I have done the schedule for the Tucson Basketball League every Sunday for the past 35 years. That first season, we had eight teams and it took me less than a minute to do the schedule. I developed an algorithm that made it impossible to have duplicate match-ups (the same two teams playing each other more than once). As the years went by and the league grew in numbers, it became trickier. This team has guys who go to church so they have to play late. This team has guys who work on Sunday night so the have to play early. You can't have these two teams play each other because they both have knuckleheads who are in the League for the wrong reasons. With the number of teams we have in the League now, the time to make a schedule has grown exponentially.

I have come to almost dread the posting of the schedule because within minutes of posting it on this website, I get at least a half-dozen (and often many more) texts. "Hey Tom, I know we usually play at night, but we really need a day game." Hey Tom, we played this team a couple seasons ago; can you give us a new team?" "Hey Tom, I play on two teams and you scheduled them to play each other. You have to change it."

Today, not 10 minutes after the schedule went up, I got, "Hey Tom, you have Team A playing Team B and Team C playing Team D. You should change it so A plays D and B plays C. Those are better match-ups." Seriously.

The really bad stuff happens if I start changing things. Team W gets their wish, but I have to switch them with Team Y, which was happy with their spot but don't like being switched. Or, Team Y doesn't notice the switch and they show up at the wrong time, causing a forfeit. (That actually happened last week.) So, then, I have to not only change the schedule, I have to call everybody and let them know that there has been a change. More time that I don't have.

NEW POLICY: Starting today (my wife's birthday), the only changes I will ever make to a posted schedule will fit in one of two categories. If a team contacts me well in advance and asks for an early or late game--for a VALID REASON, not just because they feel like it--and I forget to do it, I will fix that. And if I mess up and schedule two teams that have already played each other, I will fix that. Nothing else, so please don't bother asking.