First off, let me say that it was a great day in the gym. Forty-eight games scheduled, 46 played. (One was cancelled due to team illness, the other due to miscommunication. Believe it or not, a new team thought that we would call them to tell them when their game was each week. Imagine having to call 80 or 90 teams each week!) Anyway, a majority of the 46 games ended with final margins in the single digits. On Rob's Court, eight of the 11 games had scores of 65-60, 69-66, 83-78, 53-50, 64-58, 63-55, 66-57, and 63-59. One other game was a blowout and the other had an 11-point margin. That's pretty good. On Court 4, we had a five-game stretch where the total margin for those five games was 13 points--1, 5, 3, 2, and 1.
I got to ref a couple great games. Skoden and Slime Time put on a show. It was kind of a restricted show because no defense was allowed. The final score was 97-82, Skoden, but the funny thing was that the Skoden guys had 97 points with more than two minutes left. They kept battling but all of a sudden they couldn't hit their butt with both hands. They missed their last eight shots.
Just a quick reminder: Our court usage will drop in November when Club Volleyball starts. As everyone knows, I despise all club sports and I always will. Reason No. 1,147 for that is that 20 years ago, club volleyball started in late February/early March, after the end of high-school basketball season. Back then, many kids played both and were living examples of how doing that helped make them better in both sports and cut way down on burnout from doing the same thing year-round. But now, the clubs start literally the day after the State high-school championship games are contested. It's sad.
In case you're wondering, Reason #1 will always be that I sincerely don't believe that any kid should have to pay a penny to play the sport(s) that he/she loves.
Anyway, when November hits, there will be more byes on the schedule. As Bruce Hornsby (and later Tupac) said, that's just the way it is.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I'm sure that we can all agree that the venue at which we hold the League is spectacular. It's clean and neat, well-lighted and, most of all, clean. (It's so clean, I had to mention it twice.) We owe it to our gracious hosts to help keep it that way. Starting next week, any team that leaves behind even one empty water or Gatorade bottle is going to be really sorry that they did. I haven't decided which draconian measure we will employ (or maybe both). Either you will start the next game (including playoffs) down by the number of bottles that you left behind (seven bottles means that you start the next game down 7-0) or your team will pay a $10 clean-up fee before your next game. All of the money will be kept together and, at the end of the season, given to the young people who work at the venue and have to clean up your messes.
You're grown-ass adults. Act accordingly. We're not your mama picking up after you. I am going to instruct the scorekeepers to take photos after each game. I suspect that people will learn this valuable lesson really quickly.
Also, no more gallon jugs of water. None. You will be asked to dump it or put it back in your car. For one thing, they spill easily. For another, they sit on the floor and the condensation gets down into the wood and can cause warping. You can use regular water bottles or Hydro-flasks.
Sad Note: Anthony Fullylove, one of our favorite ballplayers in the 35-year history of the Tucson Basketball League, passed away recently. He had been battling cancer. Anthony had played for many years with the Sunshine Boys. He was tall and slender and had one of the funkiest looking three-pointers. He was also one of the nicest people ever to play in the TBL. It's been a bad year. A few months back, we lost Job Borboa, also to cancer. Job was an undersized post player who starred at Cholla High School in the late 1980s. He later played many seasons with Minority Express, which was basically the Hawgs/Basketball Junkies of their day back when the League was held at the Steve Daru Boys & Girls Club. May they rest in peace.