Growing up in my house I was exposed to basketball (mainly through older sibling influence) since my younger years. Not only did we have epic games of 1 on 1, around the world and the trash talking horse, but we also spent an unhealthy amount of time glued to the TV watching the likes of Jordan* and pals blazing a trail though the fastest growing sport for teenage kids in the nineties. Not sure why we got into it though as the parentals appear to be vertically challenged (in spite of my awesome ability to grow into a respectable height) which should have really translated to myself.We watched over and over many countless hours of electrifying acrobatics. Drawn to the spectacle like a moth to a flame . Usually I was rooting for the underdog team. Not that I wasn’t impressed by the greatness of the champions, it was more the fact I set myself a challenge of rooting for the impossibly inadequate. Whether or not this is a reflection on my own personal life is debatable, although I will leave that up to you to ponder.
If there was ever a team in all sports that I despised it was the New York Knicks. I don’t know why this was. I could always see a team of (mostly) untalented players overachieving at every turn. Observers were always surprised when they fell short at the last hurdle, but at this stage I was astonished they had made it this far. Through the next decade the obsession of dislike had boiled down to a minimum due to the fact that a terrible GM had constructed an awful team that would never be able to overachieve again. You don’t like picking on an enemy when they are down, especially one that had developed into such retarded-ness as this.
In the summer of 2010, the Knicks made some significant moves. Previously creating enough salary cap space to sign some big name players, and following it up with the signing of an actual big name player. A few more additions were added and a strong squad was made. Don’t get me wrong this team would only be challenging for a playoff berth however it would be done with a bunch of lower key members, creating a team that was greater than the sum of its parts. This became a relief to me and to explain the reason I’ll have to step back a few years.
Over a decade ago I was leaving the city I had grown up with (and will probably always call home) to experience the world. The best way to do this was live in different places for a couple of years and enamour myself in the culture. Thus far the journey had taken me through Tasmania, Perth, (a brief stint in Malaysia), London and NYC. In all these places I had decided to adopt the local team to support. Rest assured I will always barrack for my roots but I am a firm believer in supporting the local teams of a newly adopted city (Tasmania Tigers, Western Force, West Coast Eagles, Chelsea). This leads me to my current city and to uphold the principles I vowed to keep a decade ago, my support would now need to lay squarely on the New York Knicks. I have often thought to myself if the childhood Ben could see me now, what would he say? Sellout? Bandwagon? I’m quite sure he would say these and many more. The difference is that I have the last decade of adventures on my side which has refined me into the person I am today. I look forward to future Ben taking the same opportunity for examination on current Ben and surmising his past thoughts for reflection.
*Anyone needing me to explain this Jordan reference in detail should probably invent some form of time travelling device, go back to the nineties, pull their former self brain out of the sand and tell them to pay attention to sports.
