the wintertime of my youth

On Monday after work, Louis (check his site HERE) and I went to Julian (spinach) and Javelle's highschool basketball team match up. (Julian is the blurry one in dark, Javelle to his right)

(ed. note - the photos were taken with my phone again - sorry, it's the best i can do. think of it as an invitation to use your imagination - remember, if you don't use it, it will fall off! wait, wrong saying, anyway, the photos are in disarray)

we've known these two brothers since Julian was 11 or 12 and Javelle was 13. They would come out to our gym to play ball. They started coming one summer when there weren't many people populating the jewnasium, so there was a lot of room for hanging out and talking. We became friends. Sort of mentors. older guys who liked the younger guys, basically. This worked out well for them because as the fall rolls around, so too does the amount of people playing ball indoors. and because they were young, no one wanted to allow them to play with us.

we used to have a standing unwritten rule that if you were under 16 (sometimes 18, depending on who you asked, and who was asking), you played on the other side of the gym. our gym has two courts, the A court (for the good players) and the B court, for the kids/less talented players.

they wanted to play with us, and we'd fight to have them play. this endeared us to them, i believe, because we showed a genuine concern for their happiness. as the years have gone by, this has ended up serving louis and i well, i believe, because javelle is now the best, pound for pound player in the gym. jamie might give him a run for the title, but i'm going with javelle because he's 17. you shouldn't be that good at 17 (he's actually 16, but his birthday is coming up and he keeps telling people he's 17 - you remember how it is).

there are times when you have to gaurd javelle, and because of this old bond we have, he won't play you too hard and embarrass you (easy to do). not all the time, but sometimes you can tell. i used to tell him to bring it, and he does bring it a bit harder when i'm gaurding him, but not all the way. he's trying to be nice. he plays a little lazier defense on me too. oh he won't give up any buckets, but he'll let me dribble for a minute before picking off my pass.

his brother is going to be the bodygaurd to lou and i. every 2 months julian grows an inch, loses his baby fat and becomes tougher to gaurd. one day, when one of us is about to get mugged in a dark alley, some huge black dude is going to pick up the robber and throw him in a dumpster. "that's fergie!", the big huge black dude will say, and then start giggling.

anyway, these kids are super nice guys. they have a good family. while at the game, we sat with their dad (who has played ball with us before and is really really good), their mom was their with her boyfriend in the front left row, their sister was up in the back, and javelle's girlfriend was there too. we were a weird family. it was awesome. having people show up to support you like that is beautiful. taking time out of their day to say "you matter to me". little things make life beautiful.

julian and javelle seemed pumped to have us there too. it was the only time this year that their schools will face off against each other so we wanted to support them both. we were hooting and cheering and taunting and applauding both teams any time javelle or julian did something good. javelle was the best player on the floor, hands down. it was like he was playing with 9 year olds. no one could stop him, no one knew what to do with all the crazy passes he was dropping on them. it was awesome. the best part was, they had to guard each other.

the sweetest part was when julian (who is less talented than javelle) got the ball at the 3 point line, and javelle was on him. julian likes to take that shot. javelle knows that, they're tight friends. so javelle, who is a defensive legend as well as offensive, took a slight step backwards and muttered under his breath - "take it" to julian, indicating that he wanted him to shoot the shot. but not as a taunt, as a freebie, as a gift, as a sign of love, and caring. lou and I were front row.

good times.

the best or worst pic is how javelle's team, which is a school at dundas and bloor, is all black kids. and julians' school, which is at harbord and manning is all white kids (except for julian and his friend). high income at harbord, low income at dundas and bloor. to see the effects/affects of race drawn this clearly is bizarre.

here it is: - NOPE - can't do that, i've just realized. well, as you've noticed, all the pics are at the top.

some more pics. nothing major. just two brothers having fun shooting hoops. there were stories to tell, but i'm tired. yes, it's only 4:30. i'm having trouble getting over the pyschological barrier that is MIDNIGHT. anything before midnight is too early to go bed. then i'm up at 5:45.

i'll get it right soon.

the snowflakes this morning in the cold dark toronto landscape of the annex was absolutely beautiful. the city is almost yours alone that early in the morning. but that's the beauty of cities, in part, is that you're never ever alone. we share everything with someone else, constantly.

more soon.
i've been having thoughts about things.
i' will purge them soon enough.

hinto, call me/email about lunch this week. i can't remember which day.

and for ballers, remember to read my buddy zack's raptors blog. he's a reporter that hangs around the team and asks questions (and yes, he asked one for me! - fantasy ballers must read it)