My Number One Fan

Jacob Townsend

19 November 2012

Ms. Harmon

Pre AP English 10

My Number One Fan 

            November 13, 2012. I walk out of the locker room pumped for the first game of my high school career. Something is missing. My grandpa, My number one fan. He wasn’t anywhere to be found in the gym. He has been at all of my games, Even my first game.

It’s the 4^th quarter. Sweat drenches my face as I wait to hear my name called to go back in the game to finish what we started. The clock reads 1:00. I lose all hope in scoring my first ever points then I hear my name called from down the line.

“Townsend!” He yells, “Get in the game we’re going to let Joseph rest he’s played the whole game we got this one just go out there and pad your stats”

Then a thought comes to my head. What stats?

Joseph says to me “Go out there and score one for me will ya?”

I nod to him then I look up in the crowd and see my grandpa he smiles at me as I tuck in my jersey. I turn around and go on the floor I hear a familiar voice yell.

“Go get’em Jake!!”  The voice screams. It was my number one fan, my grandpa. That’s when it hit me. I've got to score my first points today. I go on the floor the point guard calls Gator. The play That I score off of in practice. I come off the screen and catch the ball. Time slows down. I raise the ball in the air and shoot it as have been taught since I could hold a ball. The ball spins in the net. Swish!!  I went crazy the time ran out it was a blow out on the scoreboard, But in my mind I just hit a game winner. I was easily the happiest eight year old in the gym. I hear the same voice from the crowd.

“There’s more where that came from!” My grandpa yells with the biggest smile on his face.

The ball Bounces in my hands in warm-ups. Still no sign of my grandpa though. I still warm up normally I act as if the time is running out in the biggest game of the season. I shoot the ball and act as if I hear a buzzer sound.

            I hear the buzzer go off as we come out of the timeout. There is ten seconds left on the clock . I hear screams and cheers from the student section. Then I look up and see my grandpa yelling with them. I looked back at my teammates and could tell they meant business.

The point guard put his hand in the middle of us and said,” Let’s do this guys this is our game we win this and the conference is ours.”

Then the coach chimed in “Let’s get it men team ball on three.”

The whole team put their hand in the circle and yelled, “One-Two-Three TEAM BALL!!”

I could feel the butterflies come in my stomach. I gazed up at my grandpa and they were gone I knew we could win this game. The play starts the ball crashes into my chest. Time starts ticking off the clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. I see my teammate wide open in his spot behind the three point line. I throw the ball right where he called for it. He takes the shot. The shot to win it all. The shot to lose it all. The shot of the year. The ball spins with perfect rotation. The gym is dead silent when the buzzer goes off. The ball dances on the rim and finally drops down into the net. Sound erupts from everyone in the gym.  The student section, my grandpa, my mom everybody was ecstatic and jumping for joy. We won the game we won conference.

Then the buzzer sounds again the coach calls us over and tells us how close the junior high school came to winning conference last year and points to a banner that reads, 6A East Runner ups!! Record 21-1. The loss that stung in our hearts. The loss that stung in our soul. The loss that will haunt us forever.

I hear the buzzer for the game to start. I pull off my warm-up top to get ready for my first hight school game that thought still in the back of my head. What if he’s not here? We go to half court to tip off and I see him standing at the top of the arena with the same smile on his face from the first game.

Then just like the first game he yells, “Go get ‘em Jake!!”