Hoops

I started life as a basketball Mom this weekend.

We started feet first with a mini-tournament. Since M has never played a game of basketball in her life this may not have been the best idea ever. Poor thing was scared to death.

I watched her across the court and could tell from her body language that she was intimidated and uncomfortable. And I don't blame her - these girls were good. And fast. And big. When they tried to put her in she started crying. I felt so bad for her - I know she just felt lost.

When I talked to her about it later she told me that she was worried she would get trampled and that the girls seemed mean because they would just grab the ball away. She's not aggressive so it scared her that the other girls were.

Husband worked with her the next morning and we spent all day mentally preparing her so she did go in the next day. And she did have fun. She was grinning ear to ear the entire time she was on the court.  But I can tell you right away this is not the team for her. So not the team.

Our friend is the coach. And he's a great guy.  He is super focused on sports - their family lives and breathes sports and they play on competitive teams. Teams that the kids have to try out to even get on.  Obviously, this basketball team isn't competitive, or M would have never made it.  But the team is comprised of the girls from his daughter's softball team. They know each other and they play really well together - they've got that team mentality where they can read each other and it just flows. And they are all talented basketball players.

No one on that team is trying to figure out how the game is played. Except M.

I'm not even talking about her talent - I don't know how skilled she is with a ball because she doesn't know the game yet.  So I feel like she's 5 steps behind the other girls right away. And that's hard.

I expressed that I thought maybe we should find a team more her speed but husband wants her on this team - he's confident she can do it. And I am too. I just think she needs to start at the beginning. With other beginners.

So we'll see how this goes!

What may be as awkward as M on the court is the fact that I think playing on this team might mean some awkwardness for some other people too...

Last year we went to a friend's house to watch a football game. There was another couple there - I was friendly but really didn't visit too much. The other wives were sitting together and talking and I was with the guys watching the game. So besides commentary about the plays, there were practically no talking. Towards the end of the night it came out that there is a tie between my campus and this guy's company but we didn't talk directly, beside me making a comment like "Oh, that's cool." As we all left,  social media came up and information was exchanged and we all connected. No big deal.

Late that night I noticed the guy had gone through my pictures and indicated that he liked them. Weird but not that weird, right?

A few days later I get a private message from him. It was completely weird, simply because we hadn't even talked that night. But the message was platonic so I responded in a completely platonic way.  Then he asked about having lunch together. He wasn't...surely, he's not...no, it couldn't possibly be in that way, right? So I told him I didn't usually go to lunch and avoided the situation. I wasn't sure how he meant it and didn't want to be presumptuous.  I really felt I was reading too much into it.  I shared with my husband and he agreed with me - we both felt that my indirect response seemed to cover it all.

We attended another celebration with our friends and the couple was there. Besides some group small talk, the guy pretty much ignored me so when we left the event my husband and I both felt even more confident that the lunch conversation had been intended innocently. I mean, I still wasn't gonna have lunch with the guy but I felt sure I had overanalyzed it and kind of laughed at myself that I would make the assumption that he might be hitting on me. I felt pretty silly.

Then randomly he sent me a proposition that made it obvious that he did mean it in that way.  I declined and he immediately explained that he had never done anything like that before and of course, never ever would.

How do you met someone, not even have a conversation with them and then start hitting on them? I mean, he can't even claim there was some kind of chemistry because we literally had never even had a real conversation. Unless you can develop chemistry from saying hello and goodbye. 

And how did he know I wouldn't immediately tell his wife?  He had no idea how I would respond.

Secondly, his wife is really, really pretty - way more attractive than me. She's tall and blond with a knockout body and a great smile. So it's not like he was just so overcome with desire for me that he couldn't help himself. I would be a downgrade.

So what would compel someone to try to hook up with a virtual stranger that is less attractive then the person they are currently with? I have only one conclusion: he thought I would be so grateful and flattered that I would be an easy yes. Or something about me just screamed easy slut.  Perhaps I watched the football game too suggestively.  Because nothing says "I'd like to screw you" like yelling "Go! Go! Go!".  

After turning him down, I never heard from him again.

Until they showed up at the basketball game.

This could get kinda awkward, don't you think?