"Unbelievable: Time and how fast it flies. Whatchoo got?"
Today makes 27 years since I left my parents' home in Louisiana to go to USAF basic training in San Antonio. It's also the first time I saw my dad shed a tear and the first time I got on a plane. For years after, I always flew United because I trusted them after they delivered me safely to my destination the first time I ever flew.
In retrospect, it was one of the best days of my life despite also being a sorta sad one. As I am still processing my brother's death, I am reminiscing a bit more.
1. "My son is old enough now (9) that I can clearly remember being his age" In response to Reply # 0 Wed Mar-22-17 12:31 PM by flipnile
I'm my dad now, my dad's the (new) grand dad (never met either of mines), and my son is now who I just was. We all have the same name too, so it's like being time-shifted.
4. "Yeah, man! I understand. My son is turning 25 next month..." In response to Reply # 1
and I recall the day he was born. I heard T.R.O.Y. for the first time that day in 1992. He's older than I was when he was born and I'm glad that he hasn't turned into what I was at that time.
5. "my daughter turned 22 on the 13th..." In response to Reply # 4
I can VIVIDLY remember the night she was born. It was on a Tuesday. My best friend worked at the hospital and we used to hoop on Tuesday nights in the hospital gym...like 10 to 15 of us, regularly. She was born a little after 4 in the afternoon. So I just came downstairs when it was hoop time. All the cats was dappin and huggin me before we started playing. Shit felt so great...now she's living on her own, going to school, working, bought her own car...crazy, man.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
16. "man, I goofed up an chose a field" In response to Reply # 12
instead of a job. so they gave me a liquid fuels specialist job to train for. I immediately tried to changed to something in electronics since my asvab score was highest in that. they said I had to be in for 3 years. nope, bye!
we had chicks in IL, but they were gonna send me to Maine for the job.
18. "LOL... They were gonna send to you Loring!" In response to Reply # 16
If you had foresight then, you'd have known they'd be closing the base within a year and would have had an opportunity to go somewhere else or reclass.
6. "watched HBO Real Sports last night and seein the court that raised me" In response to Reply # 0
there was a segment about Juan Dixon and his father
it brought back immediate memories ....
like the first time I could touch the net...the rim....where we would play 50 (50-50 put out) and 21 on the one court cuz the 'big boys' would be runnin whole on the other
the countless D1 hoopers that I grew up wit who played there
Like when Bino n Phil played Nut an Stink... for our lil hood bragging rts ...2 on 2 ...St Frances vs Lake Clifton
11. "Ain't nothing like when them memories come at you..." In response to Reply # 6
>there was a segment about Juan Dixon and his father
Saw Juan last Saturday up CCB. It may have been his dad with him at the showcase games that we were there for. I missed that last episode of Real Sports but recorded it.
>it brought back immediate memories .... Ain't it the best though when those memories come flooding your brain?They really put a smile on your face. Even the bad ones for me because I learned from them and they are just funny now in retrospect. I'm usually like: "I can't believe I did that dumb shit." LMAO
>like the first time I could touch the net...the rim....where >we would play 50 (50-50 put out) and 21 on the one court cuz >the 'big boys' would be runnin whole on the other
That's when you knew you were doing the right work on them calves. LOL
>the countless D1 hoopers that I grew up wit who played there
This city has so many D1 hoopers from yesteryear that I can't keep up.
>Like when Bino n Phil played Nut an Stink... for our lil hood >bragging rts ...2 on 2 ...St Frances vs Lake Clifton
I saw St. Frances play a few weeks ago against a team from the DC area. It was them who played first and then Paterson played next.
>but yeah...that was at least 23 years ago > > > >seems like yesterday....seriously
This city is so small that you have no choice but to see each other more often than not. There's one dude from St. Frances who's everywhere. Can never remember his name but we used to cut up near the front bar back when Eden's Lounge was still open.
My homie played ball at SW back in the day and knows most of, if not all of, the cats you mentioned. Another one played at Walbrook. They seem to damned near no everybody.
22. "Yup....the 90's was definitely the hoopers generation in the city" In response to Reply # 11
hell...football too kinda
St Frances ....hmmm they gotta be younger than Phil and Bino cuz they put em on the map...so that leaves
Mark Karcher....I doubt it
MAYBE Alphonso Jones or big Shawn Hampton (yo grew up wit us too....he was a lil younger)---he used to be out n bout all the time
Walbrook....prolly Broadway or Antoine Jenifer
Southwestern....I remember a dude named Ernie or something like that...S'western came outta NOWEHERE my sr yr...but they weren't know for hoopin like that b4 then... kinda how my alma mater bust ass and brought home the state chip in bball this year
56. "they do this depressing ass video collage every year." In response to Reply # 43
of fallen classmates. Don't nobody wanna see that shit, man.
The reunion weekend usually falls around my birthday, so imagine me kickin' it in full gear when the 'gone but not forgotten' clip comes up on the video screen.
24. "Artists I grew up on getting movies made about them" In response to Reply # 0
Straight Outta Compton Notorious CrazySexyCool The Breaks Stretch and Bobbito Time Is Illmatic Organized Noize BR&L
Tupac movie coming soon
Some other movies I'd like to see:
Soulquarians Guns N Roses Death Row (This could work as a mini series like OJ: the UNLV football ep, the dangling Vanilla Ice over the balcony ep, the gun at Eazy's head ep, the source awards all up in the video ep, the snoop murder trial ep, the dre leaving ep, etc)
29. "my son is turning 30" In response to Reply # 0
surreal. there's not a big difference in our age but I feel like I'm no longer cool. I watch and listening to these young folks and I can't relate to any of it.
my style different I guess...my brag is different too
31. "it's weird that all my little cousins refer to me as sir" In response to Reply # 29
they love hanging around me ever since the New Edition movie came out. they've gotten really into 80s and 90s R&B and I got a ton of it, so whenever they come around I just play a bunch of stuff for them.
40. "At a game the other night, the DJ played "If It Isn't Love"..." In response to Reply # 31 Thu Mar-23-17 12:59 PM by Creole
Seemingly all of the teenagers were singing it loudly. It brought a smile to my face and made me think of how I used to sing it during my senior year of high school back in '88/'89.
NE Heartbreak and Guy were the only two R&B albums I played that whole damned school year. Everything else was hip hop.
35. "One more: My lady and I have been in the trenches for over..." In response to Reply # 0
a decade already. I was going through pics last night and saw one from when we first started talking and I got her to send me one via text. We've come close to callingit quits on several occasions but we hung in there. Shit! We started rocking when True Religions and all the other prmium denim became a hot thing in 2006. When Dip Set was still hot. And when having a PDA made you look like you were a boss.
I've been pussyfootin' around by waiting to get the right signal from her as if I wanted to control destiny as opposed to shooting my shot and dealing with whatever the outcome would be. All of this procrastinating and fear ain't get me nowhere but more heartache and headaches.
I call a mulligan on the shenanigans though. The jeweler done handled his business. I done handled mine. Now, the reservations are set. Hopeful that I can look back in another ten and say that "DAMN I ENJOYED THIS TIME FLYING AS FAST AS IT HAS WITH YOU BY MY SIDE AS MRS> CREOLE AND NOT JUST MY LADY." Yup! Gonna yell it just like that too cuz by then we'll prolly both be wearing hearing aids. LMAO
39. "Bruh, my grandmother's house in my hometown is no longer..." In response to Reply # 36
there. There is just an empty lot in its place. The very first home I remember living in is also no longer there. In its place is another home.
So, all I have are the memories of summers and nights spent in those places. Like others have said, it seems like yesterday that I was a kid who was playing, sleeping, and pissing in the bed there. LOL
I vividly recall doing each of those while in those homes.
41. "Dawg...the house I grew up in..." In response to Reply # 39
and lived in until I graduated from high school is GONE!! It's in a subdivision on a street.. and the house is GONE. About 2 years ago my wife and I were rolling around in the summer one day and I decided to take her to my old street. I was confused as shit. Every other house was just like I remembered, except mine. We had a basement. It was filled in and there was just a big ass square of grass. Sixteen years. So many memories. Jennings, MO... Right down the street from Ferguson. Man, I was so hurt. I legit cried, right there on the spot. It was uncontrollable. I googled and shit to see what I could find...nothing. My wife was like maybe it burned down and the family decided not to rebuild.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
42. "It's like a whole piece of you just disappeared..." In response to Reply # 41
The memories are there but can't touch any of it. usually, you'd be able to touch the house or the stoop. In my case, nothing. Couldn't even picture where my old swing set was located.
While we were there recently for my bros funeral, I took my fairest one to see both. She'd never been to my hometown and I really wanted her to. It was just tough on me to point out to her that my memories can't be touched. She, on the other hand, is able to visit her grandmother's house daily cuz she lives only a block away from us. Was tough for her to relate to what I was feeling.
44. "right...my wife was like, Baby, it's just the physical building..." In response to Reply # 42
you still have the memories with you. I couldn't explain it, though. For 16 years I went in and out of that house and many of the biggest moments in my life occurred while living there...now it literally doesn't exist anymore.
...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft
51. "Yeah. One day, we'll all be a used to be who used to be." In response to Reply # 50
>but half my commute is spent driving past shit that *used* to >be there. > > I'm going to drink some coffee now and dance to this damned Drake song: "Get It Together".
63. "***just threw the bottle over the fence into the gentrifiers yard!" In response to Reply # 60 Thu Mar-23-17 02:48 PM by Creole
Fuck they yard!
We try to run away but your gout is slowing you down and my bad knees won't let me be great! Dstl1 is slumped over passed out from the Henny. So, he can't move no way.
47. "Same exact words: "Baby, it's just the physical building..."" In response to Reply # 44
At that point, the "Goldie" in me came out.
I was like (to myself in a very silent way): "Bih! If you don't get yo ass out my face, I'm gon stomp a mudhole in yo ass!"
Then, I opened my eyes and kissed her before saying, "Honey, you're right!" While inside, I was hurting like hell. Not because she said that but because she just couldn't understand my point.
48. "In this same grandmother's neighborhood is the Catholic..." In response to Reply # 45
church we all went to. The adjoining school was closed and torn down over a decade ago. We all went there too. Church is still standing but the school is long gone.
I did point out the tree under which we played marbles all the time. I still remember those three holes we dug to play the game. Crazy too cuz I could picture us being on our knees shooting marbles in crazy detail.
52. "Amaker, Chris Collins, Capel, Hurleys, and Manning to name" In response to Reply # 38
RE: Players I grew up watching are coaches, GM's, and owners. >or old guys in the stands at their kids college games. > a few. Steve kerr done been both. He was one of my favorite shooters ever while he was Arizona.
Told my lady the other day while watching Northwestern play that I felt old because I remember watching that boy play and now he's a head coach.
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