Growing up we had a basketball hoop in our driveway and I would spend many hours shooting baskets. I played Saturday morning fairly regularly with a group of guys, but it was never very formal. We wouldn't keep score and "no blood no foul" was a standing rule. I have never been a star player and I usually disappear when I'm in a game, meaning I can make all sorts of long shots when I'm shooting without a defender, but in a game I'm not much of a scoring threat.

I tried out for the basketball team as a freshman in high school but I didn't make the cut (even though I made a shot while the coach defended me). I was a bit disappointed but decided to become involved in other activities instead. When tryouts came again during my sophomore year I considered trying out, but decided I enjoyed participating in theatre and music, so I stuck with those. While I was in the MTC I played four to five times a week and was on two intramural teams while in college. It was the first time I'd played with an actual referee so I wasn't familiar with all of the rules, but I soon figured most of them out. It was nice to have some fans (albeit few in number) to cheer us on, something which I had to fabricate while shooting in the driveway at home.

I lived in an apartment complex for two years during college that had a basketball court in the center of all the apartments, so I spent numerous hours playing there and would often play one on one or small pickup games with others in the complex.

I still want to be able to dunk and spent a fair amount of time on the stair-stepper trying to build my calves up. I saw an increase in my vertical jump, but it wasn't enough to dunk a basketball. I can grab the rim, which is better than nothing I guess, but I'd still like to get to the point where I can dunk. I also plan to continue playing basketball for many years to come to keep in shape.

Updated Mar 03, 2009