Make Your Free Throws

The Great Plotnik likes how he feels on Sundays after the 3 B's -- bicycle, basketball, bagels. There was lots of fog in the air early this morning, so much so that the deck looked like it had been raining. But the streets were dry and the b-ball court was too.

Unlike the old Saturday game, when Plotnik never knew if enough guys would show up to play, the Sunday game always attracts just the right number: 13 or 14. That way, 10 play and 3 or 4 wait, which means that if you play and lose, there will still be 1 or 2 spots available for the next game. To determine which people get to play in the next game, everyone on the losing team shoots free throws.

If there are 2 spots open, the guys on the losing team keep taking turns shooting free throws until everybody has missed but two people. Those two get to play. If you're a good free thrower, you'll often get to keep playing all morning.

Plottie's a pretty good free thrower, so although his teammates would rather have one of the bigger guys on their team, the bigger guys are bad free throwers. Plottie doesn't miss too often, so while he's running up and down the court, the big boppers cool their heels on the bench.

Too bad, Big Boppers. As Magic Plotnik Johnson once said, "You can't teach tall." But you can teach free throwing. Practice a little bit, why don'tcha?