- Mar 2, 2006
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I wrote this last night, and thought I would share it with everyone here, since this is a sports site. I figure many of you were once high school athletes and may be able to relate. And after all, the coach of this team is infamous around these parts!
One for the ages...
There are those epic moments in each person?s life that stays with him forever. Sports can be an incredible catalyst for producing these moments. Tonight was one that will be with many kids for a lifetime.
There are seven teams in our district in Virginia, and ours has been the bottom feeder for years. Two years ago, through an extreme twist of fate, they hired a coach all the way from Colorado. The process of rebuilding began. Last season, the team won 5 of their 23 games. The first game of the season they were so bad that they had over 30 turnovers. They could not pass, or dribble, or shoot, or anything that resembled real basketball. As a spectator, it was painful to watch.
There have been many obstacles, but this year, the team has started to buy in and believe in the system. The character development has been key to their growth. One player in particular, who was thrown off the team at the beginning of last season, has become an amazing positive force and team leader on the team (he played so hard tonight that after the game he was throwing up and passing out and had to be hooked up to IVs). This season, the team was 7-7 going into tonight?s game. Like any team rebuilding, they have had some bad losses but also some great wins.
The Saturday night home crowd was great. They were playing a really good team that annihilated them twice last year. They only have a seven man rotation, and one of their starters rolled his ankle and sat out the whole second half. They played a gritty defensive game, and were leading most of the game by a small margin, but the opponent managed to force overtime. Then double overtime. Then triple overtime. In triple overtime, they found themselves down one with two seconds left on the clock. They threw the ball in, the player took one dribble and threw up a fifteen footer...nothing but net.
Their coach has been building them up all year, telling them not to get down and to persevere through their losses. He tells them: ?Good things happen to good people.? He has coached a multitude of high school players that went on to play D1 ball, and he can come up with many stories about how character is rewarded in games and beyond. Tonight, good things did happen for these kids. Tonight was a moment that they will remember for the rest of their lives. And they have learned that perseverance, hard work, and maintaining a positive mental attitude really do pay off.
I am a huge sports fan. Tonight, my team lost in the NFL. Damn, I would have liked to see them win. I am a huge basketball fan, on all levels, and there are so many ?shining moments? from college and even NBA games. But there is no replacement for being in a high school gym in moments like these, and feeling the pure joy that is emanating from the players and the fans. It really was a ?Hoosiers? type moment for this school.
And to a coach that has worked extremely hard to get to this points, CONGRATS!! That was awesome!
One for the ages...
There are those epic moments in each person?s life that stays with him forever. Sports can be an incredible catalyst for producing these moments. Tonight was one that will be with many kids for a lifetime.
There are seven teams in our district in Virginia, and ours has been the bottom feeder for years. Two years ago, through an extreme twist of fate, they hired a coach all the way from Colorado. The process of rebuilding began. Last season, the team won 5 of their 23 games. The first game of the season they were so bad that they had over 30 turnovers. They could not pass, or dribble, or shoot, or anything that resembled real basketball. As a spectator, it was painful to watch.
There have been many obstacles, but this year, the team has started to buy in and believe in the system. The character development has been key to their growth. One player in particular, who was thrown off the team at the beginning of last season, has become an amazing positive force and team leader on the team (he played so hard tonight that after the game he was throwing up and passing out and had to be hooked up to IVs). This season, the team was 7-7 going into tonight?s game. Like any team rebuilding, they have had some bad losses but also some great wins.
The Saturday night home crowd was great. They were playing a really good team that annihilated them twice last year. They only have a seven man rotation, and one of their starters rolled his ankle and sat out the whole second half. They played a gritty defensive game, and were leading most of the game by a small margin, but the opponent managed to force overtime. Then double overtime. Then triple overtime. In triple overtime, they found themselves down one with two seconds left on the clock. They threw the ball in, the player took one dribble and threw up a fifteen footer...nothing but net.
Their coach has been building them up all year, telling them not to get down and to persevere through their losses. He tells them: ?Good things happen to good people.? He has coached a multitude of high school players that went on to play D1 ball, and he can come up with many stories about how character is rewarded in games and beyond. Tonight, good things did happen for these kids. Tonight was a moment that they will remember for the rest of their lives. And they have learned that perseverance, hard work, and maintaining a positive mental attitude really do pay off.
I am a huge sports fan. Tonight, my team lost in the NFL. Damn, I would have liked to see them win. I am a huge basketball fan, on all levels, and there are so many ?shining moments? from college and even NBA games. But there is no replacement for being in a high school gym in moments like these, and feeling the pure joy that is emanating from the players and the fans. It really was a ?Hoosiers? type moment for this school.
And to a coach that has worked extremely hard to get to this points, CONGRATS!! That was awesome!
