The Obvious
June 5, 2000
7:34 a.m.
Wow. Did the Lakers receive a gift, or what? The best way of putting it has to be that Portland wrapped it, and the referees tied the bow and stuck on the tag.   I'm feeling pretty good here this morning. The story is "done," meaning I think it's put together and ready for final honing and whatnot. I was actually a little worried yesterday, as I was having difficulty coming up with a solution for a fairly glaring error in the story's logic. But after two days of stewing on it, the answer came to me literally as I was stepping out of the shower. It was so obvious that I just kind of stood there feeling really stupid for not seeing it earlier. That's the way it is with the best revelations, you know? I think you get so close to a story, and your mind gets so familiar with its pattern that it doesn't see the obvious sometimes until it's thrown in its face. Anyway, it's something over 9,000 words right now--bigger than I thought it would be. That may get pared down a little over the next day or two as I try to make it a little more cohesive--I've spent a lot more time making sure the story is all there than making the words all sound pretty, you know? We took Brigid to see her first WNBA game this weekend. We had nosebleed seats, but not really bad ones. We cheered. The basketball was pretty good. Yes, the individual skills of the women aren't as strong as the men, but as Lisa said "Hey, I can see them running plays!" Women's basketball today is closer to the old-style basketball that I grew up watching. The players are smaller, there's less crashing around in the middle. Defense requires fast feet rather than gun barrel arms. I suppose that will change over time. Watching it, I remembered sitting in my high school gym and watching the girls play. They weren't as good as us boys. Many of them really couldn't shoot. But they played hard, and there was a time or two when the boys would scrimmage the girls as part of practice, and the girls never gave any quarter. It was really quite thrilling to see how far this game has come. But the best moment was sitting in Brigid's room that night. Talking to her, I realized that she had no idea that women playing professional basketball was relatively unique. You see, her school is pretty small, and girls play on the team the same as boys. And their team has been pretty danged good the past couple years. The next day Brigid wanted to keep the tickets. You know, when you see something good, it's really hard to describe how it makes you feel. But for just a moment, I think I understood.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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