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As I cross over the line from the outside world and set foot onto the hardwood of a basketball court, I transcend into a being that words cannot describe. No longer do I concern myself with worldly problems. Now I am in my domain, my Heaven here on Earth. With each stride that I take and every creak I hear in the floor, I embrace punishment, fearing someone else may be working harder than me. I notice the smell of pride in the air, and this excites me. The blood, sweat and tears from the agony of defeat and joy of sweet victory circulate a most unique essence like none other I have ever been able to find. Deep within my heart lies a security in knowing that not only has my pride contributed to this essence, but that the blood, sweat and tears of players past have contributed to it as well. And we must not forget the ones who taught us what pride really means. This is sacred to me, reminding me that I have given everything I ever had and put it all into the great game of basketball. I have given my heart and soul to this game. So whenever I leave my domain, I always take with me the anxiety and the yearning from deep within my soul that just can't wait until my next Return To Heaven."
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"The mind of an athlete is a powerful weapon. My weapon begins working each time I step into the locker room. A special room, my room, where my pregame rituals always remain the same. It is in this room where I first take seat on the bench, when I mentally begin preparing myself for the game. I begin with a thought process which tells me there are two kinds of athletes in this world: Athletes who set goals and meet them. And athletes who set goals but never act on them. Myself, I am an athlete, born and raised. I act on the goals I set for myself! As I begin to undress the layer of life which matters no more, I remind myself how lucky I really am. How lucky I am to have my health. How lucky I am to have been given these abilities to play this game that I love so much. But most of all, how lucky I am to dress myself with pride in this uniform once again. As I lace up my shoes and look around the room, I pray that my teammates have similar thoughts. I pray that they understand the significance of this room. That this is our meeting place. The place where we have shared so many good times, but also helped one another get through the bad. The place where we have come together again to prepare ourselves for another fight of our lives. I have now fine-tuned my weapon, and I am ready to make my goals become reality. I am ready to go out there and play this game as if it were the last game I were ever able to play. I reflect upon one final thought: How thankful I am for the opportunity to once again enter and leave The Locker Room."
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"Every athlete has an inner voice of pride. It is the voice only athletes can hear, pushing them to the brink of exhaustion, demanding excellence and condemning failure. Failure, understand, is the driving force behind an athlete. Every athlete has experienced failure, and now trains so they will not experience it again. This inner voice knows the difference between training and exercising. Many athletes exercise, stopping when they have reached a perceived limit, or when it becomes uncomfortable to continue. But only a select few athletes have the heart and desire to train unconditionally. Only a select few push past their physical and mental limits. Only a select few push past the pain and discomfort. Only a select few have the courage and the character to understand that training makes them quicker, faster, stronger, but most importantly, allows them to gain a mental edge over future opponents. So when failure laughs in my face as I desperately try and earn the respect of that last repetition, it must realize one thing: Each time I train, I not only hear, but I answer The Inner Voice."
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"Looking through the net, the sound around me begins to fade. As the first whistle blows, my purpose in life is altered. My existence here on Earth is now being evaluated through a single struggle: Staying between the ball and the floor. Though a constant struggle, it is a struggle I love to win, and will win. I achieve this through stealing victories from a floor that doesn't know limits to greed. In a game of anticipation and quick reactions, I cannot allow the ball to hit the floor. I drum up all of my will and energy to get to every ball, remembering that saving a ball is like keeping a dream alive. I push my body to reach as far as it can reach, jump as high as it can jump, dive as far as it can dive, reminding myself that this is a small price to pay for a game that has given me so much. And when my body hits the floor so the ball does not, I realize I have won the battle. As the last whistle blows and the game has ended, I glare back at the lonely ball, grateful that it will soon join me again in my Dreams On The Court."
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""Each of us contains an invisible part of our bodies we cannot see, but one that we can feel. This part of our body is called the soul. It is through our souls that we search for the meaning of life. However, one cannot discover the meaning of life without fulfilling the soul first. Some people search their entire lives without ever truly finding or understanding what the meaning of life is for them, or how they can fulfill their souls. For the athlete, it is simple. Through athletics, the meaning of life is often discovered at a young age. Fulfillment of the soul is then achieved through the athlete's understanding that he cannot live without competitive athletics. In other words, the Old School Athlete must Live To Play."
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