It usually takes me a few weeks to hit my scheduling stride, which, one hopes, leads to a slew of close games every week. It wasn't the greatest of weeks in that respect, but for the second week of the season, it was pretty darn good.
For example:
--On Court 3 yesterday, The Truth beat KP Ballers by 14 points, but in the other five games Bricklayers Anonymous beat Midday Buckets, 44-43; La Tuza beat Looney Goons, 63-60; Air Ballers beat Anybody Can, 63-61; Crossroads beat Drizzling Twos, 38-33; and Wicked beat APEX, 57-55. That's a day's worth of close games, all on one court in half a day.
--We also had: AZ Diablos beat Air Celestica, 43-38; Storm beat SAMB, 53-49; Heat Check beat Elite-ish, 52-48; Tucson Product beat Doomsday, 51-49; Omega beat Moon Skippers, 50-46; and Serpientes beat Prestige Worldwide, 56-54.
On the downside, this is the absolute worst season ever for teams dropping out at the last moment. It has become ridiculous. One team dropped out Saturday night; another dropped out Sunday morning at 8:30. The guy was all casual about it. They had already played a game, hadn't paid a penny, and were scheduled to play Sunday afternoon. The guy very casually texted me and said, "We decided not to play this season." That's it. No sorry, no offer to pay for the game they played and the forfeit they were causing. Then, he added, "We'll play next season," to which my reply was, "You wanna' bet?!"
We're off this week because of the Labor Day Weekend. It makes thing symmetrical. We start the Winter season with two games in January, then take the MLK Weekend off. We start the Summer season with two weeks of games, then take the sacred Mother's Day off. Now we're taking Labor Day off. We used to have games on Labor Day Sunday, but it became increasingly frustrating--Fantasy Football drafts, last-minute trips to Rocky Point, weird college games on Sunday. So we will return on September 13th.
When we return on that date, two things will go into effect. Team that played at least once in the past two weeks must be paid in full by the 13th. If they are not, they simply will not be put on the schedule again until they have. And I can't tell you how many times I've been burned by "Just put us on the schedule and we'll bring the money." The other thing is that teams have to have a roster by that date (the 13th). I will have one of my scorekeepers contact each of the teams that don't have a an online roster yet. It's a simple procedure. Call a number, tell them your team name, and receive a link. Go to the link and input your roster.
While I am eternally grateful for the ongoing success of the Tucson Basketball League, I sincerely believe that we can always do better. Toward that end, I will need your cooperation. Thanks.
One last thing. A fan of one of the teams called the venue to complain that members of a team were vaping on the bench during a game. Come on, Guys. Really?! I mean, I love fried chicken, but you don't see me reffing with a whistle in one hand and a chicken wing in the other. If you can't go one hour without sucking on something, get some help. Anybody caught vaping in the building will be asked to leave. Thanks.
Enjoy the Labor Day Weekend.