So since moving to Philly Rachel and I have discovered that Southwest Philly (the community that we live in) is one of the most violent, crime ridden areas of Philadelphia. It sure was fun telling family and friends about the area that we live in. Just down the street from us at a church gym on 70th St. (we live off of 65th St.) there is a small basketball league that plays on Wednesday nights. Last night was my second outing as apart of the "white" team. This league was started by a guy named "Earthquake" Moore who's claim to fame was that he appeared in one of the Rocky movies (sorry for those Rocky fans but I do not know which one it was). He always has some sort of a program or reason for gathering to play basketball and he pumps it up as such. I'm not sure if it is anything more than just trying to get the news crew out there (which the Fox News network in Philly has come out the past two weeks) but nevertheless it is a good idea because there are just tons of youth that pack the gym. The first week's theme was called "Start Snitchin". His whole message was about encouraging these young guys on the street to tell the police when they see a crime happen or any gang activity instead of 'keepin it real' and letting criminals go unpunished. Last nights theme was all about going back to school and working hard for your education. The news crew had good footage of Earthquake given the message and even stayed around to video some of the game. I'm sure they got my dunk on video but I wasn't able to see it on the news.... Most of these kids are high school or above but what a great way to get them all together in a positive environment.

Anyway, the "white team", not because we were wearing white jerseys, always seem to hold our own for the first half but get run around the second. I think it's because we only have 5 guys and are constantly battling fatigue. Plus we are older and cannot run up and down the court like these youngsters can. Anyway, we got throttled last night by 25 points or something but we are just out there to build relationships and have fun anyway. About 8 minutes into the first half I notice that the opposing teams point guard was absolutely no threat to do anything with his left hand. Now, don't get me wrong, he was killer with his right but when I forced him to go left he would take 1 dribble and pass it off. What a handicap. I made the observation known to my teammates during the game and he didn't like that very much. He began taunting me and taking it very personal. After the game I caught up with him and apologized and said that I did not mean anything personal by it. I encouraged him to work on his left hand so that he can be a threat to go both ways. I think a lot of these guys don't see the need to development the fundamentals when they can always get to the bucket when they go with their right. So, amidst getting our butts handed to us, maybe there will be some sort of fruit down the line.

Last night however, I drew my first nickname from the guys who lined the court to watch: "Steve Nash" they shouted everytime I touched the ball. I'm not sure if it was becaue of my Canadian accent or because of my constant having to pull my hair behind my ears. Maybe it was because of my killer floater that I dropped on their big man for 6 points!!