B-ball connections

I played a couple of basketball games at Camp Lebanon this past weekend. I had not played in quite a while. Needless to say I hurt. It was really fun to get back to playing the game. I noticed something as we played 4 on 4 on a outdoor hoop with dribble stopping cracks in the concrete. I have noticed that men quickly form a connection with each other as they play basketball. In the span of a few minutes I am talking back and forth with my teammates, encouraging and exhorting as we work at trying to win. I felt that I knew these guys better than anyone I had met all weekend. A teenage boy had to guard me one game. I had an inch or two on him as well as a good 40 pounds. I was able to take it to him, push him around at will. After that, whenever we saw each other, even across a room, we smiled. I was able to get into a significant conversation with one of the dads that was on my team at supper time. I probably wouldn't have had that without the b-ball connection. I think that we guys often struggle with personal relationships with other men and we often need an activity to help us to connect.