Last week, out of nowhere, a crazy idea popped in my head. I instantly began lamenting the fact that I hadn't thought of it 37 years ago, when we started the Tucson Basketball League. We're a month into the summer, a time of travel for a lot of people. I'm proposing the establishment of the TBL Photo Gallery. Those of you who are traveling and who have been fortunate enough to have won a Division Championship at some time in the past, we would like you to take along a Championship shirt and get a photo of yourself (wearing the shirt) in front of a famous landmark. Time Square in New York, the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Bean in Chicago, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. How cool will that be?

While many of the younger members of the League grew up with this stuff, it should be noted that the Internet really didn't become a thing until the late 1990s and the cell phone camera wasn't really viable until around 2010. So, for the first 22 years of the League, it probably wouldn't have been such a good idea, but we certainly could have had some great stuff for the past 15 years (minus the Pandemic).

Before she got married a few years ago, my daughter used to travel together with my son all over the world. (The two of them actually played on a championship team one season with a squad that is now basically Frosty Hesson, so they have championship shirts.) In recent years, they could have taken photos in front of the Sydney Opera House, the statue of The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen Harbor, and the Panama Canal. Missed opportunities. But, let's get it started right now. If you're traveling anywhere interesting (the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, that motel in South Tucson that keeps burning down), take along the shirt and take a photo. We will be posting a link where you can send the photos. This will be great.

Paul Choi, the captain of the Blue Coconuts, will be running a marathon in Switzerland this coming October. He has promised to add to the Gallery. Who else?

On this past Sunday, I got to ref some games and a couple of them were great. In the opening game, Outlawz and NOVA battled down to the very last send, with NOVA coming away with a 53-52 victory. In the finale of Court 4, AZ Tropics and 4T7 were in a game that was really close until it wasn't. Late in the first half, 4T7 went on a blistering run with Owen Miller hitting five three-points and blew the game open, running out to a 20-point lead at the half. I figured that it was all but over, but then Edgar Moreno hit a three for the Tropics and then Jerry Junior hit a couple more and all of a sudden, it was a single-digit margin. They kept chipping away until Diego Kellogg hit a three to get the Tropics within one point inside of two minutes. But then Dylan Looney went down to the other end and coolly (and cruelly) hit a three to get the margin back up to four and 4T7 hung on for the win.