Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Old Man Still Got A Little Game

Over the weekend, I inched a little closer to being a middle aged man (aka celebrating my birthday!).  I had a pretty relaxed weekend.  I watched a basketball tournament and caught up with a young person I have been mentoring a bit.  I played a little basketball myself and had a nice dinner with some folks.

Today, it was back to work and after a busy day, I went to play in my Monday nigh basketball league.  My team's been struggling a bit but we finally broke through with an exciting 83-82 win.  I contributed heavily with 18 points (7-17 FG, 4-6 FT's).

Though most professional players don't played into their late 30's / early 40's, there are plenty of amateur athletes who are able to play at a pretty good level for many years.  When I got hurt back in 1999-2000 during the prime of my athletic life, I thought I would never get back to level.  These days, while I am little slower and less athletic, I still can pick my spots and do well (like tonight!).

Playing like this into your 40's require both mental and physical preparation.  Mentally, you can't subscribe to the fact that you are "too old".  You have to say to yourself that you can do it.   Physically, you just have to keep playing and stay in shape in general.  I've been fortunate to be abel to do both.

A guy in our league is 53 and is still playing pretty well.  He's a little slow and not mobile but can hit a shot.  I would be happy to be playing well into his age and beyond!

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