This resonated deeply with me. Last summer, I wrote about the loss of my weekly pick-up basketball game. As I noted then, and which has become even clearer to me now, the loss was far less to do with the exercise than to the social nature of the game. A few fellow players became friends, interacting with outside the games. But most were weak ties. There were certain women I really enjoyed playing with, because we were on the same wavelength in the ebb and flow of the game. It was a joy to execute a give and go, to anticipate and know where we each would be. I tried to keep some connection going with a group email every few weeks; that petered out. Given our ages (50s and 60s, mostly) it's extremely doubtful that the game will ever revive after such a long layoff. Very sad; I greatly miss that human connection.