CHI 94 NYK 106
Three Strange But True Stories About Basketball
1.
-Man, I’d rather go to a
Baseball game or a
Soccer game any day.
-Not me.
I love basketball.
-Oh--I do too.
It’s just…
There’s just something
About basketball
That makes people
Think they’re
Thugs.
-The kids,
You mean?
-Well yeah,
The kids--
But the parents
Or whoever they are
Too.
The whole crowd.
Like this:
My first year here,
The day before Thanksgiving,
I was working the game.
And some parent
Or whatever
Is arguing a call
And it gets heated.
So I have to throw him out,
But he refuses to leave.
And I try to stay calm:
Look Sir,
It’s district policy
When anybody approaches a ref--
Blah blah blah.
Next thing I know
He’s got his fist balled up
And he’s in my face
-Damn.
-And all I can think is:
This guy is going to ruin
Thanksgiving.
-Weird.
-I know.
But it’s the only thing in my head.
Over and over
And I’m like,
Fuck that.
And so I’m getting ready
To fight--
And I swear to god
I was about to
Kick this guy’s ass.
-(blink blink)
-But guys like him
Only really come
To basketball games.
2.
A visiting professor from the university--
A black man--
Speaking to the football team.
Explaining that pro sports
Is the only real option
For black males.
And that basketball is racist
Because it makes white people
Feel inferior.
3.
I have a friend
Who is not a sports guy.
He could care less, really.
But he follows the Bulls
Through my poetry.
It’s like
How I know
All about politics.
Not because I care,
But because you do.
-Man, I’d rather go to a
Baseball game or a
Soccer game any day.
-Not me.
I love basketball.
-Oh--I do too.
It’s just…
There’s just something
About basketball
That makes people
Think they’re
Thugs.
-The kids,
You mean?
-Well yeah,
The kids--
But the parents
Or whoever they are
Too.
The whole crowd.
Like this:
My first year here,
The day before Thanksgiving,
I was working the game.
And some parent
Or whatever
Is arguing a call
And it gets heated.
So I have to throw him out,
But he refuses to leave.
And I try to stay calm:
Look Sir,
It’s district policy
When anybody approaches a ref--
Blah blah blah.
Next thing I know
He’s got his fist balled up
And he’s in my face
-Damn.
-And all I can think is:
This guy is going to ruin
Thanksgiving.
-Weird.
-I know.
But it’s the only thing in my head.
Over and over
And I’m like,
Fuck that.
And so I’m getting ready
To fight--
And I swear to god
I was about to
Kick this guy’s ass.
-(blink blink)
-But guys like him
Only really come
To basketball games.
2.
A visiting professor from the university--
A black man--
Speaking to the football team.
Explaining that pro sports
Is the only real option
For black males.
And that basketball is racist
Because it makes white people
Feel inferior.
3.
I have a friend
Who is not a sports guy.
He could care less, really.
But he follows the Bulls
Through my poetry.
It’s like
How I know
All about politics.
Not because I care,
But because you do.