The first Sunday of the Tucson Basketball League's Winter season is my least-favorite day of the year. I still enjoy it; otherwise I wouldn't do it. But it does have its downside. Every season (thankfully), we get new people in. New teams are really enthusiastic about joining and we're happy to have new blood in the League. However, after 37 years, I still haven't learned my lesson. With new teams, I speak on the phone with their captain. We send texts reminding them of their responsibilities (showing up, showing up on time, jerseys, money). We triple-check the day before the season opener. And then, every now and then, nothing...

Sometimes, I'll get a frantic text that says, "Oh man, I'm really sorry, Tom.  All my guys said they were ready to go, but now they all have excuses why they can't make it." That's actually less-offensive than the ones that don't show up and don't make any contact. We usually have one or two of those every season. I should learn my lesson and have new teams pay in advance. This past Sunday, we had a team whose captain had originally contacted me back in early October about joining the League. His enthusiasm was off the charts. We stayed in touch and I put them on the schedule. Of course, no one showed up. I saw a guy whom I knew was a friend of his. I asked him and he said, "Oh yeah, we're not going to have a team. And (the captain) moved to Colorado."

I can just cancel these teams out. I don't even try to contact them; I really don't care. However, the other team showed up to play and they're disappointed. I have to pay all the workers and the venue for Court Rental. And I have to give the team that did show up a makeup game and that gets expensive, especially since we're a non-profit. (That means that I have to ref extra games to make up for the lost revenue and I know how much everybody loves for me to ref their game.)

We also had two returning teams (both of which had been in the League for multiple seasons) cancel the day of. One texted, "We decided over the holidays to take this next season off. But we'll be back next season." (You wanna' bet?) The other one was a classic, but I really like the guy so I don't want to embarrass him. If you want to hear the story, just ask me at the League and I'll tell you. Guaranteed to make you laugh.

So, we got rid of the ones who dampened things on Sunday and we'll get back at it this coming Sunday.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All of the teams that played in the championship games back on 12/15 (winners and losers) will start the following Sunday, January 19th. That's when the championship shirts will be in. It's just easier that way. Thanks.