I used to despise basketball. I never played it, never watched it growing up. In college I had a roommate absolutely crazy for college basketball. The TV was on non stop during March Madness. It gave me headaches. I tried to embrace it somewhat, but whenever I watched it I could not tell when there was a foul or not a foul. It all looked the same to me- lots of grabbing at each other. Just seemed like a very annoying sport to play.

Fast forward fifteen years… my son starts playing basketball. Then he REALLY starts playing basketball. Practices several nights a week. Club teams with tournaments year round. Road trips up and down the west coast. My life became dominated with basketball. Sitting through games got me to truly understand the sport. It is amazing how love and adoration of your child can completely alter your thoughts on a topic. I now love basketball, and it is slowly replacing football as my favorite sport. All those hours in the car with my son became such cherished times and the setting of valuable conversations. Parents would moan about another tournament in Seattle or spending Mother’s Day in a smelly gym. For me, there is no place I’d rather be. Watching my son work for and achieve success on the court was the best experience. Also watching him handle defeat with grace made me feel really good as a parent.

I rallied the entire house to cheer on the Blazers. I read every article I could find on the team. Searched out articles about each player. Damian especially. I grew to have a huge amount of respect for the person he was off the court. An old interview with him summed it up perfectly when he spoke on the pressure of playing in the NBA. As only Dame could put it, he cooly explained:

“Pressure, nah. Fam, this is just playing ball. Pressure is the homeless man, who doesn’t know where his next meal is coming from. Pressure is the single mom, who is trying to scuffle and pay her rent. We get paid a lot of money to play a game. Don’t get me wrong – there are challenges. But to call it pressure is almost an insult to regular people.”

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/damian-lillard-speaks-about-the-pressure-of-playing-basketball-pressure-is-the-single-mom-who-is-trying-to-scuffle-and-pay-her-rent-we-get-paid-a-lot-of-money-to-play-a-game/

Dame has amazing perspective and poise for a young person in a high profile position. He gets the big picture and treats each individual with respect.

Damian was awarded a Citizenship award for his community outreach programs in Portland. https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2019/06/portland-trail-blazers-damian-lillard-earns-j-walter-kennedy-citizenship-award-citizenship-award-from-writers-association.html

Dame and the Blazers saved me. I might have cried all through basketball season without them. They gave me something to cheer for and helped me feel connected to my son while he was 2,000 miles away. Only 86 days til season kicks off. And I’ll be rocking my RIP CITY shirt when it does.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.