Whew. What a tiring week! Not that I'm complaining, but I've done a lot these past few days in particular.
I went out Friday night and bought a basketball. It was a Spalding basketball with a blue and yellow Pacers design (and the name and jersey number of Jermaine O'Neal). Because Saturday I would be playing basketball (for the first time since the Delta J camp last month, which was the first time I played in years!). The basketball game(s) went well. But I haven't been this tired in years, not even with Ez2Dancer! Imagine running back and fourth from one side of the court to another for almost an entire hour! I know I was able to do that before, like back when I was in high school. I didn't realize until now how much more in shape I was back then, and how different I am now. But I'm hoping that if I keep working at it, I'll get everything back, even my shooting ability. I was like at least a 30% 3-pt shooter, and over 80% at free-throws. Now I can't hit a three at all, and my free throws are like 20% or something. We played at a covered court in Valle Verde 1, which I have never been to until now. They played me as a center because I was tall and had a big body (sad), though my natural position (back in high school at least) was either a guard or at least small forward, being a passer, shooter and perimeter defender. I think I'll play every week from now on, and I'll practice dribbling in my spare time. Maybe if I get better at ball handling and I get my shooting ability back, and I regain my passing skills, they'll play me as a guard again.
Next, speaking of Ez2Dancer, I didn't get to play much yesterday. Can you imagine that?! I wanted to play more but there were so many people playing, including some of my buddies who used to play on the first Ez2Dancer machine in the Megamall. They're not much of freestylers either, but at least they picked (and can pass) the technical songs, even songs that I can't pass! Songs like Changa (Theme of Ez2Dj) on Real mode, ZtarwarZ on Real/Club, etc... These songs are a bit out of my league for now, because I never played them before on those modes, hence I never studied their moves. This is a call for me to learn them now!
One more thing. One of my friends, who goes to our church too, whom I also first met at the Delta J youth camp last month, is having some problems. His name is Shah (read as Sah-hah), and he's originally a rich kid from Nepal. He left his home, his friends, his wealth, even his family there to pursue a search for God. And he found Him, and he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. That's the good part. The bad part is that his family now disowns him. If you didn't know, Nepal is mostly a Hindu country. A country where Christians are literally persecuted. Sometimes you'll get beat up by a large group randomly, if they find out you're a Christian! That's how bad it is. So his family disowns him, and he can't go home. He's low on cash now here, but that's not what his problem is. He misses his family. Even if they disown him, he grew up with them. He would at least like to talk to them, even once now. His family doesn't even answer his phonecalls, or his letters, or even e-mails! They said that they'd take him back if he renounces Jesus Christ, and never mentions that name again. Shah, of course, will never do that. But it's causing him some grief right now. So for all of us that believe, let's pray to God for Shah, and his family, that they would open their hearts and at least talk to him, and that Shah would regain comfort and stability in his life. His faith is really being tested now, and though he looks strong in it, it's a frightful thing to go through...
Oh and one more thing that I failed to mention. My ankle hasn't been 100% healed since I sprained it last month, back at the Delta J youth camp. My sprain case was so horrible. It healed in about 3 days, at least enough for me to walk around on it, and on the fifth day, it was healed enough to dance on (that's when I first played Ez2Dancer!). However, it still had some pain, sometimes throbbing pain, and that would continue for about 2 more weeks. Last week, my ankle was feeling much better. No more pain except when I try to turn it some ways, but it's a little stiff. It lost its flexibility. So I was worried about playing basketball last nigt. I was worried that I might either re-injure it, or that I wouldn't be able to run or jump because of the stiffness, as I haven't done any running or jumping at all since the camp. Thankfully, my ankle was fine. It didn't hurt or get hurt, and wasn't stiff at all! I was running and jumping just fine, and my relative slowness right now was because I'm not in as good shape as I was when I was in high school, especially during the times of C.A.T.! Man, I felt like I had the strength and endurance of an ox back then...
Anyway, lastly, NBA news! The Pacers are up 2-1 over the Celtics, the Suns have taken a surprising (to me) 3-0 lead over the Grizzlies, and the Spurs are tied at 1-1 with the Nuggets!
