Sunday was an A-minus day for the Tucson Basketball League. We had a stretch where three straight games were decided by buzzer-beaters, with wildly energetic crowds cheering on the action. As we have passed the midpoint of the regular season, the scheduling is more on-point. On Sunday, we had scores of 72-71 (in overtime), 71-69,  71-68, 50-49, and 49-48. More than half of our games ended with single-digit margins and there were no blowouts. That's a good day.

Unfortunately, as the later part of the day progressed, we had a couple minor incidents. One guy yells at a ref about a bad call (or a no-call) and the ref says something back. They start going back and forth and pretty soon ancestors are being mentioned and it's a whole thing. Yes, the refs get paid (but not a whole lot) and yes, teams pay to play in the League, but that does not give a player carte blanche to be disrespectful to a ref. They're going to make mistakes. But it's like when I'm coaching. I tell my players that I don't care if they make mistakes; the only thing that bother me is if not they're trying hard.

Along those lines, if you ever feel that a ref is not trying hard, please tell me. I don't just sit there like a mamooch all day. I walk around and watch the games. ("Mamooch" is an Italian word that basically means a big, giant tub of goo.) I've got a waiting list of guys (and a couple women) who want to be refs in the League. I'm not talking about a bad call here and a no-call there. If you feel that a ref isn't giving a solid effort, please let me know.

Now, as for your part. It's a basketball game. Ain't nobody gonna' die. You don't get a hundred thousand dollar bonus if you win the championship. You get a T-shirt with my picture on it. I've always said that we're not here so that someone can take out a week's worth of frustration in one hour. We're here so that you can play some ball, get a workout, hang with your homies, and then go home. All that other stuff is nonsense.

I don't know if you have noticed, but we have fewer teams in the League this season. For the first time in years, we're under 100 teams. Some of it may be due to the economy and/or the modest increase in the League fee. Some of the drop is due to attrition. But I also want you to know that I have gotten rid of some teams who simply weren't here for the right reasons. And I will continue to do so in the future, if need be. The thing that works in my favor is that I make the same amount of money with 90 teams as I did with 110 teams--ZERO. So I'm not trying to hang onto teams. I'm trying to make this the best League ever. And I would appreciate your help in that endeavor.