I played some 3-on-3 basketball today. I remember why I don't like basketball that much. It's just not graceful to me - there's very little flow to it unless it's at a highly competitive level, and then the flow gets interrupted by fouls, etc. I like hockey and soccer so much more because fouls are more rare and there's an unstoppable flow to even amateur games.
I really miss hockey.
People here don't even know what the sport is - not a tremendous surprise, of course, but it makes explaining my Hartford Whalers keychain even harder.
There's just something viscerally stimulatig about hockey. It's a fast game and unpredictable - beauty can be found in passes, saves, hits, goals and even in line changes. Playing is such a thrill for me every time because I know I can outthink most of the other players even if I don't have the physical instincts (yet) to capitalize on it. And all my frustrations come out every game, as it's a great stress reliever.
By far, one of the best feelings in hockey is reading a one-timer. Then diving to block the shot, transitioning to get up and create a breakaway that results in a goal. In basketball, you can block a shot that leads to a basket, but it's only two points of a hundred. In hockey, you never know if that one goal you didn't get makes the difference between 3-2 and 3-3. It's wonderfully random and emotionally trying.
So here's where I try and tie this into my experiences here.
I think I needed to get out of the US because it started to feel like a b'ball game. I'd feel like I accomplished something, but see it overshadowed by the big picture that I couldn't control and didn't really like. Maybe I made a connection with getting a Performing Arts Center at CWRU (college), but then all of the momentum was towards other projects. So I had to keep blocking shots just to stay in the game.
But here, it's easy to get a breakaway, and score the goal that wins the game. Getting yourself in position to do this is the hard part - it takes a lot of training (read: equipment) and you have to speak the language. And you'll dive to block a lot more shots than ever end up being shot. Meaning that you try to fix something, and you just can't. All you can do is get up again and put it all on the line. I really love that feeling.
Peace
John
