Why I... renewed my subscription to NBA broadband

This is the next installment in a series called "Why I..." in which I explain why I do certain things that might seem irrational given my current lack of any real income.


In a former life, I was defined first and foremost as a basketball player.  I mean that in the "college admissions" sense of "what are you?"  It was my life, plain and simple.  I was quite good too.  I played on a high school team that won several regional championships out in California, and we were the California State Runners-up one season (yes, that means we lost in the State Championship.  While I've yet to watch a video of the game (would you?), I'm positive we got jobbed by home-town refs).  I was even co-captain along with a friend of mine who has played professionally the past few years in and around Europe.

So what happened you ask?  Well, when it came time to decide what to do post high school, I decided to hang-up the sneakers competitively and go have a normal (non-athlete) college experience.  Well, within four years of that, I had blown out my knee playing pickup games (torn ACL), had surgery on my knee, started playing again too soon after surgery, threw out my back, and had surgery on my back.  This was all back when I still lived in LA.

I moved to NY in the summer of '07 determined to get back on the court.  And I did, for about a year.  Well, eventually, I twisted my ankle up real bad and came to the realization that I just was not meant to play basketball anymore.  Period.  End of Paragraph.  Devastating.

Getting back to the point of this post.  At the heart of the "Why I..." series is ways I treat myself to certain things despite my relative cash poverty (see former post here: Cash Poor).  While I'm tracking every dollar I spend, these are the things that the subjective value I derive from them so far outstrips the actual monetary value that despite my belt tightening (and there has been a ton), I'm just not about to give up.

So, NBA Broadband is a service provided by the NBA, wherein, all non-nationally televised games are viewable online.  Mostly, I watch as many Laker games as I can.  But, I also try to catch as many non-Laker games as I can too.  Beyond being intellectually stimulating (which I find it), watching basketball reconnects me with the former life I wrote about above.

Normally, when I think about not being able to play ball anymore, I get pretty emotional.  Its not something I'm happy about.  At all.  But watching the games, is different.  I'm not thinking about the game and getting pissed off at the person who stepped on my foot causing my knee to pop and depriving me of one of my greatest joys in life, because that hasn't happened yet.  When I watch I'm still 16, I still in good health, and I can still hoop.

Being able to reconnect like that without the disappointment is well worth the $100.

---- Add on by Fletch

I love baseball.  Playing, watching, attending, heckling and the modern drunken softball version of the game we played when younger.

Bobby has a legacy of playing basketball that I can't pretend I have with baseball.  Because of swimming and diving, I stopped playing baseball in high school, but never lost my adoration for the game.  Is there anything better then having a catch?  Honestly?

So I pay MLB.com every year for access to my beloved Philadelphia Phillies.  And usually I buy the next year in December of the previous at a discount.  Subjectively worth it, even if that means a few more ramen meals. Plus, I can watch on my iphone now or listen to the hometown radio call. Awesome.

Pretending I can hit a major league fastball or throw out a runner on second.  Well worth the $120.00.