Basketball Season
E-Mail by Blake Pirtle Bio/Address
Hey sports fans, welcome to
another of my sports columns. Well basketball season is just about over. Does anyone
really care who wins the championship? Or are we all just happy it will be some one
besides the Bulls this year? Well, I say it will be a big disappointment if the Spurs
don't win it, for they are by far the best team. But on the other hand it would be very
special for basketball if the Knicks won, for the odds are truly stacked against them,
with all their injuries and all, no one gives them a chance to get this far at all.
I myself really did enjoy this basketball season. I know a lot of
people and fans were upset about the lockout and the short season. But the one thing it
did for me was make me realize that the basketball season is way too long. It needs to be
shortened. Didn't we all enjoy seeing the teams play 3, 4... some times 5 times a week?
It really showed who was in shape, who took their profession seriously.
Anyway, I myself really enjoy basketball fun even in prison. It is one
of the fun things you can always count on. You walk out on any prison yard or gym and you
will find a game of basketball. Now, sure it may be more rough than anything you ever
experienced, but it is the one way that we in prison can physically extract our pent up
energy and frustrations in a nonviolent way. Nothing feels any better than spending the
afternoon on the basketball court banging bodies, elbows, etc. Totally giving all you have
until you are spent. In here you are forced to hold so much feeling, anger, and everything
else inside. We truly need some type of release that is nonviolent. We get it in the form
of very rough and tough physical basketball. It really is a good thing.
But given that, we also have a very controlled season of basketball
here at Walla Walla. These people here are very much into controlled sports for us. So
right about the start of the pro basketball season, the recreation department creates as
many basketball teams that they can, throughout the season. We even have a draft, coaches,
referees and funny names for our teams. Our prison has a complete basketball season with
playoffs, championships and most years the champions get to play the local college team
after the season is over. The school floor here has a media course so they get the cameras
up there in the gym and televise a lot of the games on the joint channel. It is really
constructive and positive deal for all the prisoners involved.. Of course at times it is
hard to keep teams together. Some inmates may get into trouble or transferred etc. Just
about everyone here looks forward to the basketball season. And the prisoners involved
work very hard to make it successful. More than anything, it gives the inmates something
to look forward to and something constructive to do with some for their time..
Sadly I myself have never been able to partake in any of it in my six
years here because my status as a Death Row inmate limits and controls my movement
throughout the prison. I'm not allowed any contact with other inmates besides other Death
Row inmates. But because of our prison TV Channel, I've had the pleasure of being able to
watch the games, follow the season, and see the effort put into it all to make it work.
I am pleased that the prison goes to such measures to provide something so
constructive and good for the inmates. I just hope that they are still doing it in the
future and I get a chance to take part.
A closing question to my readers. Are cards a game or a sport? It is a
thing of chance or pure skill learned over the years and hours of playing? I will talk to
you all about that next time.. Until then play hard and play to win, for there is no other
reason to play!
Blake R Pirtle
Back