In addition to the twisted ass* I appear to have a giant bruise on the back of each arm, a deep bruise on my chest and about a dozen little bruises & cuts on my forearms from where the hobbits** like to slap and poke.
Good thing basketball’s so fun.
Games like that, where it’s the big guys against the hobbits (or Team Asia vs. the world as they put it) usually follow a set pattern: the first few times I get group-slapped I don’t say anything; about half the time I can force it up and in and anyway. The next few times I’ll call fouls. But as the goes on I start to get frustrated and it kind of gets taken out on them. I won’t call fouls, I’ll just throw somebody out of the way. I figure if the reason they’re slapping at me is because I have 6 inches and 60 pounds on them then it’s only fair that I be allowed to put that to good use, right? Anyway, the first game like that ended with a flurry of swarming, slapping and grabbing, which led to me throwing a couple of guys out of the way to get my own rebound and stick it back for the win. We lost the second game like that, I think partly because they backed off and I played kinda loose & jovial; maybe I need to be half-pissed to play well.
*great name for a band, eh? “Tonight, live on stage: Twisted Ass!”
** anyone under 5’8″
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 
And how is basketball helping the weight issue?
On its own, it doesn’t do that much. We only place once a week (though it lasts 3 hours). So I have to find time to start running a couple of times a week. Eating is getting better already; I haven’t had butter chicken in a month. I figure that’s having a good effect *somewhere* in my body.