The first sports memory I can recall vividly is from the summer of 1992, when I was 7 years old.
In my grandparents' house in Waukee, Iowa, the couches have scratchy fabric, all brown, black and gold with white cross-stitching. The television set is in front of windows that face east out toward their garage and 10 acres of farmland.
I am on the floor. The sun is setting way out. And Michael Jordan is making six three-pointers in the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.
I am taken away.
He is shrugging.
My family is shrugging.
Is this perfection?
Three years later, I am in my driveway in Dallas Center, Iowa. It is early April and I am wearing my present for turning 10 years old: a Nike black and red nylon track suit.