Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Disappointing End

This past weekend marked the end of the junior high basketball season. During the regular season we amassed an 8-2 record and unofficially tied for first-place in our district. But the end of the season district tournament was another story. We were matched up (randomly) with Turtle-Lake in the first-round. This was the other top team during the regular season and we had split our two previous match-ups. I felt confident going in as we were finally healthy. We were down by one at half but I was still optimistic that if we came out and played well in the second-half we'd have a good shot. Unfortunately they outscored us 19-4 in the third quarter and even though we tried to claw our way back in the fourth it was to no avail. The guys were pretty bummed about losing the opening round as even though we still had a couple more games to play, the best we could now finish was fifth. However, even that was not to be.

Saturday morning we played Wilton and although maybe not at the top of our game, were able to take care of business and get the win. So in the afternoon we were matched up with Washburn (a team we'd beaten twice already) for fifth place. However, from the opening tip they seemed fresher and hungrier for the victory than our guys. We were down by double-digits at the beginning of the fourth quarter and again put up a furious comeback but fell a few points short. Afterward I tried to console the guys by reminding them that as eight graders their basketball careers were really only beginning and if they stuck with it, worked on improving over the summer and used this game as motivation, the future would be bright.

Other than the basketball tournament, this past week was fairly quiet. My wife and I Netflixed the movie "Changeling" which is based on a true story of a woman's fight to locate her missing son amidst a corrupt LA police department. I really enjoy movies based on actual events and this one was no different. I thought it brought out the struggle between maintaining one's position of power and doing what's right even at potential personal cost.

On Sunday we had a family from the church over for supper (i.e. dinner). Actually it was a mom who's in her 90s and one of her sons (who's in his 60s). They are both members of the church but my wife and I had never really had the opportunity to get to know Rich. Come to find out that while served in the Navy he was part of a convoy that assisted in the recovery of the Apollo X astronauts' space capsel and that he used to be an avid golfer.

And in case anyone is curious, the weather is beginning to warm up around here. The last few days have been in the 40s and the snow is finally beginning to melt.

By God's Grace, Jeff

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