b-ball

basketball has become more important to me than it previously was.

as the assistant coach to the 7th and 8th grade girl's team this year, i don't need to know much about the sport (which is good because i don't), but i have become very emotionally invested in it. today i cried at the game, but i'll get to that in a moment.

even in watching the boys' games as a spectator i find myself cursing and cheering and throwing my hands up in the air at the injustices the refs allow. it's hard to resist not getting "into" it; not just the arguing of the bad calls, but the joy in watching these kids put their talent and hearts on the court as well. one player on the boys team is particularly pleasurable to watch. this 13 year old has so much talent it's sick. and not just talent, but finesse. his body was made for moving on a basketball court. watching him makes me want to learn how to play.

back to my crying (what?). the girls played such a good game tonight. on a court twice the size of the one that they normally play on, they maintained a lead the entire game. during the last quarter the situation grew more tense as the lead we had developed began to shrink. as assistant coach i tend to just mark the score book and throw out the occasional supportive comment to the players on the court. but today, without thinking, i walked over to the girls when the head coach had called a time out and said, "this is your game, don't let them take it from you". and i meant it. that game was theirs.

the final score was 31-30.
the other team won.
as i watched our girls come off the court all trying to hold in their tears, i couldn't help but shed one for them. good game, ladies.