In a world of lies, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

12:51 AM
Basketball Oatmeal

Been playing basketball since the 1000s
But the 1001 was a thousand years ago, you're not older than oatmeal mud
You're only as old as you want to be but I really was born in the second millennium Anno Domini
How could I possible know, that was like centuries ago, you aint no Bhakti Sa witch
We're currently in the third millennium Anno Domini but my story starts in the previous millennium
I turned six years old in the year 1991, was probably trying to learn how to dribble the basketball around that time
I was in the city newspaper in 1992, we were playing wrestling at a camp at the FGHS high school in Forest Grove, Oregon
Started drawing basketball possible as early as age 8 in 1993, played baseball that year, and started playing basketball in a children city league thing starting probably that same year
Since I grew up in Oregon, we were fans of the Portland Jail Blazers, I mean Trail Blazers, including Clyde Drexler who was the main star in the early 1990s, I sort of have memories of rooting for Clyde
Took karate in 1995, was involved in Bible clubs, but was also playing basketball on city leagues almost every single winter and summer from 1993 to 1999, those seven years during that decade, may have skipped only all of or part of 1994 but that's it I think
Started rooting for Michael Jordan maybe starting around 1995 or not sure which exact year but I eventually cheated on Clyde Drexler with my new love of MJ which increased in 1996 with Space Jam starring Bugs Bunny and Bill Murray of the Ghostbusters
My eyes were glued to the 1998 NBA Finals, did not really watch a lot of basketball all the time before that, I remember especially focused on MJ's final game that year
Started playing basketball even more at the ghetto park around that time or after that, started playing more so with the gangsters including Elder Hernandez, Joe, Randy, and one day in 1999 or before that they gave me the nickname Coolkid
Started watching on TV and listening to the radio almost every single Blazer game especially starting around like 1999 or something like the last few years of the 1990s or starting more so after 1998
Started reading the sports section of the Oregonian newspaper like everyday or as often as I could starting around that time even as my tree rats needed to relief themselves on papers more valuable than the Bible just kidding
My dad took me and my brother to where he grew up in southern Oregon one year, I think 1997, so we got to see Crater Lake High School and Umpqua Community College where he played basketball at with Woof
Also saw my dad play when we visited California in 1992 where my dad was born but was adopted as he was secretly adopted out of the Peter Rasp and Mary Hocking family as Peter was from the Netherlands and almost died on the Titanic had his not been a drunk
Was homeschooled until I started attending the Forest Grove High School (FGHS) from 2000-2004
Tried out for the Freshman basketball team in 2000, I didn't make the cut
They said I could be a manager and maybe would get to play in a few games eventually but then I would not show up for practice, I ghosted Tommy Tamez and the other players
I didn't make the cut again the second time I tried out my Sophomore year in 2001 and perhaps part of the reason was due to me quitting the manager position I had the previous school year and also I played like the 1980s Bad Boys Detroit Pistons which is discouraged at the high school level and I was partly influenced by ghetto street basketball
2001 was the last time I tried out for high school basketball, I don't remember trying out in 2002 or 2003, I was watching/listening to almost every Blazer game from like 1999 to like 2004 and in some ways I started following the Blazers less and less each year that I got older and especially starting in like 2002
It might have been Richie Van Dyke who randomly talked me into being a co-manager with him for the Girls Basketball Teams my Senior year starting in 2003
Especially in the 2000s, I would fantasize being tall, black, and in the NBA never missing baskets and eventually dunking even at 5'8" like some kind of Spud Webb who was only 5'6"
But there were times in my life I would tell myself I didn't want practice playing basketball for like ten hours every single day for the next like thirty years or whatever, there was a part of me that didn't want to make it into the NBA
I really enjoyed playing basketball and even being team captain a few times in Physical Education (PE) during high school
In 2004, went to New York, our basketball team was named The Llamas and we won the championship in a tournament that summer
After that, would continue playing basketball with people at my first college in New York from 2004-2006 during free time which is where I was given the nickname Thief in the Night, reminds me I would play basketball during lunch even in high school as well
Basketball related nicknames during high school might include Tweety Bird, Joe Cool, Ghetto Joe, Cool Kid, the boy with the hops
Played basketball with people at my second college in West Virginia in 2006, at Camp Kuratli and Revolution Hawaii in 2007, with a team in 2009 in Portland, Oregon
Continued playing basketball with people with Blake Webb and in California in 2010, other places too over the years, played in Vietnam 2012-2017 but maybe not every year, played at an open gym where I live now in 2019, made a hoop for the clam starting around 2020
I don't watch or play basketball as much now as I used to but it was always part of my life many times over the course of my 39 years of my life since my birth in the year 1985
I felt like I had talent in basketball even tho I wasn't always playing the game, I felt like there was a lot of potential, I played a bunch a few times but I would sometimes only play a few minutes a month kind of thing and then perhaps play a lot during certain periods of my life on and off a few times
It was hard as I was getting slower and slower at basketball as I got older and older due to not always playing, bad health, getting out of shape, getting fat, not going to the gym, bad diet, not stretching, not sleeping enough, not taking the time to take care of myself, being so out of shape, being distracted with other things, feeling frustrated, lacking confidence
Basketball will always be very important to me, MJ is number 1, Kobe is number 2, Lebron James is number 3
This video was an outline of my relationship with basketball in my life, it included a few dates, I didn't mention every single thing, I tried mentioning just a few random things relating to this topic from the top of my hear without spending many hours unpacking all of this and more
If you like what you see, follow me at JOEYARNOLDVN, The End