{"id":2444483,"date":"2019-05-21T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T03:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/a-swish-to-build-a-dream-on\/"},"modified":"2019-05-21T21:52:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T03:52:00","slug":"a-swish-to-build-a-dream-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/a-swish-to-build-a-dream-on\/","title":{"rendered":"A swish to build a dream on"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I recently bought a water pick. If you don\u2019t know what that is, it\u2019s a device that shoots water between your gums similar to what a dentist uses. It was $50. If you would\u2019ve told me two years ago, five years ago, even eight months ago, that I\u2019d spend whatever extra money I have on glorified floss that doesn\u2019t negate flossing, I would\u2019ve laughed at you.<\/p>\n

It may be a sign of maturity that I used my excess money for something other than a bag of bud, a 12-pack of Bud or another frivolous purchase. However, if you watched me during my beloved Portland Trail Blazers playoff run, you\u2019d think I was still 12.<\/p>\n

I convulsed on the ground and kicked my shoes off after Damian Lillard hit a ridiculous, mind- and Twitter-exploding 40 footer to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder \u2014 and the buzzer \u2014 in the first round. I woke up my roommate and probably a few neighbors to join me as I relished in the reaction and subsequent goodbye wave.<\/p>\n

In the second round, I paced like an anxious, soon-to-be father during the four-overtime game against the Denver Nuggets. When Rodney Hood pump-faked and splashed in the game-winning 3, I leapt and smacked the ceiling. During Game 7 of the same round, I forced my co-worker to host me while I screamed in vindication as the Blazers and C.J. McCollum toppled the home team to move onto the Western Conference Finals. By the way, we were supposed to be at work (sorry, Dave, I can\u2019t lay out pages when my entire body is shaking due to adrenaline).<\/p>\n

The third round, well, let\u2019s not talk about the third round unless you want a 3,000-word diatribe about the sanctity of competition.<\/p>\n

The best thing about sports fandom is how it transports you to a place of utter helplessness and hopefulness. The only thing that matters during the beginning and buzzer is the scoreboard. You can\u2019t replicate the heartbreak of defeat or the euphoria of victory in any other facet of life because, for me at least, the other parts of existence that elicit those feelings come from real-life occurrences that actually matter.<\/p>\n

The effects of marriage, divorce, death and birth may last as long as the memory of a sporting event, but they stain your soul in a different way.<\/p>\n

But sports? Sports are great because they\u2019re a release. They don\u2019t change your life from a big-picture standpoint but you do get to act like a kid again. I can still remember where I was when Brandon Roy beat the Rockets on a random regular season game (basement of my house on Walnut Street) or when I heard the news about Greg Oden\u2019s first microfracture surgery (horticulture class at UNO, it was a sunny day) or when Lillard hit his first series-ending buzzer beater (random hotel outside of Denver while my parents slept) or when Roy announced his retirement from the Blazers (Club Commons, in bed, in agony).<\/p>\n

Where else can you find that sort of meaningful \u2014 but at the same time \u2014 meaningless outlet?<\/p>\n

If you know, please tell me, because I can\u2019t think of one.<\/p>\n

Sports are fantastic. Go Blazers! Rip City \u2018til I die.<\/p>\n

Sean Beckwith apologizes to Nuggets fans for reopening that wound \u2014 except Dale. You know what you did, and you deserve this. Email at sbeckwith@aspentimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently bought a water pick. If you don\u2019t know what that is, it\u2019s a device that shoots water between your gums similar to what a dentist uses. It was $50. If you would\u2019ve told me two years ago, five years ago, even eight months ago, that I\u2019d spend whatever extra money I have on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2444483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 14:24:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}