A Big Game in a Little Gym

As I arrived at the elementary school gymnasium and was just about to enter, an eight-year-old boy in a Blazers' basketball uniform ran across the grass toward me and the door.  I held the door a second to wait for him, and said, “Hi, Matthew.”  He said “Thanks,” and followed me in. 

In addition to being polite, Matthew appeared to be excited about his team’s first tournament game, more so than one might expect from the only player who had not scored during the twelve-game season.

Matthew had not lacked playing time, however.  He was fortunate to be on a team with a coach who rotated all the players in and out of the games, virtually equally.   That was only one of the Blazers' coach’s peculiarities.  

Alone in the 11-team league, he had his team play man-to-man defense most of the season, rather than the easier and less demanding zone.  This had sometimes fatigued his team and perhaps cost them a game or two, but it prepared them with a capability for playing pressure defense, if ever needed.

Sports competition offers some inspiring moments, but they don’t come all too often, nor do they always come where one might most expect them. 

Before this Recreation League tournament game, the sports event I would have most regretted missing was a college football game that I had attended some 24 years earlier. It was an Iron Bowl game matching the Heisman winner on one team against a future head coach on the other—a spectacular football game with four lead changes in the fourth quarter—the last occurring with a 52-yard game-deciding field goal on the final play. 

That’s a more typical setting for a memorable sports event, one would think.

Tonight at the little gym, in what at first appeared to be simply another of thousands of games played somewhat ineptly by eight-year-old boys, both the Blazers and the Rockets started slowly.  Perhaps to save his team’s energy for later, the Blazers' coach uncharacteristically had his boys play zone defense for the entire first half.

The first quarter ended with the score tied at 2-2.  In the second quarter, a Rockets' guard, No. 20, displayed stunning long-range accuracy, shooting over the Blazers' zone for two three-pointers.  At the half, the Rockets were leading the Blazers 10-4. 

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