“The only rule is that you can't cross this line. If the ball hits you, you'reout. If someone catches a ball you throw, you're out. We'll keep playing until there are five of you left,” Dinkleman explained.I thought to myself, “What the fuck? That was like, four rules, not one.”

“Gary’s immediate thought was that either this woman wasn’t planning on wearing much in the way of clothing for the duration of her stay, or she liked to wear clothes repeatedly until they were ripe.”

“Pete Berman sized up his competition like a predator lining up its prey. Gerry Williams dribbled once with his left hand, stopped on a dime, and nailed an open 15-footer. He had played on the Fellingwood Varsity Basketball Team since his freshman year, and was now a 16 year-old boy in a man's body. Pete sat on a board of the old splinter-ridden, wooden stands fixed on Gerry, but he was unable to defend his turf. His team was losing badly again, and the waiting was pure agony.”

“With every plus there must be a minus; with every tear there must be a smile; and for every skunk there must be a fragrant flower. We live our lives in fear of dying and we overlook the simple truth that living is all we can control. Never too high, never too low will get you stuck in the middle of the road. A sense of equilibrium is needed to see life as it is, not what you would like it to be.”

“Swish,” the net sounded like the blast of a cannon, signaling the game was tied at 64. Dave then saw the second shot in his mind before even going into his pre-shot routine. The ball tickled the front rim, brushed against the backboard, and then dropped through the net. The home crowd erupted as Dave backpedaled toward the opposing rim. Central High attempted a last-second shot that fell short into Breslin's hands. The fans rushed onto the floor as the number two train came roaring into the station, bringing Dave back from his glorious past back into the oppressive heat of the present.”

“Bruce looked at David and David asked, “Is that Harold?”He was wearing the same Meadow Brook Basketball jacket and had only a few gray hairs left on his round head. Harold walked up to his two favorite players and exclaimed, “Give me five!” and he extended both hands and the guys lightly slapped his palms, as the other eight ex-players chuckled in the background.The cylinders started clicking in David’s mind as Harold said, “On the other side.”The guys lightly slapped the knuckle side of Harold’s hand as David said, “Oh, shit!”

“I used to love that movie Wall Street and the line‘Greed is good.’ Honestly, the only thing greed got me was five years inprison, the loss of my wife and possessions, and the company I loved,”Brad said slumping in his chair with his head down.”