When basketball . . .

is played the way it 'sposed to be played, its in the air: floating, flying, soaring. The way the oppressed people of this earth see themselves in their dreams."

What a great quote. In a time when I'm frustrated with the basketball community at large it helps to keep me focused on the simple truth: this a is game, games should be fun. We get the opportunity to have fun, playing and competing when kids all over the world worry about the effects of genocide, land mines, religous oppression, arranged marriages, starvation . . . .

The list goes on. We have the luxury of feeling bad about medal counts and missing tournaments. The reality is what is great about basketball is not trips, tournaments, titles or all the other stuff we stress about. What is great about basketball is basksetball.

Being in the gym competing. Improving a skill set through hard work. Improving ourselves for that matter. Getting to play a game and be passionate about it is what is great about basketball. The rest of it is window dressing. We'll make memories regardless. There will always be somone we can play : it could be another school, a parent, our kids, adults in a rec league. Whats great is the game, everything else is details.

You can't take the game away. Who we play. Where we play. The rules we travel under. Whether we win or lose. Whether we get the respect of others or not. We still have the game. We will respect ourselves and our experience. The game only dies if we let it. Its the game that is great.