A Good Story From My Friend Alec
April 10, 2007
"I played full-court basketball until I was in my middle 40s. And, as my friend Michael Masterson has said about himself, I was better in my 40s than at any other time in my life.
"One day, around 16 years ago, I was playing full-court in one of the gyms I used to play in. The other guys were mostly in their 20s or early 30s, while I was in my 40s. I did not seek out this gym to play with younger men. I had played there for years. I kept getting older, but the other players' ages remained the same.
"This particular day, I was on the same team with a young man about 22 or 23 years old. I knew his father and had known him since he was maybe 15. He was a very good ballplayer. He played for his high school team.
"We played well together that day, and though there were three other players on our team it was his and my efforts that kept us undefeated. When it was all over, we were sitting on a curb outside the gym drinking Coke or water, which one I can't remember. We were going over our heroics - and in the course of the conversation, I told him that when he was my age he wouldn't be playing anymore. He said he would, and I again said that he wouldn't.
"Then he said 'Do ya wanna bet?' I said 'Yes' and bet him a dollar.
"I saw him maybe one or two more times since that day 16 years ago. Then last Saturday, while going through my mail, I saw an envelope from Portland, OR. I opened it and read 'You win' on a stick 'em note. It was stuck on a check made out to me for the sum of one dollar.
"How about that? The last honest man in North America. Sixteen years later."
posted by M. Masterson @ 2:32 PM,
Subscribe to RSS Feed