Ever watched a game of basketball-of anything-while listening to a song and realized how much different the music made the game seem? No more whistles. No more cheers. No more plays being yelled. No sneakers squeaking across the floor. Just gestures, movements, fundamentals. Just the players doing their thing. Playing the game they love. It is its own story. Its amazing how one game, one little game, can mean the world to someone, can define someone. One single game can change somebody's entire outlook on life.

When I'm on the court, I feel that nothing else exists. Just the game of basketball. No stress from school, no drama, no fights with the boyfriend. Just basketball. And that...that makes me feel invicible. The feeling of that soft, cool leather running through my hands defines me. The sound of that ball bouncing to the shiny gym floor as it leaves my hand, the swish of the net, the adrenaline from a rebound-it all defines me. And maybe for you basketball is just a sport. Maybe it's just "something the stupid jocks play." Well, call me a jock, but you're wrong. For most of us, it's not just something we play. It makes us different people. It defines who we are. And that's how all sports are for people who really love it. From cheerleading and gymnastics to basketball and football. From drawing to playing the flute. Make your judements as you wish, but we are all one. We all love something and live for that something. And for me, that's basketball.

And I'll admit, in a sense, my writing this is hypocricy. I judge. But I'm willing to put a stop to it. I know when enough is enough. We've all done enough. But then I begin to wonder... is it really possible to not judge? Aren't we, by saying one person is more attractive than another, judging? By being better friends with one person and not the other...isn't that, in a sense, judging?

Maybe it's possible, maybe it isn't...to not judge.

But here it goes:

the beginning of an end...