The Magic Number Is...34

I used to fly high, dating all the way back to 8th grade when we tested our vertical leap for the first time.  If I recollect correctly, I scored the highest on the team with a 24-inch standing jump.  That season, I averaged more turnovers than points per game and probably shot 12% from the floor...but I could jump.

A History of Flight

I dunked for the first time as a freshman at Ricks College after attempting a mere 1287 times.  After getting over the initial psychological hump, it got easier to dunk with each try.  This is me at age 19 --well before iPhones, photo-shop, and participation trophies.  Those were glorious days before things like a 30-year mortgage, 6 kids, and Barney started weighing me down. 

Flying high before a 30-year mortgage

Here's me today, and you can see the difference ~25 years of Barney makes; it's just harder to get off the ground.

What 25 years of Barney does to your vert

Crunching the Numbers

To get high enough to dunk in the time allotted, it's going to come down to numbers.  Lots of them.

71.75.  My height in inches (5’ 11¾”).  I never broke six feet!  I’d always been miffed I wasn't 6'6", but after I first flew coach for over 8 hours, I changed my mind.  That flight, I fantasized about being the little guy 3 rows behind me at 2'7'' and wearing footy pajamas.

2.  The number of feet (human appendages, not increments of measure) I have to jump off.  I don't know why, but I've always had trouble dunking off of one foot which, in theory, is easier.  Go figure.

10.  The height of a regulation basketball hoop (3.05 meters).  No, I won't be going to the local elementary school to dunk on an 8-foot-hoop over a pack of kindergartners eating Goldfish while sipping juice boxes.  I have some dignity.

98.  The number of days left to train for the dunk to raise 44k for refugees.  *gulp*

44.  How many trips this man will have traveled around the sun by August 4th, 2017 (Dunk Day).  Technically this is two days shy of my birthday, but I won’t be dunking on Sunday.  (Google Chariot's of Fire or watch it on Netflix.)

34.  This is the magic number—the number of inches I need to put between my Nikes and the ground to have enough elevation to dunk.  Getting to this number on Dunk Day means I will cry like a baby; coming up short on Dunk Day means I will cry like a baby.  Either way I will be crying, and it will be baby-like.

Thirty-four inches is the magic number to dunk on D-day

50%.  Chance I gave myself when I started that I could pull this off; also the chance that statistically Heather and I would be expecting a baby in our 30s.  After a few weeks under my belt, I'm upping my dunking probability to ~70%.  But, Heather and I are done having kids.  Really!  😊

1876.  Daily allotted calories during my Lego"loss" phase to get to goal weight.  Also the year Benjamin Franklin invented the Twinkie while kite surfing in search of lightning. (Ok, I just made that up -- but it sounds cool).

Numbers That Matter Most

All cheekiness aside, the reason behind the numbers above is found in the numbers below.  Mad Hops 4 Humanity is far more about our fellow human beings in crisis than it is about one man conquering a goal; it's about helping the IRC to help refugees.

With that in mind, let's talk the numbers that really matter: 

122.  The number of people you would need to meet globally before encountering a refugee.  So, imagine if the school you attended growing up had a representative sample of the world's population.  A handful would be individuals involuntarily displaced due to war, famine, violent crime, religious intolerance, or sex trade.

50%.  The likelihood those individuals would be children.  It's hard for me to wrap my head around this.  Many of us have tasted anxiety as we work to maintain an appropriate cocoon of safety and innocence around children to reassure them in times of turmoil.  I can't fathom the crushing stress families navigate when forced to flee their homes.

Photo courtesy of IRC

90.  Days that refugees have support from the US government—it’s a race against time for them to become self-sustaining, get social security cards, find employment, enroll children in school, and begin paying back the cost of their plane tickets to the US.  The IRC plays a huge role here in helping them navigate this morass; the passenger van we're raising funds for will be a game changer by dramatically amplifying the support they can provide.

85,000.  Number of refugees that came to the US to begin rebuilding their lives in 2016 represented by some 79 countries.  Since 1980, 3 million refugees have come into the US as our country has helped lead the way in resettlement. 

Reunification.  Photo courtesy of the IRC

18 - 24.  Months it takes for a typical Syrian family to get into the US as of 2015.  The rigorous vetting process in this New York Times article details up to 20 critical steps to ensure those entering are considered safe to resettle here.

Zero.  Number of acts of terror carried out by resettled refugees in this time.  Yes, zero.  Acts of terror are more likely to be committed by US citizens sympathizing with radical causes or those entering the country on tourist, student, or other visas.

Impossible to quantify.  What your contribution means to the families helped by the IRC.  Please take a moment to donate.

Mad Hops 4 Humanity was born out of the crazy notion that an under 6-foot guy could dunk a basketball on his 44th birthday to raise 44k for refugees.  

If you're a little crazy about the current refugee crisis, take a moment to contribute. Funding benefits the Seattle office of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) for use in purchasing and maintaining a passenger van to provide critical transportation services for refugees resettling in the US. 

The IRC is a 501c(3)organization and contributions in the US are tax deductible.