Super-sized Dave

After watching my Arizona State Sun Devils defeat the hated Wildcats last weekend, and seeing 7’2” Jordan Bachynski learn how to dominate a game as a big man, it got me to thinking: How would my life have been if I were that tall? This story is written in the present time; however, the only difference is that in this story, I’m 7 feet tall and am imagining how my life would be. 

It was another hard day of practice, and so far I’m just not fitting in on the Oklahoma City Thunder, my third team in as many years. After knee surgery last year, I still haven’t fully regained my speed that I had coming out of college four years ago. My standout career at Gonzaga being a distant memory now, I’m just trying to be able to stick on one team and contribute. Continue reading “Super-sized Dave”

Heightened Senses

Last week, somebody asked me an interesting question. They said, “Do you even remember what it’s like to be short?”

My hopelessly witty and charming reply was something like “er…no.” I mean, I’m 6-foot-9. I’ve been tall for quite some time.

Truth be told, I do remember those days. I remember several things from when I was a kid, like Christmases, birthday parties, moments from my elementary school, and the day I was told about a certain divorce. And there’s plenty of other stuff too.

I also remember the day I was taller than my mom. Keep in mind, my mom is five feet tall. Sure, she’ll tell you that it’s actually 5 feet, 1/4 inch, but that doesn’t really stop her from falling into the short category. I’d been hovering around eye level for a while, but we were shopping one day in eighth grade when I noticed that I’d finally made the leap.

Passing my dad? That was a much bigger deal. Continue reading “Heightened Senses”

Foresight

Once upon a time, I was a pretty avid golfer. I played at least a couple times a month, and I got to be pretty decent. You know, practice makes perfect and all that.

Then a funny thing happened: I started growing. For some reason, I doomed my professional career in each and every sport by quitting basketball before I grew and picking up golf after. When I tried out for the golf team my sophomore year of high school, I was still below 6 feet tall. Two years later, I was 6’6″ and none of my equipment worked anymore.

Since graduating from high school, I’ve kind of lost track of the game completely. But in the past couple years, I’ve been trying to claw my way back. Continue reading “Foresight”