I Am Legend

As some of you may know, I used to blog somewhere else. Today, I was looking at some of my old posts. After reading a few, I found it. The post. The one and only legendary post. I altered the entry slightly because I didn't use caps back then. Everything here is true. The people that were there can attest to that. Enjoy.

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May 19, 2004

So I just played my first pickup game in a long time. 5-on-5 full court basketball. The location was the Livingston courts, home to the infamous "black court" and "white/asian court". Game to 16, win by 2.

Early in the game, we find ourselves down 4-10. I had been struggling to find my stroke all night. But after a few easy layups, I finally started sinking my long-range bombs. Then, our star player Lennard injures both knees. After laying on the ground for a good 2 minutes and 18 seconds, he channels Willis Reed, gets up, and then drains two consecutive clutch shots from downtown.

All of a sudden, we find ourselves tied 16 apiece.

The opposing team's towering ballhog misses the go-ahead layup, and Dino somehow comes up with the rebound. He passes it to Lennard, who takes the ball up. He then gives the ball to Perry on the wing. Shortly after, he finds himself double-teamed.

From the corner of his eye, Perry sees me 10 feet from him. With no hesitation, he passes me the ball. Some Indian dude smothers me with tenacious Pippen-like defense. I take one dribble and then I lean to my left in order to put distance between us.

I take a quick glance at the basket.
I aim.
I shoot.

Nanoseconds after the ball is released from my right hand, the lights at the Livingston courts shut off.

With only moonlight shining upon the court, the 10 of us watch as the ball gracefully falls into the basket, touching nothing but the bottom of the net.

Game over. Final score: 18-16.

Call me Lights Out. I am mad legendary.

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Crazy right? I can't believe I made that shot. Everytime I think about it, I still can't believe it. The most exciting shots in basketball are when there's a game on the line and a player makes the winning shot at the buzzer. He knows how much time he has left and must release the shot before the buzzer sounds.

In my case, there was no shotclock, no gameclock, and no buzzer. I took the shot, and shortly after it left my hands, the lights shut off, and then the ball went in.

Seriously though, what are the chances?