Hoop dreams

I used to play basketball a lot. It was really a key part of my high school and college life. I met and/or got close to several of my close friends playing basketball with them. In fact, I first spoke with my closest friend from college because he purposely elbowed me in the mouth the first time we played.

My friend is tall and thin and I am neither, but I always enjoyed rebounding and was good at if for my height because I was good at, as they say in basketball parlance, "using my body." Roughly translated, this meant that I was good at pushing people out of my way by using parts of my body other than my hands. When battling with anybody 6 inches taller than me, this becomes especially important because the only advantages I have are density and a lower center of gravity.

So after the, I don't know, third, tenth, fiftieth time I'd hip-checked this guy out of bounds to get a rebound away from him, he turned around and whacked me in the mouth with his elbow. He didn't loosen any teeth or make me bleed, but it ended the game. I went looking for him later and learned that he worked at the library in the evenings, so I walked up to the desk, stood there, and gave him a huge smile. Wearing a mouthguard. We've been best of friends since and that's the truth.