I don’t know what to say. I’m out of excuses; the well has run dry. I must admit, before this week I was very close to giving up on Spencer Vs. all together. Then, while surfing the Web, I came across an O.J. Simpson quote that really opened my eyes. The Juice said, “The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making excuses, that’s the day you start to the top.” Granted, those are the words of a murdering criminal, but the message struck home and I pledged to myself that I would see Spencer Vs. through to the end.

For this edition I took on my biggest challenge yet, the 6-foot 8-inch Jesse Buchsbaum. Jesse plays varsity basketball for Huron High School. The big man is a key factor in the paint for the Rats, blocking shots and pulling down rebounds. I’m listed at about 5 foot 9 inches on a good day, just about as tall as Jesse’s shoulder. Good thing height doesn’t matter in basketball.

So we met at the Ann Arbor Open gym at 10 a.m. Saturday. Jesse started off by displaying his dunking ability during warm-ups and I countered with a two-handed slam on the much smaller 8-foot rim. Finally, we took the court. Mercifully, Jesse let me start with the ball. He checked it up and I started to dribble. Trying to get past him was like trying to get by a 6-foot 8-inch spider monkey. Those freakishly long arms swiped the ball away within the first few seconds.

Jesse decided that he would take the ball inside on his first possession. I got a great look at his stomach as he laid in the ball. Luckily, we weren’t playing Make It-Take It or else I probably never would have gotten the ball. In our game to 11, Jesse scored 8 straight points. I hit a couple of half-court shots to make the score 10-4 in Jesse’s favor.

The game was extended due to Jesse’s wish to end the game on a dunk. During that time I hit a couple more half-courters to make the final score 11-8 in Jesse’s favor.

Even though most of my points came when Jesse was messing around, it gives me a certain inner triumph to have kept the score close. It has given me a small boost of motivation to keep going. The way I see it, losing makes you stronger. Going by that logic, I should be pretty damn strong.