23rd
Basketball Commissioner
Sometimes I wonder how many people have seen things in life go full circle in such clear and concise ways as I have. We all start off as little kids and grow up, finding ourselves in the same shoes that we saw our parents and other adults wearing, shoes we thought we understood as kids, but being in them is a totally different experience. Of course you understand that I am using shoes as a metaphor. I’m not talking about actual shoes.
When I was in in 6th and 7th grade, I played basketball in the Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church Basketball League or GMUMCBL. I wasn’t very good. I was pretty terrible actually. My mom and dad had just gotten divorced and my mom had moved with me and my brother to Atlanta to live with our grandmother. My grandfather had just died. This move from Massachusetts to Atlanta marked the end of my six year TV marathon, a marathon fueled by cold weather, cable TV, an inherent love of TV, and a need to escape from my parents sadness compounded by the general sadness of a town whose traditions were dying and changing. Needless to say, my athletic abilities were not something to be envied by anyone.
I played in the league for two years, and played basketball constantly, but I didn’t get much better. Lack of a fundamental understanding of the game combined with an ever changing body made me one of the worst players. I didn’t see much playing time, but this didn’t really matter to me. At first glance, I might not seem like I would be a team player, but I am. Winning is what really matters to me. I was happy to get my few minutes on the court, but I was also just as happy to have front row seats.
Where am I going with this?
When I graduated from college with my prestigious degree in studio art, I went looking for jobs on Craigslist. I had a couple of different jobs in my first couple of years out of school. I worked building tents, selling ice cream at a corporate level, and selling junk on a Craigslist level. Constantly looking on Craigslist, one day I came across a job posting. I think the headline read, “Athletic Director for Church Needed.”
I responded to the posting, and in short order, found myself in the position of Athletic Director for Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church. Which actually just boiled down to running the basketball league. I was the de facto commissioner of GMUMCBL, a strange position to find myself in for a couple of reasons. One, being that I had never really been in charge of anything. I had been above people at the ice cream company, but never really in charge of people. Two, being that I some very strong memories from my time in the GMUMCBL. The gym that I was now in charge of was also the home of roller skating (don’t give me shit on how bad that is for the floor), basically the center of social life for me and my friends back then. Basically, I was back in 6th grade.
Every time I walked into the building, I laughed a little to myself. There is more to this story, conflict, heartache, joy, and more basketball, but I will end it here as it is getting way too long, especially for the internet, and I think I have adequately illustrated my point, that in my life, I have come full circle in some very random yet clear and concise ways such as going from playing in a church basketball league to running it, something pretty impressive and random for an atheist.
Sometimes, I just wonder if any of those kids will remember me, Commissioner Chuck.
