Just Me, A Player

1
Just Me, A Player s PoemBy Tom Krause

• From the time I was little, I knew I was great
• cause the people would tell me, Youll make it
  just wait.
• But they never did tell me how great I would be
• If I ever played someone who was greater than me.

2

• When Im in the back yard, Im the king of ball
• To swish all those baskets is no swat at all.
• But all of a sudden theres a defender in my face
• Who doesnt seem to realize that Im the king of
  this place.

3

• So the pressure gets to me I rush with the ball.
• My passes to teammates could go through the wall.
• My jumpers not falling, my dribbles not sure.
• My hand is not steady my eye is not pure.

4

• The fault is my teammates they dont
  understand.
• The fault is my coaches what a terrible plan.
• The fault is the call by the blind referee.
• But the fault is not mine Im the greatest, you
  see.

5

• Then finally it hit me when I started to see
• That the face in the mirror looked exactly like
  me.
• It wasnt my teammates who were dropping the
  ball, and it wasnt my coach shooting bricks at
  the wall.

6

• That face in the mirror that was always so great
• Had some room for improvement instead of just
  hate.
• So I stopped blaming others and I started to
  grow.
• My play got much better and it started to show.

7

• And all of my teammates didnt seem quite so bad.
• I learned to depend on the good friends I had.
• Now I like myself better since I started to see
• That I was lousy being great Im much better
  being me

8
Summary

• This poems theme is growing and not having a big
  ego. Because when you think about it, if youre
  seriously into a sport and you dont have
  problems with pressure or anything else then you
  will never grow into the best you can be and you
  will always be stuck a few notches down.

9
Poetic Devices

• In the second stanza, second line, Onomatopoeia
  is used. To swish all those baskets
• In the second stanza, fourth line, Hyperbole is
  used. Im king of this place

10

• I chose this poem because I can relate with what
  it says. I can relate to everything in the poem.
  Because of this, I was able to expand my game. I
  first had to get over the pressure of coaches and
  scouts watching and not wanting to screw up.
  Once you can shut everything out, the only things
  you see are your teammates, the floor, the basket
  and the other team. When you can only hear your
  coach over the crowd, when you can see things
  before they happen, then you have truly grew as
  both a player and a person.

11
Five Qs

• 1) What do you think is meant by My hand is not
  steady my eye is not pure at the end of the
  third stanza?
• 2) Why was he blaming everyone else but himself?
• 3) Do you think the title Just Me is
  appropriate?
• 4) There are two mood swings in this poem.
  Where are they?
• 5) If the two teams played each other again,
  after the great guy figured everything out, who
  would win?