Flash

In recruiting many of my players, it usually takes a couple of viewings for me to get a general sense of the guy's ability. I like to see a lot of different things, ranging from a guy's overall athletic ability to his grasp of basic basketball fundamentals. One of the things I really pay attention to is how a guy responds on the court when he's losing. I want to see if the player is resilient and fights until the end. Nothing bothers me more than the ho-hum character who's just out there running around. I didn't quite pick up whether or not Flash had that competitive drive, but his "first step" was serious!

On that basis alone, I decided to sign him up. I knew it was very unlikely that I'd find another guard with that kind of burst on his first step. Unfortunately, Flash didn't come with a "Caution" label on him. This boy had ISSUES! One visit to his "hood" and apartment was enough for me to see why this dude was so screwed up. His mom was a heroin addict and his brother seemed to be developmentally delayed. That, however was his second home. Most of the time he lived with his girlfriend and her Godmother in a three bedroom unit that a cat would have found difficulty getting comfortable in.

Oh, and as with most Bubblees, he had dad issues.

He was my first self-mutilator. Flash never cut himself per se, but at least once a month, he would do something really stupid to compromise his general well-being.

Me: What's going on, man? Every professor has bad news about your grades. They say you've fallen off. What's going on?
Flash: Yeh coach... I've had a lot going on.
Me: Like what?
Flash: Stuff, man...
Me: Are we really gonna do this "pull it out of Flash" bit today? Come out with it. I can't help you if I don't know what's up.
Flash: (sigh) I got another baby comin...
Me: Uhh... you're broke and don't have a job. There are these things you can pick up from the local pharmacy, or even the Counseling office here on campus, to help you with this producing problem. They're called condoms.
Flash: (laughs...) She tricked me, Coach
Me: What do you mean?
Flash: She said she was on the pill?
Me: And you believed her???
Flash: Yeh. I went in it raw diggy and let off! I can't believe she'd do this to me.
Me: (mocking him) I thought you and your girl had a good situation going on. She didn't think one baby was enough?
Flash: That's the thing, Coach. It isn't my girl who's pregnant. It's this other chick who has wanted to have my seed for a minute. I can't believe she tricked me!!
Me: You decided to have raw sex with a woman who has wanted you to be her baby's dad?