When I was a kid, my favorite sport was basketball.  I wasn’t very good, but I sure loved shooting at the orange rim attached to a wooden backboard on Lord Court in Somersworth.   The ball inevitably bounced poorly and flew over the chain link fence, forcing me to jump the fence and run rapidly down the hill by the church before the ball landed on busy High Street below.  Despite the endless journeys (I missed a lot), I never grew tired of shooting hoops.

Those were the hay days of the Boston Celtics when Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Sam Jones (among many others) dominated the parquet and racked up eight consecutive NBA titles.  Let me repeat that:  eight National Basketball Association titles in a row!  No team has ever done it since, or come close.  The Red Sox went 80 years before winning the World Series; the Bruins didn’t win a Stanley Cup in modern times until 1970, and the Boston Patriots never won much of anything.  But the Celtics!  They were the gem of New England sports.

Later on, during the eighties, Larry Bird was the Celtics’ big star, leading his team to three NBA titles.  You probably remember my Larry Bird room in the big house at Waterloo?  I had an autographed Bird jersey, autographed basketball, posters and artwork adorning the walls of my “man room” where the pool table was front and center. Bird was always my favorite.

So imagine my sheer delight at finally having a grandchild – YOU – interested in basketball and doing well.   It’s so exciting seeing you steadily improving in Year Two of your hoops career… you’re already one of the best girls on your team.

One of my favorite moments with you over the past year was teaching you a few set plays at your house on Surrey Lane.  Dribble. Pass. Cut. Look. Shoot. Score.  You were a perfectionist, refusing to give up until you could do it the way you wanted to do it.  We were out there a long time.

I hope you stick with it and I can see you play in Middle School and High School. That would be so cool.

Ainsley Hoops Girl.

Swish.