Well? We lost. Best to get that out of the way right away. Team 2nd To None put up a good fight but in the end? It simply wasn’t enough to beat a really good Kindergarten team, otherwise known as the Kinder Brawlers. Final score: Kinder Brawlers 48, 2nd To None 37. For my part tonight was pretty active. I put up a number of shots  (didn’t sink any). And I also fouled someone for the first time all tournament. It was unintentional and in truth? It was a pretty weak call, IMO. But I’m not the ref so I guess I’m kind’a forced to accept it. Afterwards, we all shook hands, took our team photos–I’ll be sure to post mine when I get it–settled into watch the actual championship game which was won by Team Lucky 7s (props 7th Grade!) And thereafter headed out to the bar to drink away all of our aches and pains. It along with the two Advil Liqui-Gels I popped seems to be working… for now. I am confident that tomorrow morning will be a different story though. 

Still, the pain in my limbs is a good pain. It’s an accomplished pain. I’ll gladly trade a day of rest for what I just completed. Four games in six days? Maybe not a lot to some but to this guy, who five weeks ago couldn’t run more than 10 seconds without his heart pounding out of his chest? The fact that I successfully completed three five minute shifts tonight when I couldn’t finish one, even on Sunday of this week says something. Simply put? I’m on my way. I’ve said all along that this journey would continue and it will. Hoops Hysteria was never the end. Sh*t, friends, I have every intention of getting up tomorrow morning and running. A closer observance of my condition reveals that that might not be the best idea. I guess I’ll wing it and see how I feel in the AM. If I wake up and I can move I’ll run. Thankfully it’s a short one–only 1.67 miles. But if I wake up and am unable to stand up? Well, I guess I’ll just pop on the tube and watch “Sportscenter” or something. Just to be safe, maybe I should put the bottle of Advil next to my bed. Hold on…

There. Now I’m ready for whatever eventuality I am faced with in the morning. 

So here I am at the end of #HoopsHysteriaHereICome. It became #HoopsHysteriaHereIAm and now? Now it’s #HoopsHysteriaThereItWent. The champions of both the Gold and Silver Brackets have been crowned. My not-yet-washed jersey/t-shirt (we were winning, guys; I wasn’t going to f’up the ju-ju) is in the wash. My team… well, some of them may be still at the bar though me? I’m home. Freshly showered, lying in bed and typing this little blog entry/piece of Mental Flatulence while I still have a smidgen of energy left. It’s tough to focus on a retrospective when your brain and body are fried from exertion. Right now? I feel like I could sleep for a day. I probably won’t but have I earned it? Meh. I don’t think so. The work’s not yet done, peeps. This week… this tournament that I impulsively decided to join a full year ahead of schedule due to some well-timed… um… insinuation from my oldest minion? Sure it was a start but it’s not… well, “it.” That’s not my end game. Honestly? I don’t really have a cap on how far I’m going to take this. My sister Katie, who has been a bastion of support and encouragement for me for the last five weeks (booyakasha sis… respect) is running not a 5K but 15K in the next few weeks. 15K? That’s like… 3.1 miles times 3 or… over 9 miles? Nine miles? I can’t even imagine that right now. 2.1 gives me agita. But she’s doing it, and she followed a similar path to the one that I’m following presently. As I’ve said before and others have said to me, the first step? It’s really the toughest. Opting to make a change like the one she went through and the one I’m going through… it takes determination. The will to be like Mike, just do it and not give up. It also takes a healthy sense of humor because damn man or woman, I must be out of my f*cking mind. I’m X-amount of pounds. I haven’t lived a lifestyle like this since I was a kid, playing pick-up basketball, baseball and football in Billy Ring’s back yard. But after a few times you laugh about it. You chuckle at yourself because when you started a few weeks go on that level track around the corner from your house that you couldn’t run more than 10 seconds on…  when you picked up a basketball for the first time in a decade and Air Ball’d your first J… 

“Shoot the J… SHOOT IT…”

When you were winded after 14 minutes on the elliptical (in two shifts, no less… go fig)… when everything was still in front of you you had no fracking idea that you’d actually succeed. But you did. You took a risk and it worked out. It could have gone the other way… you could have ended up in the hospital from a heart attack but you didn’t. And hopefully you never will. Why? 

Simple, and this one comes courtesy of my Mom, who has also been a bastion of support throughout this process  (booyakasha, Mom… respect). I mentioned it in blog entry/piece of Mental Flatulence number one (the one about getting healthy at 42 in case you forgot it): Remember always that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. Those are some incredible words to live by. They’ve become my personal mantra these last few weeks and will remain said mantra in the weeks and months to come. 

I could go on citing everyone that’s helped me in some way, shape or form throughout this process too date. Nicole for helping me deal with my early training blister issue, buying me baby aspirin, taping up my legs with kinetic tape after each game and allowing me to go out and briskly walk/jog/run on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday every week. My minions for cheering me on and constantly telling me that they are proud of me. My friends and family for doing the same. You for reading… I could continue but I think… I hope you get the point. Booyakasha to you all… respect. Thanks for… well? For just being you. For being interested. I hope now that #HoopsHysteriaHereICome became #HoopsHysteriaHereIAm and has now become #HoopsHysteriaThereItWent that you’ll stick with me. I’ve got a lot more to do and write but maybe… just maybe I’ll take a break from the later for a few. Kind’a let my brain recharge along with my body. Stop the endless parade of selfies… you get the point. Sh*t I’m tired. My words are starting to jumble so I think I’ll just call it. Time to sleep. 

G’night, all. Pleasant dreams. #ContentedSleepHereICome 

F.