It's really weird. Recently, multiple people have asked me what will become of the League when I am no longer running it. There was even a rumor that I might die someday, but that's completely unsubstantiated. The League has been running non-stop for 38 years. (And I've never missed a Sunday in all that time.) I'm looking to get to 50 or so and then somebody (or somebodies) else can get it to 100. Seriously, can you imagine what it would be like if the Tucson Basketball League made it to Year 100? The officiating would still be bad despite the fact that everyone would have (correctable) perfect vison. If inflation continues at the current pace, the League entry fee would be $117,000 per team. And if we had a branch of the League on the Moon, EVERYBODY would be able to dunk!
We had a really good week this past Sunday. On Rob's Court (Court 1), 10 of the 12 games ended with singe-digit margins. That's exceptional. We had two two-point games (oddly, both had a final score of 57-55), three three-point games, and a four-point game. We also had multiple close games, including two overtime games, on the other two courts, as well.
We also had a bad moment. We had one guy who showed up at the gym for the wrong reason(s). From the time the game started, he was out of sync with what was going on. Disagreeing with his teammates, running his mouth at opponents, having an absolute meltdown with the refs. He wouldn't calm down, his teammates couldn't calm him down, the refs damn sure couldn't calm him down. So, he had to go. Simple as that. We're just not going to have one person ruin it for everybody else. You can't act right, take your ass outside.
Oh, and that reminds me. You tell a ref that you're going to be waiting outside, do you know who else will be waiting? The Sheriff's Department. To quote Homie The Clown, the TBL don't play dat.
Over the years, there have been leagues in Tucson where there was a fight a week. (The Downtown Y was notorious for that a couple decades ago.) We've had two big fights in 38 years. We've had minor incidents where it looked like things might get out of hand before cooler heads prevailed. The last time we had an almost-fight was a couple seasons ago when these two guys ON THE SAME TEAM(!)...AFTER A WIN(!)...got into it over a woman. The two guys, who were related (cousins or uncle/nephew), started shouting, then squared off. They were told to leave the premises. They went outside, squared off again, and were ready to fight when the law-enforcement personnel showed up. So, the two guys got in the same car and drove off together. Their team was taken out of the League and we have no idea what happened to those guys.
We've had over 200 games this season and that was the first time someone was kicked out of a game. Let's see to it that it's the last time, as well. Thanks.