baylee's basketball game

today baylee had a basketball game. and this isn't an ordinary game. we were playing white deer. we had played this team earlier in the season (and by season i mean 6 weeks total) and they creamed us. we lost by 40 points. well, lee is the coach and he can be competitive. he is a really good coach and believes that all players should play and really tries hard to play all the boys equally. he doesn't find the star kid and work with them and let the others just kinda muddle through. if i have to be a coach's wife this is the kind of coach i want to be married too. at this age that is what it is about, building the kid's confidence and teaching them skills.

win some, lose some.

teach it all to the kids.

don't be out for blood.

i admire lee for this, and you can tell the kids do too. but, back to today's game. the coach for this team is the exact opposite of lee. when they were beating us he was still pushing his kids to go harder, not to slow the pace. you know like a coach with class would do. this team had beat every one of the panhandle teams. and the coach was a jerk each time. in fact, several of the other coaches gave him some version of this comment, "really coach, you're beating us by...." out for blood. don't get me wrong, i think you should push the kids and teach them that when appropriate don't let up. i do have a competitive side too, ask people i've played against. but, i also think you should teach kids how to be gracious. so, lee's competitive side really was getting to him. he wanted to beat this guy. so at practice this week lee really played up the "they've beat every one... we're going to give it our all... and some of you may not play as much... everyone on the team is here this game (one of our stronger players was out sick last game)." he pumped them up. and boy did it work.

the game starts and before i know it we are up 6-0. the whole first quarter we had the lead by no less than 5. it was intense. the second quarter starts and the boys are still on fire. they came to PLAY. remember this team beat us by 40 last time. our boys had an agenda.

then things get real interesting. halfway through the second quarter the referees switch. this never happens. our refs are volunteer high school students with a few other older people. we had 2 high schoolers, until the switch, when a girl who has been out of school maybe 4-5 years steps in. then, one of the ladies who helps run the whole show starts talking to the other coach. and then the new ref starts talking to him. he apparently is complaining about how our boys are screening and complaining the refs aren't calling fouls. the new ref informs him they aren't fouling no matter how their feet are stanced as long as they don't extend their arms and push off the kid. he keeps mouthing. lee said he told the other lady, "well i'll just have my kids push back and hurt those other kids." so, the other lady gets in his face. he is still griping. and she ejects him from the game. the ref switch was because the first ref was intimitaded by him, so the second came because she wouldn't put up with his mouth.

crazy.

this is third and fourth graders. and a coach gets ejected.

CRAZY.

one of our kid's dad is a local highway patrol. chris stood up and was ready to go help out if needed. lee told me later that when he saw chris stand up he just backed off and kept his mouth shut. i guess that is why there always are law enforcement at the games. lol.

as the coach was walking out of the gym he called another guy out of the stands to come coach. and there was mouthing from him and from the crowd. he said they weren't coming back. and there were a lot of good i hope nots.

so, we get back to playing. and, they bring the game to a tie. then, we pull ahead. the third quarter was stressful. at one point white deer had the lead by 2 points. tie...us lead...tie...white deer lead...tie...us lead...tie. the gym starts to fill up. i'm not sure if it was because of the game after ours or if word was getting around that this was an interesting game. probably a little of both (you know small towns). i am so proud of the defense the boys are playing, they are sticking with those boys like glue and you can tell it is getting to them. that team rarely misses, but they were missing shot after shot. one of their strongest players fouls out. our kid shoots his free throw and we are up by 1. there is just under 30 seconds. it is a nail biter. we head to the other end of the court and they don't get a shot in. we get the ball and head back to our end. we win by 1 point.

one.

our guys have come so far in the last few weeks. lee played every boy. some not as much as others. but, every boy played with more heart than they had all season. everyone of them will walk away as the team that beat the team that was undefeated. lee said after the game he had the boys all huddled up and every one of them had big wild eyes. eyes of pride and disbelief. this team had beat them by 40 the first time and then we beat them by 1.

lee also says he has something special planned for the boys who didn't get to play as much today. and it's a good one. you'll have to check back later after the end of the month. i don't want to ruin the surprise. and it's another reason why i love him and love him coaching.

oh, and white deer didn't come for their second game today. after the game the boys and i went to get a soda from taylors and we saw the replacement coach walking out with an 18 pack. it was a rough game. lol.

tara