2017-01-04

【Aiden in English】

        Since the first grade, there was a mutual understanding that dawned upon my soul. I was not going to be a sports superstar. There was simply no athletic traits that were given to me, physically or mentally. Therefore, the idea of sports became nothing more than an exercise. Later on, when slight talents were found, they were very quickly disregarded due to lack of time or practice. When I happened to sign up for Township Rec Basketball, it was a few years late.

        I’m in the eighth grade at present. What that means is that if you have shown basketball talent, you probably already started years ago or have even made school and travel teams. Well, sorry to disappoint, but I do not have the talent or the determination to try out.

        So why, you might ask, are you starting now? Actually, it was my mom who presented the idea, and after two years of quitting soccer, I’m not sure why I agreed to play basketball. Yeah, the doc said at birth that I would be tall, but either I am going to have an enormous growth spurt in high school or the doc flipped a few numbers (I’m fairly average about 6’7” right now). Oddly, this is quite beneficial to me, since my height is right between the point guard and small forward positions. Unlike at the 76er’s Summer Camp in 2015, when I just standing at 5’2” or so would stack me up against large centers and power forwards, I preferred to work the perimeter of the court, using the three-point line like a measuring mark. Moving forward, I become more and more restricted, as my playstyle is extremely passive. The further I get into the paint, the less mobility and usefulness I have. Other than a kick out or a quick bounce pass to a nearby teammate, there isn’t much to do within that small constricted area. Therefore, I want to explain some more of my first game, I shoot threes and mid-range jumpers. Although I’m not too trigger-happy, when I get hot, don’t expect me to pass up an open look. So far in practices and the one game we’ve had, I always had hit a three, but I don’t take many.

        As for the first game, I’m not going to talk about it much. It was kind of a blow out in our favor. After our offense took an early 20 point lead, the game slowed down to a defensive stalemate. And yes, the other team did not make a comeback.

        A new road appears on the horizon with me. Most of the time, these kinds of paths quickly lead to absolutely nowhere and simply depression. However, there always is a flicker of hope in every child, in which one day he or she can grow to be as good as those standing up-top the world. And now it is my time to imagine my dream.

【紅霞譯文】

        自打小學一年級起，我心中便明白自己將來不會成為體育明星，無論從體格上還是精神上，本人絲毫沒有任何運動素質，因此體育運動不過是鍛煉身體的代名詞，後來即便發掘出丁點體育潛力，不是因為沒工夫就是因為缺乏練習，總之很快落入被遺忘的角落，等我重新報名參加鄉村娛樂籃球隊，一晃過去了幾年。

        現在我是初中三年級學生，言外之意，假如你有籃球天賦，恐怕幾年前早已開始或者加入校隊和游擊隊了。哦千萬別失望，我非但沒啥運動特長，甚至連參加選拔賽的勇氣都拿不出來。

        說到這裡，你可能要問為什麼現在又開始打球了呢？其實這純粹是媽媽的主意，我已從足球隊退役兩年，不知為什麼竟然同意重打鑼鼓另外鼓搗籃球。沒錯，剛出世時醫生曾說我會長得很高，但眼下我個頭中等（約67英寸／1.7米），或許要到高中才會竄個子，或許醫生信口開河。奇怪的是，平均身材反倒讓我大沾便宜，因為現有身高恰好介於組織後衛和小前鋒之間，不像2015年參加的七六人隊夏令營，那時本人頂多62英寸／1.57米左右，大中鋒和大前鋒把我夾得真夠瓷實。因此我喜歡打外圍，在三分線附近迂迴，要是繼續向前場進攻，技術發揮將大打折扣，畢竟我打球風格太過被動，越是往禁區裡面鑽，越是在跑動性和對抗性方面露怯，除了前場接應或者把籃板球就近傳給隊友，小小限制區於我並無多少用武之地。藉此機會我想解析一些有關首場比賽現況，我中距離跳投投進三分球，儘管並非有意逞能，可一旦打入高潮並偶遇沒人阻攔的空檔，休想指望我把球傳出去。截至到目前為止，在所有訓練和一場比賽中，我好賴都投進了三分球，但每次不多不少只有一個。

        對於首場比賽我不想細說，本隊有點走運，上半場單憑進攻就領先廿分。隨後，比賽節奏減慢，兩隊防守對峙好一陣子，沒轍兒，對方還是回天乏術。

        地平線上一條嶄新的道路出現在我面前，大多時候這類羊腸小徑不是很快成為絕路，就是死活行不通。然而，每個孩子都滿懷希望，期待有朝一日他／她也能如願以償站在世界之巔，現在該是我擁抱夢想的時候了。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014： Tala Private Game Reserve, SA(南非塔拉私營禁獵區)

2011： 報復心理(Revenge)