There was a weird vibe in the gym yesterday. I'm not sure if I can explain it; it just felt a little off. Lord knows we got off to a great start. On Court1 (Rob's Court), our first four games had scores of 44-43, 59-57, 60-58 (OT), and 55-53 (OT). That's absolutely majestic. But then, we had a team that won its Division Championship last season just not show up. No reason, no notice.

Things went well after that, but then we had a strange heated disagreement over somebody spitting near the court. First of all, when it comes to spitting indoors on or near the court, DON'T DO THAT!! EVER! I'm not sure why anybody would feel the need to spit on a court, but from now on, it's an automatic technical foul for anybody who does. The incident happened on Court 4, which is a bit smaller than the main courts, so people need to be extra careful. At the risk of being judged a hypocrite, I must admit that I have spat upon (proper grammar) a court in my lifetime. When I played high-school basketball in the LATE 1960s, everybody wore Chuck Taylors because that's all they had back then. This was decades before the invention of the Sticky Pad, so we would spit (well off the court, away from anybody else) and run our shoes over it for better traction. But that was a long time ago and it's not necessary any more. So please don't do it.

On the subject of Courts 4 and 5, we will continue to use them judiciously to cut down the number of byes. I want to have every team in the League play a game on one of those courts during the season so we can have fewer byes.

Later in the day, yet another team failed to show up. I contacted the captain and he said, "Tom, we didn't sign up for this season." (Yet another NFL/beer team.) But, I happened to have the team signup sheets from late August and I sent him a picture of his team name on the sheet. He said, Oops!"

So, I was bummed out about having had two forfeits in one day and I was questioning the direction of the League. But then I reffed the final two games of the night on Court 3 (Skippy's Court) and it all came back to me. In the 7:00 game, Ham shot lights out in the first half and held a commanding 43-17 lead over a very-good Heat Check team. But then, Heat Check found the range in the second half and cut the margin to just five points with two minutes to go. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way, with Ham holding on for a very-nervous 62-55 win. It was a brilliant testament to the never-give-up attitude than runs through the League. 

In the 8:00 game, Ricky Andrade put on a shooting display, the likes of which I haven't seen in quite some time. He was on fire, hitting threes while closely guarded from all over the court. His Paper Route Hoopers squad built a lead and maintained it. Then, something really cool happened. One of the players from the Outlawz squad was having a bad game, something made worse by his taking a bad spill on a layup. Things weren't going well, but then, during a brief break in the action, one of his opponents, Elijah Prater, went up to him and, in a casual voice, said, "You're a good player. Just play your game. You're good."

It was a wonderful display of sportsmanship and it lifted my spirits. After another 12-hour day, I went home happy.

Now, NO MORE FORFEITS!