PS 4

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So I headed into the gaming room to face the boys in the PS4 sports games. They had been on me since Christmas to participate so I broke down.

First rule:

No rap music on in the background.

Second rule:

I choose their team and I get to play at home with a good team.

The first game was the Golden State Warriors against the Sacramento Kings.

I knew a couple of things about it. Golden State has a great 3-point shooter and the Kings suck. My opponent was Sam, and the game opened with him laughing hard because I grabbed a rebound and hit the wrong button, shooting it from the full-length of the court.

And let me tell you, the game has really evolved. They interview players at half-court. The players have sweat dripping down their faces. The whistles are real. The crowd noise is real, and the scores scrolling at the bottom of the screen are the NBA scores from the real NBA games that are going on in the real world.

It's weird.

I shot every single time with Curry.

He had 45 points.

The final score was 84 to 81.

I lost.

Sam never shut up.

So then it was time for the game with Jake.

I was New England. He was the Buffalo Bills.

I made a huge mistake there.

I shouldn't have given him the team he plays with all the time.

It was 13 to nothing when I quit...just a couple of minutes before the first half ended.

"I thought you told us that we can't quit just because we're losing," Sam said.

"You can't," I said. "I can."

But I get why they enjoy the games so much. It certainly has changed from when I was a kid. Back in the 80's and 90's we were stuck with the players that were on the team at the start of the year. Now you can update the rosters with the current roster with a click of the button.

"What happened out there?" Sam asked as I headed away from both of them.

"I wasn't mentally prepared to play," I said. "They franchise-tagged me and I ain't happy with my contract. Besides I had a concussion and the team doctor sent me back out there to play even though I had headaches. The fans don't understand me. I'm playing out my option and I'm getting the hell out of here."

I have a bad feeling about this.

I'm gonna' have to practice when they aren't home.

'Cause they ain't ever gonna' shut up about it.

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