Saturdays – at least the mornings – are one of my hoops day; that's basketball for those who need more clarity. I enjoy it; it's intergenerational (even more so in the summer but that'll merit its own blog...maybe).

Some players have nicknames – Israeli Mike, Big Dave, Big Steve, Rug; some get called by last names – Stein, Blitz, Gluck, Cody; there are brothers, Lenny and Dave (who may be our oldest player); there are father and sons Eric and Bennie and Zach, and Lee and Steve (who fills in when we are short); Lenny is also known for not rarely taking a game-winning shot when his team leads; he likes to prolong the game.

Its an interesting mix of guys – almost all that other “tribe”. A retired educator, a postal worker, a catalogue designer, a few subway motorman, a factor, a few in sales, a franchise consultant, a moving co. manager, office supplies co. owner, a senior IT guy for a cable co., a furniture co. VP, a retired (union) electrician, a union carpenter, a locksmith, a valet parking co. owner and manager, and a landlord, two college students (their dad plays of course). And then me, the attorney.

By playing ball summers at my Deepdale (since last year, Tanenbaum) Pool, I got invited to the Saturday game. When Eric decided to re-start a Tuesday game, I joined that as well. Joe is the last person we invited from our summer game; talent alone does not get you in.

Both games started at a school in Bayside where one of our number served as Principal (as a school board member one of my last official acts was to approve his appointment twenty-three years ago).

After Bruce retired we continued there but construction at the school required us to find new locations. Eventually we settled on Saturdays at my old elementary school and Tuesdays at the school Shelly attended when she moved to Glen Oaks from East New York; interestingly I knew that principal's dad. Construction followed us there and we consolidated two years ago at my alma mater.

One thing I really like involves the expectation the open man takes the shot; perhaps the classic Knicks team of our youth influences our play; we pass a lot.

I really cherish the moment several summers ago when Lenny and Eric invited me to join this game.  And it's really cool as I am expected to wear a Poco tee-shirt (thus the pic for this blog.).