Last night I was watching the UConn-St. Joe's game while I thought the Wife was doing something on her IPad, when I noticed she was intently watching the game and looking a little nervous. She looked over at me and said, "It really makes a difference when you do a pool." Funny thing is, the only "pool" she did was to pick games so she could compete with me and Middle.
She is, of course, correct. The more you have invested in a sporting event, the more it matters. Eldest's tournament championship in basketball was irrelevant in the overall scheme of life, but we had our child invested, so that game was one of the most stressful I have ever experienced. A Cowboys football game always means more to me than any other, except maybe a Redskins game, when I am rooting for someone to lose, rather than to win. I quit Fantasy Football because I was tired of caring about irrelevant games solely because they impacted my fantasy team. I had money invested in that. Too much money.
This year, I found a new level of stress with the NCAA Tournament. There has always been some stress, whether to win a pool or simply to have bragging rights. I just watched Duke lose their first round game and now have a sinking feeling in my somach. I did pick Duke to reach the Final game, so that hurt, but that's not the source of my stress. I am not a Duke fan, so that's not the source of my stress. No, the source of my stress is Middle. Fatherhood has now impacted my enjoyment of the NCAA Tournament.
About 5 days ago, I asked Eldest and Middle if they wanted to do an NCAA pool. Middle had spent two weeks asking me about March Madness, but he references it in a way that is a little different. Every time I watched a college basketball game, he would ask "Is this part of the March madness?" I have no idea where he learned this term, but he really enjoyed it. "When does the March Madness begin?" "Has the March Madness started?" "Is William and Mary in the March Madness?" "Is Miami in the March Madness?" "Did LeBron James play in the March Madness?" I think it was the constant use of "the" in front of "March Madness" that threw me off.
Initially, both boys wanted to do the pool. Eldest seemed interested for fun, Middle wanted "to win money." When it finally came time to do the pool, Eldest bowed out. Middle jumped in with both feet. I gave him the games and he pondered the choice and gave me an answer. In many cases, he did so with great enthusiasm, such as yelling, "AMERICAN!" with a great deal of national pride. As he progressed through the picks, his enthusiasm for UVA, his uncle's alma mater and his father's favorite team, was evident. He was almost literally bouncing off the walls when he selected UVA to win the title game...over Duke.
I have never had as much fun filling out an NCAA bracket as I did on Thursday morning with Middle. His joy and enthusiasm were contagious. His reasons for picking particular teams were genuine and, in some cases, very sweet. He picked American because he is a proud American. He picked Oklahoma to make the Final Four because he did a school speech on Oklahoma a couple months ago. He picked Delaware because they won the CAA (the conference of dad's alma mater, William & Mary). He picked Syracuse to make the Final Four because his brother's teacher went to Syracuse. He picked Milwaukee to pull the first round upset because Youngest loves the Milwaukee Bucks, thanks to NBA Jam for X-Box. Sadly, things have not gone well. AMERICAN! suffered a 40 point defeat to Wisconsin. Oklahoma was upset by North Dakota State. Delaware failed to even scare Michigan State. Milwaukee suffered a 20 point loss. Middle was in 26th place in the pool. Out of 26 participants.
I haven't said anything to him about the pool. I don't want to destroy his excitement for "the March Madness". I don't want his first experience to be crushing defeat. I keep hoping he will fight his way at least to the middle of the pack. Then, the Duke loss. Middle lost one of his two finalists, and his second Final Four pick in the first round. I'd rather I lost two Final Four teams.
In a conversation with my Volleyball Insider yesterday, he lamented talking his son out of taking Dayton over Ohio State, and bragged about his son's choice of Harvard over Cincinnati. We no longer stress over just our picks, we stress over the picks of our boys. We probably stress over those picks more than our own.
As I was typing this, Stanford won, putting Middle one point out of second to last, rather than two points. He picked Stanford because a local boy in our area, whose mother teaches second grade at our elementary school, is a track runner for Stanford. At least Stanford is working for us, along with Harvard. Maybe this is a sign that Middle is going to a really good, and even more expensive, college.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Let the Madness Begin
With all due respect to the NCAA (which my Volleyball Insider will tell you is absolutely none), the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament starts today, not on Tuesday. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, there are more fun things to do, but I will give my two cents. That is, after all, my purpose here.
From 1985-2000, the NCAA Tournament had 64 teams. This created a perfect 6 round bracket that fits nicely on one sheet of paper. In the internet age (which I expect to end any day now), the fitting on one sheet of paper thing doesn't really matter, but back in the day, you know, when we all had to walk to school, uphill, through the snow, both ways and we respected our elders and the world was just a better place, being able to fit the entire bracket on one sheet of paper was essential to an organized March Madness pool. I went to college right in the middle of this time period, and I can tell you, an organized March Madness pool is necessary for a full college experience.
In 2001, the Mountain West Conference did whatever needed to be done to merit an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This increased the number of automatic bids from 30 to 31. In order to maintain our organized, one page bracket, the NCAA would need to eliminate one of the 34 at large bids. But, NO!!! We can't have it, Billy Hoyle. The NCAA would not, could not and did not eliminate that last at-large bid. Instead, they took two teams who accomplished the greatest achievement they could, earning a bid to the Tournament, and made them play a play-in game. THANK GOD! I, for one, do not know what we would have done if the 2001 Tournament did not include both Oklahoma State and Xavier. The whole thing would have seemed unsatisfactory if Xavier hadn't gotten bounced 83-71 by Notre Dame AND Oklahoma State hadn't gotten bounced 69-54 by USC, both in the first round. Good thing we kept that last at-large bid, we wouldn't have wanted one of those two winners to miss out.
The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are the two best days in sports. No other two day combination gives us such a level of non-stop action, excitement and intrigue. My three loyal readers know that I am an Olympicophile. (Yes, I just made that word up - try to use it in conversation.) The Olympics can provide multiple days with non-stop action. The Olympics can provide great stories. They can not provide non-stop, meaningful games, upsets, Brackets going down the toilet and buzzer beaters on the level of March Madness. Nothing can. During the Tournament's first two days people are constantly walking up and down the hallway at my office to give updates, potential upsets and remark on how their picks are doing. You don't get that any other day of the year.
The teams from one bid conferences deserve to be part of those two days. Sure, most of them will get blown out. Teams seeded 16th are 0-116 against teams seeded first, with a 24.8 point average margin of defeat. Only 14 of the 116 games have been decided by less than 10 points. Regardless, if you asked these players whether they want to play a play-in game in Dayton or join the "big boys" at one of the 8 first round venues for the full party, I think they would choose against Dayton. They have earned the right to be on CBS on Thursday or Friday, not TruTV on Tuesday or Wednesday.
In 2011, the Tournament decided that the farce of 65 teams wasn't big enough, so they added 3 more to make it 68. I remember when this happened. Gary Williams, the very successful, but often bubble-bound coach of the University of Maryland from 1989-2011 was a huge advocate of expanding the tournament field. I don't agree with him, because a bid in the tournament should be a reward for a successful season, rather than a mediocre season. Unless you win your conference tournament, in which case it is a reward for a succesful three or four days. This separates basketball from football, where anyone who can squeeze out a .500 record gets to go to a bowl. Of course, we appear to be moving towards mediocrity as a standard for admittance anyway, so maybe Gary was right and we should just start letting everyone in.
The 2011 expansion gave us "The First Four". The Tournament now includes four opening round games, instead of one play-in game. At least they got one thing right by making two of those games between the teams that "earned" the last 4 at-large bids. I could support this more if they made all four games between the last eight at-large bids, but progress comes in miniscule steps, and usually goes backwards when you are talking about the NCAA. I also can't claim that the "First Four" is a bastion of mediocrity in which teams pretend to matter before summarily exiting in their next game, because VCU went from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011, the first year of the First Farce, er, Four. In the two years since 2011, one of the two non-16 seeded teams to win their First Four game won their next game as well. Whether they were actually good and deserving, or they used the victory in Dayton to gain some momentum or shake off the nerves, they did it. Showing either that I am wrong or a one and done basketball tournament can be random. Let's go with the random theory, if for no other reason than we can use it to argue that Billy Donovan is just lucky, and not good.
History tells us that the Tournament will expand again sometime between 2020 and 2025. Maybe we will have bigger paper by then. Maybe this internet thing will stick around and people will make their picks on computers and track the results on their phones and paper sized devices that look like an old, hand-held chalk board used by Abraham Lincoln. We could call them tablets. Until then, enjoy the games.
On a West Wing episode, Sam Seaborn said that good writers borrow from other writers and great writers outright steal from them. In a Quixotic Quest to be at least a good writer, I am going to steal from the great Tony Kornheiser, and give you various Final Four picks.
Big Cats: Pitt Panthers, Memphis Tigers, BYU Cougars, Kentucky Wildcats
Dogs: Albany Great Danes, UConn Huskies, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Wofford Terriers
Colors: Syracuse Orange, Harvard Crimson, Creighton Bluejays, Duke Blue Devils
Old Time Americans: Eastern Kentucky Colonels, GW Colonials, Oklahoma State Cowboys, UMass Minutemen
Academic Final Four: Stanford, Harvard, Wisconsin, Duke
Homer Final Four: VCU, UVA, American, Texas
Where is That?: Mt. St. Marys, St. Joseph's, Weber State, Mercer
Who is That?: Stanford, Harvard, Creighton, Mercer
What is That?: Stanford Cardinal, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajun, Manhattan Jaspers
Agricultural: Ohio State Buckeyes, Delaware Blue Hens, New Mexico State Aggies, Wichita State Shockers
Scary Animals: Florida Gators, Cincinnati Bearcats, Wisconsin Badgers, Michigan Wolverines
Not So Scary Animals: Kansas Jayhawks, Delaware Blue Hens, Creighton Bluejays, Wofford Terriers
Holy War: Stanford Cardinal, Providence Friars, San Diego State Aztecs; Arizona St. Sun Devils
Aviary: Kansas Jayhawks, St. Joe's Hawks, Creighton Bluejays, Louisville Cardinals
Geographically Diverse: Florida, Harvard, Gonzaga, Cal Poly
All ACC: Syracuse, UVA, Duke and ...
Female Four: Delaware Blue Hens...
Most Common: Florida, Michigan State, Louisville, Arizona
Middle: Syracuse, UVA, Oklahoma, Duke
Upsets, but Possible: New Mexico, UNC, Oklahoma St., Kentucky
Upsets, and No Way: UCLA, Cincinnati, Creighton, St. Louis
Chalk: Florida, UVA, Arizona, Wichita State
I'm not Brave Enough to: Syracuse, UVA, Oklahoma State, Kentucky
My Picks: Florida, UVA, Arizona, Duke
As much as I would like to watch Tony Bennett win the first of his four national titles in Charlottesville, I can't help feeling like Billy Donovan is going to get lucky again, and win his third.
Random Fact of the Day
If I am correct (and that is a VERY big IF) and Florida does win, there will only be three coaches in the history of the Men's NCAA Tournament with more titles than Billy Donovan - John Wooden, Adolph Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski. He would be tied with Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun. That is some elite company.
From 1985-2000, the NCAA Tournament had 64 teams. This created a perfect 6 round bracket that fits nicely on one sheet of paper. In the internet age (which I expect to end any day now), the fitting on one sheet of paper thing doesn't really matter, but back in the day, you know, when we all had to walk to school, uphill, through the snow, both ways and we respected our elders and the world was just a better place, being able to fit the entire bracket on one sheet of paper was essential to an organized March Madness pool. I went to college right in the middle of this time period, and I can tell you, an organized March Madness pool is necessary for a full college experience.
In 2001, the Mountain West Conference did whatever needed to be done to merit an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This increased the number of automatic bids from 30 to 31. In order to maintain our organized, one page bracket, the NCAA would need to eliminate one of the 34 at large bids. But, NO!!! We can't have it, Billy Hoyle. The NCAA would not, could not and did not eliminate that last at-large bid. Instead, they took two teams who accomplished the greatest achievement they could, earning a bid to the Tournament, and made them play a play-in game. THANK GOD! I, for one, do not know what we would have done if the 2001 Tournament did not include both Oklahoma State and Xavier. The whole thing would have seemed unsatisfactory if Xavier hadn't gotten bounced 83-71 by Notre Dame AND Oklahoma State hadn't gotten bounced 69-54 by USC, both in the first round. Good thing we kept that last at-large bid, we wouldn't have wanted one of those two winners to miss out.
The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are the two best days in sports. No other two day combination gives us such a level of non-stop action, excitement and intrigue. My three loyal readers know that I am an Olympicophile. (Yes, I just made that word up - try to use it in conversation.) The Olympics can provide multiple days with non-stop action. The Olympics can provide great stories. They can not provide non-stop, meaningful games, upsets, Brackets going down the toilet and buzzer beaters on the level of March Madness. Nothing can. During the Tournament's first two days people are constantly walking up and down the hallway at my office to give updates, potential upsets and remark on how their picks are doing. You don't get that any other day of the year.
The teams from one bid conferences deserve to be part of those two days. Sure, most of them will get blown out. Teams seeded 16th are 0-116 against teams seeded first, with a 24.8 point average margin of defeat. Only 14 of the 116 games have been decided by less than 10 points. Regardless, if you asked these players whether they want to play a play-in game in Dayton or join the "big boys" at one of the 8 first round venues for the full party, I think they would choose against Dayton. They have earned the right to be on CBS on Thursday or Friday, not TruTV on Tuesday or Wednesday.
In 2011, the Tournament decided that the farce of 65 teams wasn't big enough, so they added 3 more to make it 68. I remember when this happened. Gary Williams, the very successful, but often bubble-bound coach of the University of Maryland from 1989-2011 was a huge advocate of expanding the tournament field. I don't agree with him, because a bid in the tournament should be a reward for a successful season, rather than a mediocre season. Unless you win your conference tournament, in which case it is a reward for a succesful three or four days. This separates basketball from football, where anyone who can squeeze out a .500 record gets to go to a bowl. Of course, we appear to be moving towards mediocrity as a standard for admittance anyway, so maybe Gary was right and we should just start letting everyone in.
The 2011 expansion gave us "The First Four". The Tournament now includes four opening round games, instead of one play-in game. At least they got one thing right by making two of those games between the teams that "earned" the last 4 at-large bids. I could support this more if they made all four games between the last eight at-large bids, but progress comes in miniscule steps, and usually goes backwards when you are talking about the NCAA. I also can't claim that the "First Four" is a bastion of mediocrity in which teams pretend to matter before summarily exiting in their next game, because VCU went from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011, the first year of the First Farce, er, Four. In the two years since 2011, one of the two non-16 seeded teams to win their First Four game won their next game as well. Whether they were actually good and deserving, or they used the victory in Dayton to gain some momentum or shake off the nerves, they did it. Showing either that I am wrong or a one and done basketball tournament can be random. Let's go with the random theory, if for no other reason than we can use it to argue that Billy Donovan is just lucky, and not good.
History tells us that the Tournament will expand again sometime between 2020 and 2025. Maybe we will have bigger paper by then. Maybe this internet thing will stick around and people will make their picks on computers and track the results on their phones and paper sized devices that look like an old, hand-held chalk board used by Abraham Lincoln. We could call them tablets. Until then, enjoy the games.
On a West Wing episode, Sam Seaborn said that good writers borrow from other writers and great writers outright steal from them. In a Quixotic Quest to be at least a good writer, I am going to steal from the great Tony Kornheiser, and give you various Final Four picks.
Big Cats: Pitt Panthers, Memphis Tigers, BYU Cougars, Kentucky Wildcats
Dogs: Albany Great Danes, UConn Huskies, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Wofford Terriers
Colors: Syracuse Orange, Harvard Crimson, Creighton Bluejays, Duke Blue Devils
Old Time Americans: Eastern Kentucky Colonels, GW Colonials, Oklahoma State Cowboys, UMass Minutemen
Academic Final Four: Stanford, Harvard, Wisconsin, Duke
Homer Final Four: VCU, UVA, American, Texas
Where is That?: Mt. St. Marys, St. Joseph's, Weber State, Mercer
Who is That?: Stanford, Harvard, Creighton, Mercer
What is That?: Stanford Cardinal, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajun, Manhattan Jaspers
Agricultural: Ohio State Buckeyes, Delaware Blue Hens, New Mexico State Aggies, Wichita State Shockers
Scary Animals: Florida Gators, Cincinnati Bearcats, Wisconsin Badgers, Michigan Wolverines
Not So Scary Animals: Kansas Jayhawks, Delaware Blue Hens, Creighton Bluejays, Wofford Terriers
Holy War: Stanford Cardinal, Providence Friars, San Diego State Aztecs; Arizona St. Sun Devils
Aviary: Kansas Jayhawks, St. Joe's Hawks, Creighton Bluejays, Louisville Cardinals
Geographically Diverse: Florida, Harvard, Gonzaga, Cal Poly
All ACC: Syracuse, UVA, Duke and ...
Female Four: Delaware Blue Hens...
Most Common: Florida, Michigan State, Louisville, Arizona
Middle: Syracuse, UVA, Oklahoma, Duke
Upsets, but Possible: New Mexico, UNC, Oklahoma St., Kentucky
Upsets, and No Way: UCLA, Cincinnati, Creighton, St. Louis
Chalk: Florida, UVA, Arizona, Wichita State
I'm not Brave Enough to: Syracuse, UVA, Oklahoma State, Kentucky
My Picks: Florida, UVA, Arizona, Duke
As much as I would like to watch Tony Bennett win the first of his four national titles in Charlottesville, I can't help feeling like Billy Donovan is going to get lucky again, and win his third.
Random Fact of the Day
If I am correct (and that is a VERY big IF) and Florida does win, there will only be three coaches in the history of the Men's NCAA Tournament with more titles than Billy Donovan - John Wooden, Adolph Rupp and Mike Krzyzewski. He would be tied with Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun. That is some elite company.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Survive and Be Champions
The title above does not have the same ring to it as the cliche about tournament play, "Survive and Advance". However, at some point, if you continue to survive and advance, eventually you reach the point where advancement is no longer an option. Eventually, if you survive, you are the champion. Friday night, the CYA 4th Grade Hornets had reached that point. The season was going to end whether they survived or not.
The cliche, "Survive and Advance," perfectly fit this team. In their second and third round games, the Hornets shot out to big leads, then hung on as their opponents' chipped away. Both games ended with 2-point victories. Again, in the title game, the Hornets took a good lead. In the 4th quarter that lead dwindled, as their opponent's best player kept driving, getting fouled and draining free throws. Eventually, that lead was cut to 1. That was when the dreaded parent moment occured.
Parents want a lot for their children. When it comes to sports, I think we want fun first, success second. Sure, in theory, life lessons are important, but some of the biggest life lessons are achieved through failure and pain. Theoretically, life lessons are great; in reality, parents want to protect their children from the failure and pain. A little failure is fine. Great failure...kind of want to avoid that.
With 11 seconds left and a 1 point lead, we had an inbounds pass. I sat there thinking that we could dribble for 10 seconds, take a half court shot and win. A mere 3 seconds after we inbounded the ball, the opposing team fouled Eldest. This was a tightly called game, and both teams were in the bonus with fouls. This means Eldest went to the line with a one-and-one opportunity.
With the benefit of hindsight and time, I know Eldest should have gone to the line for 2 shots, and we should get the ball back. That is the correct call for an intentional foul away from the ball. I was thinking something along those lines at the time, but the stress of the situation probably clouded my thoughts. Not to mention, no one else thought of it, and it would have been, what's the word, unseemly for me to start yelling that when my kid had the chance to ice the game. Plus, it just seemed wrong that the other team could do nothing, even though that is the rule. So nothing was said, the refs made the call, and he stood there at the line facing a one-and-one.
I remember the Wife telling me that she got to the game early and Eldest was practicing free throws, "just in case". I remember thinking that I couldn't wait to praise him for that extra practice and say that the practice paid off. I wish I could tell you now that the practice did pay off and that he drained both free throws. Unfortunately, this game was not destined to end so cleanly and triumphantly for my family. He missed the first free throw, badly. I feared the life lesson of great failure more than anything at that point.
Seven seconds remained when another Hornet got the rebound and astutely passed the ball out of a triple team. Dribble the ball around for 5-6 seconds and this game is over. Alas, these are 4th graders. A shot went up, missed and the ball went out with 4 seconds remaining. The tension felt by everyone in that gym for 45 minutes would last for 4 more seconds.
The opponents rolled the ball inbounds to prevent the clock from starting. At halfcourt, a player picked it up, dribbled towards the lane and put up a shot that never even reached rim height. The buzzer sounded and the win was preserved, 28-29.
I was never a great basketball player. Eldest is not, and most likely is not fated to be, a great basketball player. I will probably never experience a child of mine winning a high school or college championship in basketball. I will never see one of my children cut down the nets. And that is fine. I have burned in my memory a picture of five 4th grade boys, arms raised in triumph, running to their coach and their teammates to celebrate the CYA 4th grade boys championship. The joy felt by those boys on Friday night could not have been any less than will be felt every night this week by conference champions knowing they get to play in the NCAA Tournament. The celebration was no less than we will see in a few weeks, when four college teams earn a trip to the Final Four.
The emotion felt by all of the parents was some mix of joy, empathy and relief. For 4 games, we watched boys on the other team end their season in tears. For 4 games, we feared the same for many of our boys. For 4 games, we cheered and we stressed over a meaningless tournament in suburban Virginia. For one game, we watched our boys survive and be champions. The comment I heard most was "I can't believe they won the whole thing."
We couldn't believe because we didn't want to presume anything. But this was not out of the blue. The Hornets finished the regular season tied for 3rd in a league of 22 teams. In 11 or 12 regular season games that I watched, I thought we were the better team in all but one. We had a good team and we won because we played as a team. In each game in the tournament we had the better team and we played better team basketball. In the championship game, 7 of our 9 players scored, including one player who had not scored all season.
Ultimately, we got our life lesson. Our boys, and their parents, all understood that they won because they were the better team, not because they had the best player. They knew their championship game opponents scored 28 points, 24 of which were scored by one player. They knew they played best as a team, and they improved throughout the season and the tournament. In the end, they all won and they all celebrated. Nine 4th grade boys. Arms in the air, screaming, after a well deserved victory.
I over-reacted for about 1 second. The joy I felt was no more than I could feel if my son did make the Final Four. I yelled an uncontrolled "Yes!!" and started to jump to my feet. I quickly recovered and remembered that this was not a regional final. I stood and clapped, loudly and respectfully, for about a minute, as I do after every pro game I attend. I clapped for both teams. For the effort, for the show they gave s, for putting themselves out their and giving it their best. Then I went and gave Eldest a big hug...almost as big as the smile on his face.
I have thought, many times over the last few days, that he will probably never reach these heights in basketball again. Championships should be cherished because they are rare. I played 10 seasons of sports in high school and won one district team title. I swam for 4 years in college and never even sniffed a team title. Two weeks ago I followed the CAA Swimming Championships on a mobile swimming app and "saw" William & Mary fall short in their quest for a first Men's Swimming title by finishing second, instead of first, in the last relay. The last relay. Two nights ago I watched William & Mary lose the CAA Basketball Championship game for the third time in seven years. That elusive NCAA berth remains an unachieved goal, after 321 years if you want to be dramatic, after 67 if you want to be more accurate. I'm glad the Hornets won, because they deserved the win. I'm glad one of my boys won a team title in something, because I honestly don't know when, or if, it will happen again.
Reflections on What Has Happened
Most of what I would cover has already been mentioned, but...
1. That William and Mary loss to Delaware hurt just a bit. I cared about 3 basketball games this past weekend, and went 1 for 3. I will admit, the one was the most important. The UVA loss to Maryland was more annoying than upsetting. William and Mary coming up short again, and remaining one of five original members of the NCAA to never play in the Tournament was painful.
2. Spring for the last couple of days has been nice. Not looking forward to the return of cold weather tomorrow.
3. It may be time to remove the "maybe" from "maybe the Caps just suck."
4. This morning, watching a bunch of stories on NFL free agency on SportsCenter, Middle asked "Why are they talking about football when football isn't even being playd?" Why, indeed.
5. Eldest got a reality check about 11 hours after the game. The team and families went to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate the season. We got home around 10 pm. I dragged Eldest out of bed at 6:05 the next morning for swim practice. Not much gets you back to reality from the euphoric high of a championship basketball game like waking up in the dark to go stare at the black line on the bottom of a pool for an hour and a half.
What to Watch For
1. March Madness. Maybe I'll post my Final Four picks.
2. Championship swim meet for Eldest and Middle is just over a week away.
3. Can UVA win only its second ACC Tournament in history? Does anyone reading this care?
4. Fat Old Man Update...coming eventually.
The cliche, "Survive and Advance," perfectly fit this team. In their second and third round games, the Hornets shot out to big leads, then hung on as their opponents' chipped away. Both games ended with 2-point victories. Again, in the title game, the Hornets took a good lead. In the 4th quarter that lead dwindled, as their opponent's best player kept driving, getting fouled and draining free throws. Eventually, that lead was cut to 1. That was when the dreaded parent moment occured.
Parents want a lot for their children. When it comes to sports, I think we want fun first, success second. Sure, in theory, life lessons are important, but some of the biggest life lessons are achieved through failure and pain. Theoretically, life lessons are great; in reality, parents want to protect their children from the failure and pain. A little failure is fine. Great failure...kind of want to avoid that.
With 11 seconds left and a 1 point lead, we had an inbounds pass. I sat there thinking that we could dribble for 10 seconds, take a half court shot and win. A mere 3 seconds after we inbounded the ball, the opposing team fouled Eldest. This was a tightly called game, and both teams were in the bonus with fouls. This means Eldest went to the line with a one-and-one opportunity.
With the benefit of hindsight and time, I know Eldest should have gone to the line for 2 shots, and we should get the ball back. That is the correct call for an intentional foul away from the ball. I was thinking something along those lines at the time, but the stress of the situation probably clouded my thoughts. Not to mention, no one else thought of it, and it would have been, what's the word, unseemly for me to start yelling that when my kid had the chance to ice the game. Plus, it just seemed wrong that the other team could do nothing, even though that is the rule. So nothing was said, the refs made the call, and he stood there at the line facing a one-and-one.
I remember the Wife telling me that she got to the game early and Eldest was practicing free throws, "just in case". I remember thinking that I couldn't wait to praise him for that extra practice and say that the practice paid off. I wish I could tell you now that the practice did pay off and that he drained both free throws. Unfortunately, this game was not destined to end so cleanly and triumphantly for my family. He missed the first free throw, badly. I feared the life lesson of great failure more than anything at that point.
Seven seconds remained when another Hornet got the rebound and astutely passed the ball out of a triple team. Dribble the ball around for 5-6 seconds and this game is over. Alas, these are 4th graders. A shot went up, missed and the ball went out with 4 seconds remaining. The tension felt by everyone in that gym for 45 minutes would last for 4 more seconds.
The opponents rolled the ball inbounds to prevent the clock from starting. At halfcourt, a player picked it up, dribbled towards the lane and put up a shot that never even reached rim height. The buzzer sounded and the win was preserved, 28-29.
I was never a great basketball player. Eldest is not, and most likely is not fated to be, a great basketball player. I will probably never experience a child of mine winning a high school or college championship in basketball. I will never see one of my children cut down the nets. And that is fine. I have burned in my memory a picture of five 4th grade boys, arms raised in triumph, running to their coach and their teammates to celebrate the CYA 4th grade boys championship. The joy felt by those boys on Friday night could not have been any less than will be felt every night this week by conference champions knowing they get to play in the NCAA Tournament. The celebration was no less than we will see in a few weeks, when four college teams earn a trip to the Final Four.
The emotion felt by all of the parents was some mix of joy, empathy and relief. For 4 games, we watched boys on the other team end their season in tears. For 4 games, we feared the same for many of our boys. For 4 games, we cheered and we stressed over a meaningless tournament in suburban Virginia. For one game, we watched our boys survive and be champions. The comment I heard most was "I can't believe they won the whole thing."
We couldn't believe because we didn't want to presume anything. But this was not out of the blue. The Hornets finished the regular season tied for 3rd in a league of 22 teams. In 11 or 12 regular season games that I watched, I thought we were the better team in all but one. We had a good team and we won because we played as a team. In each game in the tournament we had the better team and we played better team basketball. In the championship game, 7 of our 9 players scored, including one player who had not scored all season.
Ultimately, we got our life lesson. Our boys, and their parents, all understood that they won because they were the better team, not because they had the best player. They knew their championship game opponents scored 28 points, 24 of which were scored by one player. They knew they played best as a team, and they improved throughout the season and the tournament. In the end, they all won and they all celebrated. Nine 4th grade boys. Arms in the air, screaming, after a well deserved victory.
I over-reacted for about 1 second. The joy I felt was no more than I could feel if my son did make the Final Four. I yelled an uncontrolled "Yes!!" and started to jump to my feet. I quickly recovered and remembered that this was not a regional final. I stood and clapped, loudly and respectfully, for about a minute, as I do after every pro game I attend. I clapped for both teams. For the effort, for the show they gave s, for putting themselves out their and giving it their best. Then I went and gave Eldest a big hug...almost as big as the smile on his face.
I have thought, many times over the last few days, that he will probably never reach these heights in basketball again. Championships should be cherished because they are rare. I played 10 seasons of sports in high school and won one district team title. I swam for 4 years in college and never even sniffed a team title. Two weeks ago I followed the CAA Swimming Championships on a mobile swimming app and "saw" William & Mary fall short in their quest for a first Men's Swimming title by finishing second, instead of first, in the last relay. The last relay. Two nights ago I watched William & Mary lose the CAA Basketball Championship game for the third time in seven years. That elusive NCAA berth remains an unachieved goal, after 321 years if you want to be dramatic, after 67 if you want to be more accurate. I'm glad the Hornets won, because they deserved the win. I'm glad one of my boys won a team title in something, because I honestly don't know when, or if, it will happen again.
Reflections on What Has Happened
Most of what I would cover has already been mentioned, but...
1. That William and Mary loss to Delaware hurt just a bit. I cared about 3 basketball games this past weekend, and went 1 for 3. I will admit, the one was the most important. The UVA loss to Maryland was more annoying than upsetting. William and Mary coming up short again, and remaining one of five original members of the NCAA to never play in the Tournament was painful.
2. Spring for the last couple of days has been nice. Not looking forward to the return of cold weather tomorrow.
3. It may be time to remove the "maybe" from "maybe the Caps just suck."
4. This morning, watching a bunch of stories on NFL free agency on SportsCenter, Middle asked "Why are they talking about football when football isn't even being playd?" Why, indeed.
5. Eldest got a reality check about 11 hours after the game. The team and families went to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate the season. We got home around 10 pm. I dragged Eldest out of bed at 6:05 the next morning for swim practice. Not much gets you back to reality from the euphoric high of a championship basketball game like waking up in the dark to go stare at the black line on the bottom of a pool for an hour and a half.
What to Watch For
1. March Madness. Maybe I'll post my Final Four picks.
2. Championship swim meet for Eldest and Middle is just over a week away.
3. Can UVA win only its second ACC Tournament in history? Does anyone reading this care?
4. Fat Old Man Update...coming eventually.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Survive and Advance: Part 3
Once again, the no back court defense brought another tight game to a conclusion and the CYA 4th Grade Hornets advanced to the Championship game. Eldest finished the game with tears in one eye and a giant smile and we are set for one last basketball game of this exciting, but increasingly stressful season.
As a parent spectator, I find the potential strategy of 4th Grade basketball to be fascinating. Last night's game was another classic example. The Hornets took their typical big lead early, and watched their opponents slowly but surely chip away. By the middle of the 3rd quarter, both teams were playing strong defense and points were hard to come by. The 4th quarter saw a small surge from the Hornets, and with just under 2 minutes to play, we had a 5 point lead. One or two baskets at that point would have sealed it. Despite one spectacular play, though, we just couldn't get the ball in the hoop. Missed shots by both teams left the score the same, with less than a minute to play. A flurry of activity on the defensive end resulted in a made basket by our opponents and a 3 point lead, with 27 seconds to go.
At this point, I looked up and saw Eldest with one hand over an eye and tears streaming down his face. No one else seemed to see this and he was jogging down the court to play defense. I yelled at him to tell his coach he was hurt. I admire the "play through the pain" additude he was exhibiting, but I had two concerns. First, his eye was clearly hurt. He needed to have that checked out. Second, and only slightly less important, this was a tight game. We needed to be full strength on the court. If he wasn't up to playng, we needed someone else out there. I say this half in jest. In all seriousness, a loss was going to end with a crying boy in my house and probably several others. A loss that Eldest thought was his fault (it wasn't, but you go ahead and use logic with a 9 year old) was going to be exponentially more devastating. He got his coach's attention and took himself out of the game. He is nothing if not a selfless basketball player. He proved it again last night.
With a sub in for Eldest, the game continued. Another missed basket by the Hornets and a defensive rebound left us in a very odd position. There were only about 15 seconds left. Our opponents needed to score immediately to even force us out of the backcourt. They didn't, but managed to draw a foul, on a shot, with 7 seconds to play. Luckily, the shot didn't go in. At this point, I found myself fascinated by the strategic possibilities. The one I didn't think about was actually the ace up the sleeve. A 4th grade boy stepped up to the line, shooting two. The possibilites were as follows:
1. He makes the first shot. He must miss the second shot, giving his team a chance to get the rebound and score to tie the game.
2. He misses the first shot. He must miss the second shot, giving his team a chance to get the rebound and hope for another foul on a shot, that either goes in with a chance for a 3 point play, or misses, putting them in the exact same position. There is no 3-point line.
He missed the first shot. The probability of a Hornets win went from 99% to 99.99% with that miss. If you are the opposing coach, do you tell him to intentionally miss? If you don't, and he makes it, the game is lost. Here is where it got interesting. On the second shot, the ref called a lane violation on the Hornets. The basket counts, and we inbound the ball. For some reason, the ref was about to give him another shot. This would dramatically change the situation and is completely contrary to the rules. Luckily, our coach, calmly as always, clarified the situation and convinced the ref she was wrong. The basket counted. We inbounded. Game over. For the second game in a row, the effective end of the game was followed immediately by a cry of "WHAT?!!" from the opposing team's best player; and the end of the game was our point guard, casually dribbling the ball in the backcourt. It's good to know the rules.
For the record, the lane violation was irrelevant, he made the second free throw. Of course, this brings up the fun new strategy. With a 2 point lead, less than 10 seconds on the clock and an opposing player on the line, the "win at all costs" move is an intentional lane violation. The basket counts and you get an inbounds pass with no backcourt defense. I'm not saying this is the best lesson to teach a group of 4th graders, but it is playing to the rules.
This leads to another issue from last night's game. What message do you want to give a group of 4th grde boys? In about 10 "regular season" games, I saw no illegal screens called and maybe two 3-second violations called. Last night, I saw 5 illegal screens called and (I'm not kidding or exaggerating for effect) about 15 3-second violations called. For 3 months the refs have "let them play". For about 20 minutes last night, I was convinced the only thing the ref was doing was watching the lane and counting to 3, sometimes as fast as she could. To make matters worse, one of the father's from the opposing team starting screaming for 3 second violations. I wasn't sure if I should ask him if he really wants his boy's team to win because he was screaming "3 SECONDS!!! 3 SECONDS!!" at the top of his lungs or if I should just go smack him.
The 3-second violation prevents Wilt Chamberlain from parking himself in the lane, catching a pass and dropping it in the basket. It is basically irrelevant when a 9 year old boy loses track of where he is and stands 8 feet from the basket. I get into these games, but I don't want to be the jack-ass whose son wins because I was screaming for the ref to make a call that has almost no impact on the game. Great message" "Congratulations son. You won because I berated the ref into calling 3-seconds 22 times during the game." "Dad?" "Yeah, son?" "What's 3-seconds?"
I am proud of our team and of Eldest. I am proud that they have reached the title game. I am proud the coach has remained calm the entire season and has never tried to influence the ref. (Explaining during a dead ball situation that an obvious call is wrong, like he doesn't get another free throw because of a lane violation is not trying to influence the refs.) I am proud that Eldest takes pride in playing good defense, setting good screens and just playing. Tonight's game should be fun. And I don't think it will be that difficult to remind myself that the journey has been the joy, and the destination doesn't matter.
Reflections on What Has Happened
1. How do you go from 25-0 to 1-4? The losses at Duke and at UVA are defensible, but home losses to BC (4-13 in ACC) and GTech (5-12 in ACC)?
2. If you are a politician, you never, never, never get anywhere when you say the word, "Hitler". I don't care if it is historically accurate or just for a comparison to tactics. Don't go there. Don't do it.
3. Tiger's done winning majors. I have believed this to be true for a couple years. At this point, I am ready to take a stand.
4. Alex Ovechkin and the Caps are having their predicted post-Olympics slump. Or maybe they just suck.
What to Watch For
1. Results of the CYA 4th Grade Championship game.
2. High temperature of 67 predicted for Chantilly, VA on Tuesday. Spring may come after all.
3. DIAA Boys Basketball State Tournament Finals on Saturday. I don't care, but I need to throw a bone to my 3 loyal readers.
4. Conference Tournaments heat up. William and Mary plays Saturday night. Will this year be the first invite to the Big Dance in the 321 year history of the school? Was I really in college when they had their 300th anniversary?
As a parent spectator, I find the potential strategy of 4th Grade basketball to be fascinating. Last night's game was another classic example. The Hornets took their typical big lead early, and watched their opponents slowly but surely chip away. By the middle of the 3rd quarter, both teams were playing strong defense and points were hard to come by. The 4th quarter saw a small surge from the Hornets, and with just under 2 minutes to play, we had a 5 point lead. One or two baskets at that point would have sealed it. Despite one spectacular play, though, we just couldn't get the ball in the hoop. Missed shots by both teams left the score the same, with less than a minute to play. A flurry of activity on the defensive end resulted in a made basket by our opponents and a 3 point lead, with 27 seconds to go.
At this point, I looked up and saw Eldest with one hand over an eye and tears streaming down his face. No one else seemed to see this and he was jogging down the court to play defense. I yelled at him to tell his coach he was hurt. I admire the "play through the pain" additude he was exhibiting, but I had two concerns. First, his eye was clearly hurt. He needed to have that checked out. Second, and only slightly less important, this was a tight game. We needed to be full strength on the court. If he wasn't up to playng, we needed someone else out there. I say this half in jest. In all seriousness, a loss was going to end with a crying boy in my house and probably several others. A loss that Eldest thought was his fault (it wasn't, but you go ahead and use logic with a 9 year old) was going to be exponentially more devastating. He got his coach's attention and took himself out of the game. He is nothing if not a selfless basketball player. He proved it again last night.
With a sub in for Eldest, the game continued. Another missed basket by the Hornets and a defensive rebound left us in a very odd position. There were only about 15 seconds left. Our opponents needed to score immediately to even force us out of the backcourt. They didn't, but managed to draw a foul, on a shot, with 7 seconds to play. Luckily, the shot didn't go in. At this point, I found myself fascinated by the strategic possibilities. The one I didn't think about was actually the ace up the sleeve. A 4th grade boy stepped up to the line, shooting two. The possibilites were as follows:
1. He makes the first shot. He must miss the second shot, giving his team a chance to get the rebound and score to tie the game.
2. He misses the first shot. He must miss the second shot, giving his team a chance to get the rebound and hope for another foul on a shot, that either goes in with a chance for a 3 point play, or misses, putting them in the exact same position. There is no 3-point line.
He missed the first shot. The probability of a Hornets win went from 99% to 99.99% with that miss. If you are the opposing coach, do you tell him to intentionally miss? If you don't, and he makes it, the game is lost. Here is where it got interesting. On the second shot, the ref called a lane violation on the Hornets. The basket counts, and we inbound the ball. For some reason, the ref was about to give him another shot. This would dramatically change the situation and is completely contrary to the rules. Luckily, our coach, calmly as always, clarified the situation and convinced the ref she was wrong. The basket counted. We inbounded. Game over. For the second game in a row, the effective end of the game was followed immediately by a cry of "WHAT?!!" from the opposing team's best player; and the end of the game was our point guard, casually dribbling the ball in the backcourt. It's good to know the rules.
For the record, the lane violation was irrelevant, he made the second free throw. Of course, this brings up the fun new strategy. With a 2 point lead, less than 10 seconds on the clock and an opposing player on the line, the "win at all costs" move is an intentional lane violation. The basket counts and you get an inbounds pass with no backcourt defense. I'm not saying this is the best lesson to teach a group of 4th graders, but it is playing to the rules.
This leads to another issue from last night's game. What message do you want to give a group of 4th grde boys? In about 10 "regular season" games, I saw no illegal screens called and maybe two 3-second violations called. Last night, I saw 5 illegal screens called and (I'm not kidding or exaggerating for effect) about 15 3-second violations called. For 3 months the refs have "let them play". For about 20 minutes last night, I was convinced the only thing the ref was doing was watching the lane and counting to 3, sometimes as fast as she could. To make matters worse, one of the father's from the opposing team starting screaming for 3 second violations. I wasn't sure if I should ask him if he really wants his boy's team to win because he was screaming "3 SECONDS!!! 3 SECONDS!!" at the top of his lungs or if I should just go smack him.
The 3-second violation prevents Wilt Chamberlain from parking himself in the lane, catching a pass and dropping it in the basket. It is basically irrelevant when a 9 year old boy loses track of where he is and stands 8 feet from the basket. I get into these games, but I don't want to be the jack-ass whose son wins because I was screaming for the ref to make a call that has almost no impact on the game. Great message" "Congratulations son. You won because I berated the ref into calling 3-seconds 22 times during the game." "Dad?" "Yeah, son?" "What's 3-seconds?"
I am proud of our team and of Eldest. I am proud that they have reached the title game. I am proud the coach has remained calm the entire season and has never tried to influence the ref. (Explaining during a dead ball situation that an obvious call is wrong, like he doesn't get another free throw because of a lane violation is not trying to influence the refs.) I am proud that Eldest takes pride in playing good defense, setting good screens and just playing. Tonight's game should be fun. And I don't think it will be that difficult to remind myself that the journey has been the joy, and the destination doesn't matter.
Reflections on What Has Happened
1. How do you go from 25-0 to 1-4? The losses at Duke and at UVA are defensible, but home losses to BC (4-13 in ACC) and GTech (5-12 in ACC)?
2. If you are a politician, you never, never, never get anywhere when you say the word, "Hitler". I don't care if it is historically accurate or just for a comparison to tactics. Don't go there. Don't do it.
3. Tiger's done winning majors. I have believed this to be true for a couple years. At this point, I am ready to take a stand.
4. Alex Ovechkin and the Caps are having their predicted post-Olympics slump. Or maybe they just suck.
What to Watch For
1. Results of the CYA 4th Grade Championship game.
2. High temperature of 67 predicted for Chantilly, VA on Tuesday. Spring may come after all.
3. DIAA Boys Basketball State Tournament Finals on Saturday. I don't care, but I need to throw a bone to my 3 loyal readers.
4. Conference Tournaments heat up. William and Mary plays Saturday night. Will this year be the first invite to the Big Dance in the 321 year history of the school? Was I really in college when they had their 300th anniversary?
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Survive and Advance: Part 2
It's good to know the rules.
With 9.5 seconds left in their quarterfinal match-up, the CYA Dragons, down 26-25, fouled the CYA Hornets' point guard to stop the clock. Unfortunately, this attempt at stopping the clock and somehow retaining possession of the ball would be the effective, if not the actual, end of the game.
CYA 4th grade basketball rules do not allow back court defense. For three months we have been watching teams from the sideline inbound the ball to the back court, so the opposing team could not defend the inbound pass. With the foul in Sunday's game, the Dragons gave the Hornets a sideline inbound pass. The Hornets' coach astutely double checked the rules, then instructed the point guard to stand in the middle of the back court and wait for a lob pass from the sideline. The ball sailed high into the air, right to the undefended point guard who casually dribbled the ball as the clock wound down. With 9.5 seconds left, no timeline violation would be called and the game would end, 26-25 Hornets. They survived and advanced.
Luckily, the enthusiasm and quest for glory of youth did not destroy this anti-climactic, but joyful end. Instead of holding or dribbling the ball for 9.5 seconds, the point guard dribbled casually for 7.5 seconds, then advanced to mid court and attempted a pointless half court shot. For a brief moment, I recalled one of many Washington Wizards losses several years ago, caused by a failed attempt to throw the ball high in the air with less than 2 seconds to play. The attempt to run out the clock with a random chuck high in the air failed when an opposing player (sadly I don't remember who the Wiz were playing) got a hand on the ball, stole it and made a game winning, buzzer beating 3-point shot. The call of the Wizards radio play by play man, Steve Buckhantz, still reverberates in the ears of all Wizards' fans. "NO! NOT POSSIBLE!" It is, of course, unlikely a 4th grader would be able to steal the ball and make a half court shot in just one or two seconds. However, when you have seen the impossible, you don't take anything for granted.
The game was tight throughout. Although we had the better team, their best player was a little better than our best player,and their second best player was a little better than our second best player. We took a solid first quarter lead, but they chipped away slowly throughout the game. 10-4 after the first quarter; 16-12 at the half; 20-18 after 3. Then, the rules came into play for the first time. I don't know exactly what happened, but the opposing coach messed up his substitutions. As I am sure is typical for a youth league, we have rules about playing time. The 4th quarter began with the opposing team's second best player on the bench. He was subbed in about half way through the quarter, but something went wrong there. Our coach confirmed this to me after the game, by telling me how the opposing coach tried to push the rules with substitutions. It's good to know the rules.
The opposing coach did it again at the end. With those 9.5 seconds sitting on the clock and our team about to inbound the ball, he told one of his players to go cover in the back court. The ref immediately blew her whistle and said "no back court defense." The coach incredulously asked, "He can't stand there?" I sat on my mat on the other side of the court wondering which of the words "no back court defense" this guy was having trouble with. Yes, it is frustrating to lose because your opponent can inbound the ball and just stand there, but those are the rules. If you thought it through, you wouldn't have fouled at that point. That's probably too much to ask, but that's the irony. Their foul gave us the opportunity to not have to play. 9.5 seconds - one half of a second less than the maximum we could run off without passing mid-court. It's good to know the rules.
The semifinals were suspended by snow, so we have to wait until Thursday to play again. Games are getting more stressful and the stakes are getting higher. March Madness has come with a flurry. And a snowstorm.
Reflections on What Has Happened
1. Jared Leto's acceptance speech was excellent.
2. Really, I think that's enough snow for this winter.
What to Watch For
1. Survive and Advance - Part 3
With 9.5 seconds left in their quarterfinal match-up, the CYA Dragons, down 26-25, fouled the CYA Hornets' point guard to stop the clock. Unfortunately, this attempt at stopping the clock and somehow retaining possession of the ball would be the effective, if not the actual, end of the game.
CYA 4th grade basketball rules do not allow back court defense. For three months we have been watching teams from the sideline inbound the ball to the back court, so the opposing team could not defend the inbound pass. With the foul in Sunday's game, the Dragons gave the Hornets a sideline inbound pass. The Hornets' coach astutely double checked the rules, then instructed the point guard to stand in the middle of the back court and wait for a lob pass from the sideline. The ball sailed high into the air, right to the undefended point guard who casually dribbled the ball as the clock wound down. With 9.5 seconds left, no timeline violation would be called and the game would end, 26-25 Hornets. They survived and advanced.
Luckily, the enthusiasm and quest for glory of youth did not destroy this anti-climactic, but joyful end. Instead of holding or dribbling the ball for 9.5 seconds, the point guard dribbled casually for 7.5 seconds, then advanced to mid court and attempted a pointless half court shot. For a brief moment, I recalled one of many Washington Wizards losses several years ago, caused by a failed attempt to throw the ball high in the air with less than 2 seconds to play. The attempt to run out the clock with a random chuck high in the air failed when an opposing player (sadly I don't remember who the Wiz were playing) got a hand on the ball, stole it and made a game winning, buzzer beating 3-point shot. The call of the Wizards radio play by play man, Steve Buckhantz, still reverberates in the ears of all Wizards' fans. "NO! NOT POSSIBLE!" It is, of course, unlikely a 4th grader would be able to steal the ball and make a half court shot in just one or two seconds. However, when you have seen the impossible, you don't take anything for granted.
The game was tight throughout. Although we had the better team, their best player was a little better than our best player,and their second best player was a little better than our second best player. We took a solid first quarter lead, but they chipped away slowly throughout the game. 10-4 after the first quarter; 16-12 at the half; 20-18 after 3. Then, the rules came into play for the first time. I don't know exactly what happened, but the opposing coach messed up his substitutions. As I am sure is typical for a youth league, we have rules about playing time. The 4th quarter began with the opposing team's second best player on the bench. He was subbed in about half way through the quarter, but something went wrong there. Our coach confirmed this to me after the game, by telling me how the opposing coach tried to push the rules with substitutions. It's good to know the rules.
The opposing coach did it again at the end. With those 9.5 seconds sitting on the clock and our team about to inbound the ball, he told one of his players to go cover in the back court. The ref immediately blew her whistle and said "no back court defense." The coach incredulously asked, "He can't stand there?" I sat on my mat on the other side of the court wondering which of the words "no back court defense" this guy was having trouble with. Yes, it is frustrating to lose because your opponent can inbound the ball and just stand there, but those are the rules. If you thought it through, you wouldn't have fouled at that point. That's probably too much to ask, but that's the irony. Their foul gave us the opportunity to not have to play. 9.5 seconds - one half of a second less than the maximum we could run off without passing mid-court. It's good to know the rules.
The semifinals were suspended by snow, so we have to wait until Thursday to play again. Games are getting more stressful and the stakes are getting higher. March Madness has come with a flurry. And a snowstorm.
Reflections on What Has Happened
1. Jared Leto's acceptance speech was excellent.
2. Really, I think that's enough snow for this winter.
What to Watch For
1. Survive and Advance - Part 3
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Survive and Advance
"There's a tradition in tournament play to not talk about the next step until you've climbed the one in front of you." - Coach Norman Dale
I thought of this quote after today's round of 16 game when Eldest told me the top seed in the CYA 4th Grade Basketball Tournament had lost their Round of 16 game, and said "That means we could win the championship!!" Norman Dale's wisdom never fails me. Upon returning home from the game, I made Eldest watch Coach Dale's speech before the state semifinal game.
It is natural for people, especially children, to dream about glory. When playing basketball in the neighborhood, either alone or with friends, you don't pretend to make a basket to cut the score to 46-37 in the third game of your sophomore JV season in high school. You make the NBA Championship winning basket in Game 7, with the clock hitting 0.0. Glory, however, doesn't get you to game 7. As coach Dale says, focusing on what got you there, that is how you keep moving forward.
For our boys, they did just that in the Round of 16. With one exception. The boys rebounded well, played good team defense and made their shots. Eldest, who is not the best basketball player, pulled in four rebounds, one steal, several well set screens and some good defense to contribute to the win. He played his position well, and found himself wide open under the basket several times. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't get him the ball. Regardless, he did his job. They all did their jobs and earned a 10 point win. Even the teammate who decided that he could make 20-foot jump shots couldn't prevent a fairly easy win in the 4th quarter. I could've smacked that kid the 4th time he air balled a college 3 point length shot that isn't even worth 3 points in our games.
Later today, we play the first team to beat us. In my expert opinion, we are the better team. We should have won the game earlier this season. We should win today. However, one thing Norman Dale never told his team (probably because they were underdogs throughout) was that in tournament play, you can never let down. The better team doesn't win. The best team on that day, at that time, in that place wins. We see it every March, in conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps the team that wins is the one thinking about that game, instead of the Championship. Hopefully our boys are up to the task today.
Reflections on What Has Happened
1. William and Mary Men's Swimming gets second in the final relay of the CAA Championship to finish second in the meet. For one more year, the dream is dead.
2. UVA is really setting me up for an emotional fall. Beating Syracuse by 19 makes me think this team should accomplish something. A 2nd round exit in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments would be disheartening this year.
3. Didn't take long for Russia to start playing some old games once the Olympics were over, huh?
4. Boys ages 4-9 love the Lego Movie. Everything is Awesome.
What to Watch For
1. Survive and Advance - Part 2 (or Crash and Burn)
2. Giant snowfall.
3. Oscars.
4. College basketball tournaments heating up.
I thought of this quote after today's round of 16 game when Eldest told me the top seed in the CYA 4th Grade Basketball Tournament had lost their Round of 16 game, and said "That means we could win the championship!!" Norman Dale's wisdom never fails me. Upon returning home from the game, I made Eldest watch Coach Dale's speech before the state semifinal game.
It is natural for people, especially children, to dream about glory. When playing basketball in the neighborhood, either alone or with friends, you don't pretend to make a basket to cut the score to 46-37 in the third game of your sophomore JV season in high school. You make the NBA Championship winning basket in Game 7, with the clock hitting 0.0. Glory, however, doesn't get you to game 7. As coach Dale says, focusing on what got you there, that is how you keep moving forward.
For our boys, they did just that in the Round of 16. With one exception. The boys rebounded well, played good team defense and made their shots. Eldest, who is not the best basketball player, pulled in four rebounds, one steal, several well set screens and some good defense to contribute to the win. He played his position well, and found himself wide open under the basket several times. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't get him the ball. Regardless, he did his job. They all did their jobs and earned a 10 point win. Even the teammate who decided that he could make 20-foot jump shots couldn't prevent a fairly easy win in the 4th quarter. I could've smacked that kid the 4th time he air balled a college 3 point length shot that isn't even worth 3 points in our games.
Later today, we play the first team to beat us. In my expert opinion, we are the better team. We should have won the game earlier this season. We should win today. However, one thing Norman Dale never told his team (probably because they were underdogs throughout) was that in tournament play, you can never let down. The better team doesn't win. The best team on that day, at that time, in that place wins. We see it every March, in conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps the team that wins is the one thinking about that game, instead of the Championship. Hopefully our boys are up to the task today.
Reflections on What Has Happened
1. William and Mary Men's Swimming gets second in the final relay of the CAA Championship to finish second in the meet. For one more year, the dream is dead.
2. UVA is really setting me up for an emotional fall. Beating Syracuse by 19 makes me think this team should accomplish something. A 2nd round exit in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments would be disheartening this year.
3. Didn't take long for Russia to start playing some old games once the Olympics were over, huh?
4. Boys ages 4-9 love the Lego Movie. Everything is Awesome.
What to Watch For
1. Survive and Advance - Part 2 (or Crash and Burn)
2. Giant snowfall.
3. Oscars.
4. College basketball tournaments heating up.
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