Ex-Basketball Player
by John Updike
Pearl Avenue runs past the high-school lot,
Bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off
Before it has a chance to go two blocks,
At Colonel McComsky Plaza. Berth’s Garage
5 Is on the corner facing west, and there,
Most days, you'll find Flick Webb, who helps Berth out.
Flick stands tall among the idiot pumps—
Five on a side, the old bubble-head style,
Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low.
10 One’s nostrils are two S’s, and his eyes
An E and O. And one is squat, without
A head at all—more of a football type.
Once Flick played for the high-school team, the Wizards.
He was good: in fact, the best. In ’46
15 He bucketed three hundred ninety points,
A county record still. The ball loved Flick.
I saw him rack up thirty-eight or forty
In one home game. His hands were like wild birds.
He never learned a trade, he just sells gas,
20 Checks oil, and changes flats. Once in a while,
As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube,
But most of us remember anyway.
His hands are fine and nervous on the lug wrench.
It makes no difference to the lug wrench, though.
25 Off work, he hangs around Mae’s Luncheonette.
Grease-gray and kind of coiled, he plays pinball,
Smokes those thin cigars, nurses lemon phosphates.
Flick seldom says a word to Mae, just nods
Beyond her face toward bright applauding tiers
30 Of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads.
Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike
1. What does Flick do as a gag? (1 point)
a. plays pinball c. flicks cigar butts
b. stands among the idiot pumps d. dribbles an inner tube
2. What are “idiot pumps”? (1 point)
a. rubber hoses c. inner tubes
b. gas pumps d. tire pumps
3. Which of the following does Flick not do in his spare time? (1 point)
a. drink lemon phosphates c. play pinball
b. smoke thin cigars d. flirt with Mae
4. What record does Flick still hold? (1 point)
a. county c. school
b. city d. state
5. According to the speaker, what is it that Flick never learned? (1 point)
a. the fast break c. a dunk shot
b. a trade d. a lesson
6. Describe the town where Flick lives. How does the town feel about heroes?
(2 points)
______
7. Discuss how Flick's life has changed since high school. (1 point)
______
8. Does the poet present Flick more as a hero or a tragic figure? Explain. (1 point)
______
9. Find an example of personification in this poem. (1 point)
______
10. What is accomplished by waiting until stanza 3 to recap Flick’s glory days?
(1 point)
______
11. Why does the poet follow the description of Flick’s talented hands with the line“It makes no difference to the lug wrench, though”? (1 point)
______
12. At the end of the poem, what do the “Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads” represent for Flick? (1 point)
______
13. Explain how "tiers" in the final stanza could be a pun. (1 point)
______
14. In what way is Flick’s tendency to ignore Mae ironic? (1 point)
______