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As a child I dreamt of someday becoming a sports superstar. Like a Larry Bird or something. First it was tennis but I couldn't quite excel at that and not until my father entered me in a Basketball league at the tender age of 8 did I start to dream. And that was not for the lack of confidence in my backhand (my weakness in Tennis). I think he was just trying to be pro-active in sports for me, and luckily my family pedigree is somewhat athletic (and a full head of hair to boot hehe). I will never forget that Basketball Tournament because in all 12 games that I played in I attempted all but one shot, which I missed horribly btw... A rather inauspicious beginning but a beginning nonetheless...

And although I didn't quite make it to Pro Ball (not even close in fact... but hey we can dream right?) the dream endured (albeit low level) because I love the game. I did play Varsity Ball throughout my decadent High School years and played quite well I might add. I remember it like it was just yesterday, we went undefeated in my senior year. Only we couldn't participate in TAPSA (the equivalent of the State Championships here in the U.S.) because we were the host School. I know it stinks but because of previous years controversies, the host team couldn't play...

Anyway, now at 34 years of age I am still at it! And almost in the same manner like back in my teens (except of course recovery now takes days instead of hours). And like anyone who has played the game as long and as frequently as I have, I can probably say "I seen them all!". You know, buzzer beaters, miracle shots, the heartbreaking losses etc etc etc. And I have been a part of many of these games. Perhaps too many. Do you remember the scene in the Oliver Stone Football movie "Any given Sunday" with Al Pacino and Jaime Foxx? With just seconds remaining and still trailing. Tony (Al Pacino) looks over at his assistant coach, shakes his head and cries "We've been to too many of these...". Yep sometimes I feel that way. My team once lost a Championship Game on a miraculous last second halfcourt shot which pretty much petrified all of us for a good hour, at least. And I once missed a wide open layup which would have sent the game into Overtime in a do or die playoff game. Ya know the kind of stuff you replay in your head over and over again. But there is really nothing you can do but hope to get another chance. And that is why we play ball...

And what I have learned over the years isn't so much how to mold myself into possibly becoming a clutch basketball player or how to make myself more durable over a season, but rather to make less mistakes and the ability to forget stuff. I no longer allow myself to dwell on losing efforts and or heartbreaking games. For instance in the beginning of last season we played and lost a Triple O.T. game. Not only was it heartbreaking but downright disheartening. But, what it comes down to is that it is only a game as dramatic as they could tend to get sometimes. Besides if it ain't dramatic then it ain't that good of a game, is it?. In the end when all was said and done we wound up seeded 2nd in the playoffs. Not too shabby I'd say (would have been tied for first had we won that particular game though). In contrast, we started this current season a dismal 0-5, but right now we are currently in the fight for a playoff berth (1 win from it in fact).

On Thursday night on the other hand for the Copper Division with a record of 5-4, we had to win to secure a spot in the playoffs (a lower level tournament that we also participate in). But not before some requisite dramatics of course... In fact this particular season has been nothing but drama. It all started after a nice 2-1 start. After that the sky seemed to fall over us. We went through (a better word would be "suffered") a rather hellish & controversial league fee snafu and a losing streak to boot. I'm not going to divulge too many details but allegedly the funds were either misappropriated and or embezzled or something I'm really not sure. All i know is that I had to get involved and play the role of an arbitrator between two parties who didn't seem to want to concede nor come up with some kind of a feasible solution. A role I didn't particularly revel in because I had to be impartial without being completely unbiased at the same time for my team...

Anyway 7 tough games later were faced with a must win situation to secure a playoff berth (a lost would mean a 5-5 record and a tie with a team that we lost to. Which would mean NO Playoff!). Some of our teammates would argue that we are a much better team than our record would suggest, but I think the record is quite accurate if you consider our inability to make adjustments during the game (Especially offensively... I think that is out weakness). We can't seem to recognize the opponents weakness and try to exploit it, at least not without having to call a timeout. And a lot of times by the time we'd adjusted it's basically too late...

The game wound up a tough one. And when it seemed like we were in a good position to snatch a win away from an otherwise ugly game that we probably should have won comfortably, we have a mental lapse. In dramatic fashion we tied the game with an and-1 play with 7 seconds remaining in regulation. Darwin, perhaps over thinking the situation missed the free-throw shot but it had luckily bounced high off the rim. Marco fought for the rebound and appeared to be aware that we had a good 7 seconds remaining to set up a play. He held on to the ball momentarily waiting for a play to develop (very smart and poised I might add). And when something did develop (2 seconds later) it was Darwin on top of the key, wide open! Marco smartly passes him the ball, but what happened next stunned us all. In fact it stunned everyone in the gymnasium. He held the basketball on his hip (looking rather comfortable btw) seemingly to shave some time off the clock. Only there was 4 seconds remaining. Naturally we scream obscenities at him which he seemed to ignore at first and when he finally realized what was happening he did something even more weird; he passed the ball. But it was too late the buzzer had rung. Seemingly to mock us. Oh he claimed he'd thought there was 26 seconds left............

And as if we hadn't learned out lessons we had yet another mental lapse in the waning seconds of Over Time. In a tied ball game with 30 seconds remaining with the lack of a shot clock, we felt we were in great shape to win the ball game. The plan was to kill some time before setting a play to try to eliminate the possibility of a good look at the game for the opposing team whether we score or not on the possession. At 10 seconds remaining some of our players somehow decided to discuss whether we should call a timeout or not. While that wasn't necessarily such a bad idea at that point, it was the amount of time that it took that was the problem... Because right around the end of the discussion time dwindled to 3 seconds at which point we had no choice but to call a timeout. So, let's just recap what happened. "In a tied ballgame in overtime with 30 seconds remaining, it took us 27 seconds to decide we want to call a timeout. Brilliant"....

But as they say "all is well that ends well". I got fouled shooting a jumper right at the buzzer... And almost in anti-climactic fashion I swooshed the first free throw to end the game guaranteeing us a playoff berth.

So in the first round of the playoffs what do you think we did as an encore? Only the greatest comeback we ever mounted. Down by a dispirited 17 points in the 1st half, we came roaring back to send the game into two dramatic overtime periods and win it by a basket. We have a flair for the dramatic...