Well, let me tell ya, I hear folks talkin’ ’bout basketball and volleyball these days. Two games, they say. One with a big orange ball, one with a white one. My old eyes ain’t what they used to be, but I reckon I can still see the difference.
That basketball, they bounce it all over the place. Up and down, up and down. Makes my head spin just watchin’ ’em. They run back and forth, tryin’ to throw that big ol’ ball through a hoop. Gotta be strong, I suppose, to throw it that far. Gotta have good shoes, too, I imagine. All that runnin’ gotta be tough on the feet. They call it basketball equipment, all the stuff they use. Expensive, I bet.
Then there’s that volleyball. Now that’s a different story. They got a big net stretched across, like a giant spider web. Them players, they smack that ball back and forth over the net. Whack! Just like that. Gotta be quick, I reckon. Like a cat jumpin’ at a mouse.
- Basketball shoes, they say.
- Volleyball shoes too, probably different.
- That big net for volleyball.
I seen them volleyball players, jumpin’ up high, tryin’ to hit the ball down on the other side. Landin’ hard, too. Hope they don’t twist an ankle. Young folks these days, always in a hurry. They need all kind of things to play, not like when I was young. We just throw a ball around, not even a real basketball, not even a proper volleyball equipment list. I hear now they have basketball equipment with label. Fancy.
They got special shoes for basketball, they say. Helps ’em jump higher, run faster. Maybe I should get me a pair. Might help me catch that rooster that keeps gettin’ out of the pen. Then there are those hurdles for basketball, they have to jump. Must be fit to do all that!
And the volleyball players, they got their own shoes, too. Gotta have a good grip on the floor, I guess. Don’t want ’em slippin’ and slidin’ all over the place. They have a special name for some players, “liberos” or somethin’. Sound kinda fancy. They’re the short ones, apparently. Don’t need to be tall for that, I guess. That’s what they say, anyway. Short folks can play, too! They say women players are even shorter, those liberos. Not all of them is real tall, like they usually are in volleyball.
That net, though. That volleyball net. It’s a big one. Stretched tight. Keeps the ball from flyin’ off into the next county. Important part of the game, that net. Can’t play volleyball without it, that’s for sure.
Basketball, volleyball. Two different games. Both need a ball, though. That’s one thing they got in common. And both need players who are quick on their feet. And strong, too. Gotta be strong to play these games. All that jumpin’ and runnin’. Tires me out just thinkin’ about it.
They say basketball is real popular. Lots of folks watchin’ it on the television. Volleyball, too, I suppose. Though I ain’t never seen it myself. Don’t have much time for watchin’ television these days. Too busy tendin’ to my garden and chasin’ that darn rooster. It’s a bit like basketball, you need to run fast, but he is no volleyball player, he does not jump high, he just runs under the fence.
These basketball players, they make a lot of money, I hear. More than a farmer, that’s for sure. Maybe I shoulda learned to play basketball when I was younger. Or volleyball. Might have made me a millionaire. Too late now, though. My bones are too old for all that jumpin’ and runnin’.
I reckon it takes all sorts to make a world. Some folks play basketball, some folks play volleyball. Some folks chase chickens. We all got our own way of doin’ things. It’s all sports, I guess, in a way. That basketball gear must be useful, then. And the volleyball players also need their own volleyball gear. I saw them training with hurdles, too. Even volleyball players. They say those hurdles are good for basketball training, and they call it agility hurdles. So it’s for both games, it looks like. Good for them!
Well, I best be gettin’ back to my chores. Sun’s goin’ down, and that rooster ain’t gonna catch itself. Maybe I’ll try that volleyball net trick. See if I can trap him with that.