Where did the time go?
Upon opening my blog tonight, I discovered something that surprised me a little: I haven't posted since Jan. 13. It's been a busy 10 days, but seriously, I had no idea I haven't blogged in that long. Every night last week, I was thinking about writing something, then decided to wait until the next morning or afternoon. Then something came up and I pushed it back another day, then another day, and here we are: Jan. 23, 10 days since my last post.
Oops.
So tonight, I'm going to try catching up with a few posts I can stagger and intermittently post when I'm not otherwise able to write. This post will focus on the boys' basketball seasons, which has begun and is two games in. I'm coaching both teams.
Ben's kindergarten team has been fun to coach. I brought somewhat low expectations to the games because, after all, the kids are just kindergartners. Some of them can't shoot the ball high enough to get over the lowered rim; others such as Ben can't dribble very well. Essentially, I'm just happy when they take the ball toward their own basket. But the Sharks have surprised me. Scores aren't kept, but it's tough not to unintentionally keep track of how many baskets we are making. In our first game, we got six, and last game, we got just two despite taking far more shots than the other team. Sometimes the shots don't fall, even for kindergartners. Ben is having fun, but similar to when he started playing soccer, he doesn't always stay focused. It's not distraction so much as it is he just wants to run around and, occasionally, runs all over the court.
Michael's team lost its first game and won its second. In this first/second grade league, the Stingers have nine players, with only two being first graders. The teams in the league seem evenly split with squads of mostly second graders and ones with mostly first graders. In our first game, we played all second graders, and their starting five were all at least Michael's height (making me wonder if it was a third-grade team playing down). I resisted playing our tallest five, but for three of the four quarters, the Stingers held even with this bigger team, even though we lost 22-12.
We won our second game 18-8, against a second-grade team with players who were generally shorter and not as good. We must have taken three times as many shots as the other team but just couldn't get anything to fall. Defensively, we played great; we rebounded; and we even started passing more. Michael led the way with eight points, but, oh, was he testing me. In the second quarter, he took a shot without setting up from way too far out (almost a 3-pointer), and when I asked him if he was trying to pass or shoot, he smiled and said "Shoot!" In something as a coach I would never normally say, I told him "That was terrible." I apologized after, and then reassured any parents that might have heard me that I would never say something like that to their kids, only mine. They understood, with one mom saying that if her son did something stupid, I can tell him so (I wouldn't).
Michael then tested me in the second half. He was playing good defense guarding his player, then for some reason, stopped playing defense in the middle of the play and looked off the court. His man went to the basket and scored. I just glared at him, and he looked at me all apologetic and distressed and said "Sorrryyyy!" My evil eye must have had an effect, because he scored the six points in the next minute, including a nice 10-foot jumper from the baseline.
Six games left for both boys. My goal is to get everybody on both teams a basket before the season ends -- especially Ben.
Oops.
So tonight, I'm going to try catching up with a few posts I can stagger and intermittently post when I'm not otherwise able to write. This post will focus on the boys' basketball seasons, which has begun and is two games in. I'm coaching both teams.
Ben's kindergarten team has been fun to coach. I brought somewhat low expectations to the games because, after all, the kids are just kindergartners. Some of them can't shoot the ball high enough to get over the lowered rim; others such as Ben can't dribble very well. Essentially, I'm just happy when they take the ball toward their own basket. But the Sharks have surprised me. Scores aren't kept, but it's tough not to unintentionally keep track of how many baskets we are making. In our first game, we got six, and last game, we got just two despite taking far more shots than the other team. Sometimes the shots don't fall, even for kindergartners. Ben is having fun, but similar to when he started playing soccer, he doesn't always stay focused. It's not distraction so much as it is he just wants to run around and, occasionally, runs all over the court.
Michael's team lost its first game and won its second. In this first/second grade league, the Stingers have nine players, with only two being first graders. The teams in the league seem evenly split with squads of mostly second graders and ones with mostly first graders. In our first game, we played all second graders, and their starting five were all at least Michael's height (making me wonder if it was a third-grade team playing down). I resisted playing our tallest five, but for three of the four quarters, the Stingers held even with this bigger team, even though we lost 22-12.
We won our second game 18-8, against a second-grade team with players who were generally shorter and not as good. We must have taken three times as many shots as the other team but just couldn't get anything to fall. Defensively, we played great; we rebounded; and we even started passing more. Michael led the way with eight points, but, oh, was he testing me. In the second quarter, he took a shot without setting up from way too far out (almost a 3-pointer), and when I asked him if he was trying to pass or shoot, he smiled and said "Shoot!" In something as a coach I would never normally say, I told him "That was terrible." I apologized after, and then reassured any parents that might have heard me that I would never say something like that to their kids, only mine. They understood, with one mom saying that if her son did something stupid, I can tell him so (I wouldn't).
Michael then tested me in the second half. He was playing good defense guarding his player, then for some reason, stopped playing defense in the middle of the play and looked off the court. His man went to the basket and scored. I just glared at him, and he looked at me all apologetic and distressed and said "Sorrryyyy!" My evil eye must have had an effect, because he scored the six points in the next minute, including a nice 10-foot jumper from the baseline.
Six games left for both boys. My goal is to get everybody on both teams a basket before the season ends -- especially Ben.
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