“On the line!”
is what my coach would yell
when it was time for conditioning.
“On the line!”
is what my coach would yell
when we made a mistake.
“On the line!”
is what the ref would say
when a player was fouled.
But what if “on the line”
wasn’t a command—
but a feeling?
A feeling that comes
when someone makes you so angry
you could punch them,
but you know the consequences are too great.
On the line
is how I felt every time coach singled me out
for not running fast enough in conditioning.
On the line
is how I felt
when coach screamed at me
for missing a shot.
On the line
is how I felt
when the same player fouled me
one too many times.
That’s when it started to feel personal.
Everyone has their moments.
And sometimes,
those moments are felt
on the line.
