shared silence between you will be better than any conversation.

You will also love. And you will love like never before.

You will finally... be happy.

And then you will make a choice, a mistake that change everything.

You will return to your birthplace, with hope and love in you heart. You will then try to scale new heights.

And fall.

You will learn of oblivion, for it comes with heartbreak.

You will then only keep to the shadows, holding on to nightmares revisited pains long forgotten.

And from that darkness, a friend will reach out for you.

It's not easy being Adam Russell.

You are as human as the generic brand suggests.You are Don Quixote.

You are flawed.

You are a disgrace.

But that is for them to decide.

You know these truths...

A name is but a label.
A family's past does not make you a failure.
The face in the mirror is not who you are...

I wish I was Adam Russell.

But I am not.

Adam Russell was all this and probably more. But we will never know. 
Adam Russell died 24 years ago, an hour after he was born.

Happy Birthday Adam Russell.

I hope I make you proud.

Your brother,

Adam James Russell.

Is there O.J. in my O.J.?

Instant juice drinks.

In the western world, the closest equivalent would be fruit squash, like Robinson's. These usually get heavy sales in the summer months when the taste of carbonate drinks has soured and alcoholic drinks have left too many hangovers. Or perhaps you are of the Wimbledon tennis crowd. Who isn't when the football season is over? But I digress.

Growing up in the Philippines, instant juice drinks were pretty much the closest we could get to having regular fruit juice. Fruit juice was pretty much expensive, so it didn't make sense to use up what meagre income one had on liquid refreshment.

Now to school kids, this meant tetra pack juice drinks, brands like Jungle Juice and the more popular Zesto. These were pretty much artificial colouring, artificial flavouring and perhaps 1% actual fruit juice! oh, and they never tasted like the advertised flavours. Orange juice was orange, pineapple was yellow, mango was yellow,  guava was... yellowish-grey? Well, you get the point. most people never got the hang of the conventional method of punching a straw into these tetra packs.This was before they added the convenient punch hole.  For the rest, straw inserting usually resulted in a broken straw, a hole going right through the drink container or a poked eye or finger.  So, most just put the container upside down and punched a hole from the rear end.

Now, we could always tell if we had money or not during grocery shopping. We always picked up a variation  of juice concentrate, usually in powdered form. If things were fine, we would buy TANG powdered juice drink. This brand was pretty respectable. They actually bothered to make proper concentrate out of fruit juice , so the resulting mixture with water was decent. Colour of juice was rich and appetising. Perfect for a hot day. Which meant most days. If things were tight, we would get the Eight o'clock brand. Cheaper and the quality could be seen even in the packaging. The trick was to just stick to the Orange juice flavour. Not that it tasted like Orange, but it was the only one that you could drink and pretty much not have a sugar overdose. Yes, there was  a slight orange-y taste, but you could clearly taste the added sugar.

Now, if things were dire, you got the Ritchie's Concentrate. The closest this got to a juice drink was the colour. Even that was stretching. The Orange version of this glowed so much, I used to wonder if it was radioactive. You didn't get concentrate granules. This time you got a thick syrup that had the consistency of Calpol. Maybe Calpol would have been a better choice. You pour this thick mass into a pitcher of water, stir and hope for the best. Because this tastes nothing like juice. You still had to add sugar, just for taste. Any taste. On the bright side, using the resulting mixture and pouring into small plastic bags these made for very good outdoor Christmas decoration. Still, that unnatural glow!

So the next time you pour yourself a glass of fruit juice, be thankful it has fruit in it. Otherwise, that washing up liquid may just pack more fruit juice than the alternative.

Unacceptable

( I wrote an angry letter during the recent riots in London. I was just very annoyed. I sent this to the Guardian. I guess they didn't need it anyway.)

It wasn’t acceptable in the eighties.

It sure isn’t acceptable right now. Coming home two days in a row to the news of London cities streets full of rampaging hooligans and looters made me think I was a kid again and not in a good way.  It was troubling to see as a child and it still is. But more over, it just makes me angry.

Are they just bored? Is it the thrill factor that is making these people hit the streets? People have been reporting various reasons as to what has sparked these riots. We know about the initial protest in Tottenham, which was a genuine grievance over circumstances of Mark Duggan’s death. But using this as a cover to commit crime? That spits in all out faces. .

There is no excuse to loot and plunder. The harm done both financially and emotionally to the people will echo long after the fires have ebbed away and the streets have been cleaned. There was a single image on the news of a young girl crying while being taken to safety is one that says it all. To all those who took part in the looting and riots that have burned my city, I say congratulations.

You have scarred my city. You have taken away people’s livelihood. You have made people scared to walk the streets again. And you are so brave as to make little children scared. You have become the biggest bullies ever. What do you say to scenes of people out for nothing more than destruction and greed? Are you happy now?

Look in the mirror, people. Are your proud of yourself? We all have our grievances with the government, both legitimate and imagined. We are living in tough times and the belt tightening we are forced to do could almost be a noose that we are hanging ourselves with. But you are taking the last vestiges of pride that we have left..

We are proud Londoners. This is our home. You burn my city, you burn me. We will not stand for it.

Definitely, unacceptable at all times.