Being Supportive at a Basketball Game
Aug 24
I play in a men’s basketball league with my buddies. One time Mom wanted to come watch a game. To my surprise, she managed to find the gym on time. I was having a really good game — everything was falling for me. I could hear her cheer with every basket. It was nice.
I ended up with the ball past half-court with a couple seconds left in the half. I took a dribble and flung the ball across the gym. It hit the rim and bounced away as the buzzer sounded. As I walked to my bench to get some Gayjerager, I could feel Mom staring at me. I looked up and made some uncomfortable eye contact, and then tied my shoe or something.
The game was a tough one, with both teams going back and forth. We ended up losing by two points. I scored a bunch of points and made 5 out of 6 three pointers, my only miss coming from that half-court shot as the 1st half ended.
After the game, she scurried down the bleachers to find me. I figured she was going to go Mom on me and over-comfort her child who just lost a tough game (though I was 30 at the time). Instead, she squinted her eyes, wagged her finger at me and said, “You team lose because of you. You lose by 2 points and you miss 3 pointer in first half.” I tried to explain that it was an almost impossible shot from half court with a guy in my face, but she would have none of it. “You make other ones so easy, why you miss? You fault you lose.”
Then she left.
“You team lose because of you. You lose by 2 points and you miss 3 pointer in first half.”
Reminds me of my own mom: “so you got a 97% … what happened to the other 3%?”