Will vs. Gravity: Prologue

Since the dawn of existence, man has gazed upon the limitless sky and dreamed but one dream: to fly with the birds, to christen the clouds, to dine with the gods.

Sadly, all efforts to levitate toward the heavens have been physically thwarted by gravity. Hope endured throughout the centuries until that bookworm Isaac Newton came along and officially spoiled the fun. Just as he predicted, all skyward launches have tragically plummeted back to the earth at -9.8 meters per second.

...Until now. I have taken it upon myself to defy gravity. No longer will I be bound to the land. The days of lowly loneliness are over. I believe I can fly; I believe I can touch the sky. In the names of R. Kelly, Brent Barry, and Woody Harrelson, I will dunk a basketball on a standard 10-foot rim by September 1st. You are all witnesses.

Cheerful rhetoric aside, let's briefly examine this endeavor in scientific terms. Here are my measureables:

Height	5'11 3/8
Weight	158 lbs. of pure athleticism
Vertical Leap (as of 5/27)	25 inches
Gender (as of 5/27)	Male
Sign	Leo
Career Dunks	0*

*Subject to change


With a running start, I can catch the rim with my right hand, as well as dunk a tennis ball. The problem is that I cannot reliably grip a basketball, so I need to be able to jump high enough to comfortably dunk two-handed. As such, by my esitmate I'll have to improve my vertical from 25" to about 29" over the course of the next three months. Thus, my incremental goal involves adding at least 1.5 inches per month, which would put me at 29.5" on September 1st. If I can build myself all the way up to 32", I might be able to throw one down within the flow of an actual game. Make no mistake: this is going to happen.



I'll be back with periodic updates, recounting the successes and failures throughout my noble quest to inhabit a new altitude. Please try to contain your excitement.

Welcome to the Space Jam...