Game 71

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.