Pure: A Short Story About Finding Purity In The Game
I catch up with No. 10 after the game. His name is Lee Godwin, a sophomore, all of 5-7.
Lee Godwin
We talk for a while about the game and about life as a teenager in high school. Lee has a girlfriend – they’ve been together for four months. That’s a long time in high school.
I ask him to explain basketball for someone who might not have ever played it. To the parents in the stands with the purple Decatur Heritage shirts on. What does it feel like?
“Basketball…I can’t explain it,” the kid stammers, his hands fumbling for the right word. “There’s something to it that other sports don’t have. It’s the…the…”
The game was a long one, and he played most of it. Lee is tired. His girlfriend is waiting on the bleachers.
Finally it comes.
“It’s the speed,” he says quietly. “The speed of it.”
*** *** ***
For me, the writer, it’s the purity. I think I found it again. Back in that gym, the rich kids and the kids with the frayed uniforms are huddling at center court. One of the boys is praying. Not that it matters, but I can’t tell which player it is or what colors he’s wearing. They’re standing too close together, arms on each other’s shoulders, mixed in together.
Pure.
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February 11th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
kyballer says:
I used to coach at big public school, 2 actually and now I am at a small private school and I enjoy the less stress free environment…don’t get me wrong i coach them with the same intensity I always have coached with but its just different…my best players are soccer and lacrosse players, they just like basketball…
February 11th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Short story lol?
Anyway nice read, and for what it is worth there are some real ballers in Alabama. I would say the south has a different type of play than that of the East or West coast but it’s legit.
Soooooooo um this was just a story about a regular basketball game in a small school? Not trying to be a d*ck but probably being one none-the-less. Just wondering why this story would be say more special than many schools where these characters and this type of atmosphere would be found?
February 11th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
stefan says:
I would say to look outside for purity. I assure you that just a few of those high school kids play for the love of the game. If you go there in the summer and you see guys playing every day for hours, than that is indeed some “purity”.
February 13th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Hot Fiyah says:
Awesome story!