Maybe It's a Theme Song
I feel sure that I have never watched preseason NBA basketball. Here’s what I’ve learned 1) the preseason is a heartbreaker, 2) I am a ridiculous human being (I knew this but it was confirmed many times over) 3) the preseason is fabulous! And also, as I hinted in the title, I maybe have a theme song.
This week’s games:
L Lakers 124-121
W Trailblazers 131-98
L Nuggets 119-112
While the preseason is a time to see favorite players, it’s really a time to see the bottom half of the roster play. Against the Trailblazers all the starters sat so it was an extended time to see the players I rarely see. Quinndary Weatherspoon, who was on a contract with the Warriors last year and was one of my fav Warriors from that end of the roster. Or Pat Spencer, who played 4 years of college lacrosse and won the lacrosse version of the Heisman trophy. He took his final year of college eligibility and went to Northwestern to play basketball. What a compelling story right? Lacrosse star makes NBA team? Invested. I’m getting invested in all of these players. This turns out to be a huge mistake because by the morning after the last game, both Weatherspoon and Spencer were cut. There was also the profound sadness of seeing former Warriors on their new teams. How can we run it back when it’s not the same group? Seeing Juan Toscano-Anderson on the Lakers and Gary Payton II on the Trailblazers just bummed me out–they should be here.
As for the ridiculous part, even though I have been looking forward to these games for a long time, I didn’t watch parts of two of them. I watched the first half of the Lakers intermittently cause I was also watching the Mets in the Wild Card game. I haven’t really watched baseball since high school but my dad is a Mets fan, and loyalty will make me watch the Mets in solidarity with him. But wow, do the Mets know all the ways to give you hope and then break your soul.
In the second game, I stopped watching just because I could. According to my (made-up) rules, the preseason are the only games I don’t have to watch. So for that reason alone, I watched The Voice. There I was, watching the second battle, busy not doing the thing I want to do just to prove I can. I’ve lived with myself a long time and sometimes I can catch myself mid-foolishness instead of at the end of it.
And then, there is the most foolish of all. The song. I have this habit of singing my thoughts, sometimes to a made-up tune and sometimes to the tune of a well-known song. I don’t always know it’s happening and although it usually only happens when I’m by myself, I’ve sung my thoughts in public too. In between putting away the laundry and making my lunch, I realized I was singing this.
And then, there was the last game, with the Nuggets. Oh that second quarter! There were moments in the 2nd quarter when it felt like flying, like magic, like pure joy.
Let me back up a moment or two. Last Friday, I needed some moments of joy. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were filled with unpleasant curveballs. At that point, the highlight of my week was when I told someone “Everything you’ve said has been unpleasant but at least I know more about this situation.” A sea of bad news and hassles. With that backdrop I turned on the Warriors. I was bone weary, soul tired, wishing for a fairy godmother to make it easier.
So back to the 2nd quarter, where before I knew it I had a wide smile on my face and gasped in delight a few times as Kuminga fed Wiseman and the following play Wiseman fed Kuminga. The magic didn’t last the whole game, but the 2nd quarter was a glimpse of a possible future and it was beautiful. While that’s not the only reason I watch, it’s part of it–the ability to shed a rotten day and connect to something beautiful.
The season starts tonight! All my rules in effect. Game On!
And yes, I am absolutely currently singing “Tonight” from West Side Story with slightly changed lyrics.