Look at ‘em out there, will you? They’re in their mid-70s, shooting layups, setting picks, some of ‘em practically leaving the floor itself to reach for rebounds, with their knee-braces and artificial hips and enduring fantasies vivid as any 14-year-old who’s shooting hoops down at the neighborhood schoolyard.
They’re beautiful, aren’t they?
They’re regulars in the Bykota basketball league, year-round pick-up competitors at the crowded indoor gym inside the Baltimore County Senior Center at Joppa and Bosley roads.
Bykota stands for Be Ye Kind One to Another.
And kind they are, although they’re balancing kindness against an undying desire — not just to win but to show themselves they’ve still got it, that they’re still holding onto vagrant traces of their very own youth.
And they’re pretty serious about it, and pretty damned good, too.
Take the guys pictured here. There’s Morty Marcus, 75. Mike Mond, 75. Ivan Leshinsky, 75. Alan Goldstein, 74. Pete Litchka, 72.
Year-round, they’re out here every week for pretty serious pickup games among the geriatric set. But once a year, these five enter the Maryland Senior Olympics. And for the past three years, they’ve won state championships in the 70-to-75 division.
A week ago in Ellicott City, they won the latest state title (“state” is actually a misnomer since teams from out-of-state can enter the competition) by wiping out a team from Arbutus, 62 to 27, and then edging out a West Virginia team, 38 to 35.
“For our age, we’re all really good,” Marcus said last week while clutching his newest Senior Olympics gold medal.
They’ve all got pretty good pedigrees.
Leshinsky played varsity ball for a Long Island University team that made it to the National Invitational Tournament back in the 1960s and lost to Notre Dame by one point. Then he was a late-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics.
Litchka coached North Carroll High’s varsity team for 15 years out in Carroll County. Goldstein played JV ball for Forest Park High School. Mond once played city league ball out in South Bend, Indiana. Marcus was such a star in his days at the University of Maryland that he was a high-scoring ringer in fraternity league games.
“At our age,” Marcus says, “we get the aches and pains, but we muddle on.”
“My cardiologist tells me, ‘Keep playing as long as you can,'” says Goldstein
It gives them back some semblance of youth.
“This is what we played for as kids,” says Marcus. “For me, it goes back to my old Forest Park neighborhood, with a rim on the garage that was bent, and you’re dreaming of winning the big one.”
The Senior Olympics has fulfilled that dream. But most weeks, it’s classic pickup ball at the Bykota, a few dozen aging jocks in half-court games. They still have some of the same moves as 60 years ago, but they’re doing them at reduced speed.
The other day, they were joined by Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. He’s a little young and sprightly for this crowd. He’s only 40. Also, he’s 6-feet-6 and used to play varsity ball for Sparrows Point High.
On this weekday morning, he’s on a pickup squad that takes on the state champs. He and the 6-foot-7 Leshinsky are matched up.
“Don’t dunk on me, okay,” Olszewski says to Leshinsky.
“Dunk?” says Leshinsky. “When I go up, you couldn’t fit a phone book under my feet.”
“Dunk?” says his teammate, Mike Mond. “The only thing he can dunk is donuts.”
It’s all good natured kibitzing — until the action starts. Then, the old athletic instincts take over. They’re slower than they once were, and happy the game’s only half-court
But these are serious players who don’t want to tarnish memories of their former selves. When they lay their heads on their pillows each night, the vision they hold dear is that guy on the court, and he’s 18 again.
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