Venting my Stink

Sometimes I just stink on the court. Sometimes my team stinks on the court. And I am left wondering if I am the reason my teams stink on the court. These stinky games are usually an eye-opener of sorts for me. They show me that no matter how much better I think I am getting, I still have to put forth an effort above and beyond others, and can't be satisfied with my game.

Yes, I am 30 years old and have far greater concerns and enjoyments in life than my basketball abilities, but I just don't want my game to plateau yet. I have unfinished dunking to do. I have a 50 point game in me somewhere, don't I? Did Tiger feel this way when his putting abandoned him at Augusta? Is Mike comparing himself to Tiger Woods? Um, Mike I don't see the correlation... Well, I am obviously not Tiger, but I think I get the same punch-in-the-gut feeling everytime I lose, and I know my teamates (some of them) do too.

Now you are saying... Is Mike really spending 30 minutes to write about this? Does he have a life? Yes, and I am currently holding that life in my lap (Max), but writing helps me get over this stuff.

I did not play well last night. Not remotely well. Not well on offense. Not well on defense. Not well in warm-ups. Not well in my post game hand shakes.

In our Stoneham Monday Night League, my team - Howse Corp - is the defending league champion. We went 8-2 last session and vindicated our two losses in the finals by beating the incumbent champ. This session........ Not so hot.

We are 1-6! I haven't been on a 1-6 team since I played freshman soccer in high school and we were getting beat by kids at schools named Gault and Bishops in Canada! I have missed 4 of the games due to the birth of my main man Max. But, I have made the last two and we have lost both of those games too. A lot of help I am.... We're like the Knicks of the Stoneham league right now.

At this moment (subject to change) last night was the lowlight of my adult basketball career. We were playing a new team to the league called the Orangeman. Let me start by saying they are the opposite of undefeated!

They had five players suit up. Two semi-big guys, one decent point guard, a really, really good shooter, and a scrapper. We had seven guys there.

Here is how my night went... miss, miss, miss, make, turnover, turnover, miss, drive-miss, foul, missed lay-up, foul, three-seconds in the lane, verbal-joist with ref, foul, halftime, miss, miss, miss, miss, foul, missed assignment, dribble off my leg, make, turnover, miss, miss. My cohorts weren't exactly getting it done either, except for Stretch and Danny...

While this was going on, the other team out-hustled us, and generally understood how to play team defense (a concept that a few of our guys don't quite grasp). They also did something the kids call "crashing the boards" - quite effectively. They had a 6 point lead with about four minutes left when...ALAS, a break for us. Their scrapper fouled out of the game. Since they had no subs and had to play with four, we would be able to capitalize right? Well, we kinda did for a bit, and forced overtime. Slightly embarrassing that we had to go to overtime with a one-man advantage, but none-the-less a minor victory in this major disappointment.

In OT, we started out by me catching a nice pass from Stretch on the baseline, and instead of going up strong, I tried to thread the needle back to Stretch, which got picked off. Typical of my night really. Unable to get in synch. Out of position. Uncomfortable around the hoop. Etc, etc. etc. Their defense gave me a lot of respect, considering I couldn't get anything going.

We ended up down 2 with the ball and 14 seconds left, but our Cap'n Rusty missed 2 open looks and then a hand-in-his-face look with 2 seconds left. Just like that, our night was complete... a complete disaster.

My wife tells me not to dwell on it, because it is only just a game... of course, I will dwell on it anyway... but, only until the next game starts... Thursday night. Can't come soon enough.