Hoop dreams

I played basketball a little in school. I had no game. I could dribble, but that’s more to do with the extensive orthodontal work I underwent to correct the ‘Chucky from Rugrats’ look I was rocking. Ho ho ho. But I used to watch it on Channel 4, around the end of the Michael Jordan days, and the beginning of the Kobe era. Just thinking about some of the names that time conjures makes me nostalgic: Kobe, Mike, Shaq, Sir Charles, Allen Iverson…

I don’t think any of them ever considered a move to Worcester Wolves, who are currently 10th in the British Basketball League. But perhaps they should, because while US basketball is currently mired in gun, drug and sexual assault scandals, Worcester Wolves have a lovely chap called Dave Smith working for them, who sent me this email:

Re: I could be your new biggest fan!
To: Richard Jones
 
Hi Richie,
Interesting e-mail!  May I ask you where you live?

Being a fan of a BBL basketball team usually involves coming to most of the home games …

What do you know about basketball?  Have you ever been to a game?

I look forward to hearing from you and then we can ‘talk’ some more.

Cheers

Dave Smith
Worcester Wolves Basketball Club

Pretty sweet. So I duly replied. I don’t know what it is about this endeavour that makes me write emails like a slightly demented geek, but hey ho:

Hi David!
 
Thanks for your reply! I live in London at the moment, and used to follow NBA when i was younger, and played basketball in school, so i know a little. But i really want to get away from football, which is oversubscribed as a sport anyway, and focus my sporting attention on a more deserving recipient – are Worcester Wolves a team i can get behind?
 
Thanks,
 
Richie
 
I know, I know – too many exclamation marks, not enough capitalisation. But it evidently didn’t freak him out too much, because he replied again!!!!!!!

Hi Richie,

Of course we are!

Do you have transport?  Could you get to games?

You will find our fixtures on our website.

I could add you to my e-mail list so you would get a newsletter each week.

You could also get to know two other websites:- www.bbl.org.uk (which is our league website) and www.pawprint75.co.uk (a long standing basketball ‘e-zine’); then, if you are into forums, the main one we use is www.whatsbev.com

… scroll down & click on ‘BBL’, then you will find a General area and one for each team.
Cheers

Dave Smith
Worcester Wolves Basketball Club

You know, in the age of the ‘blow me, f**kwad’ style of email, nice, polite people like Dave are even more special. And I have to say, we have a new frontrunner in the race to be my new favourite team. Not that it’s a race, per se. More of a three day eventing kind of vibe. Is equestrianism a team sport? I might email them if so. Can someone let me know, yay or nay. YAY OR NAY! I’M ON FIYAAAA!!!

Holla.

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