Connections That Last For A Lifetime

Last night, my Monday night basketball league completed it's 2013 spring season with the championship game.  My team was fortunate enough to be playing in the game.  Even more fortunate, my team was able to WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP 66-61.

In looking back, my team had an improbable run.  My team had plenty of potential and chemistry but we only won one out of first five games.   I was forced to make some adjustments and fortunately things worked out.  My team gelled and won it's final give games of the season including the championship.

I'm extremely proud of my team.  We had seven players, five of whom had played in our league before.  We had two new players including one guy who had never played league basketball before.  The other new player was a girl.   She was real small of stature but she is baller and tough as nails.   We had to work hard at our chemistry but everyone played their roles and contributed to the championship win.

While my team's win didn't bring us any trophies or anything like that, I find that it brings lasting memories and connections for all of the players involved.  While I am not close friends with all of my teammates, going through our journey this season will forever bind us.   I don't know how much I will see this particular group of players in the future.  However, anytime I do see them, this championship will be something we can reminisce about for years to come.

Really, this holds true for all of the teams in our league.  All five of the teams finished with a 4-4 record.  Instead of randomly eliminating one of the teams from playoffs, all teams were invited.  It was a first in the league to have this happen.  This made for a exciting playoff and championship games.  So while my team earns the "champion" title, every team in the league had something to be proud of.

Championship Bound!

For the better part of nearly 3 months, I've been playing in three basketball leagues.  I play in leagues on Monday, Thursday and Sunday.  The Sunday league didn't go that well as my team went winless in seven games.  The Thursday league hasn't been much better as my team currently has one win in seven games with two left to go.

The saving grace has been my Monday night team.  We finished the regular season with a 5-3 record and the #2 seed in the playoffs.  We squared off in the first round of the league playoffs tonight and rallied to win 75-64.   The win advances us to the league championship next Monday.

I've played tons of league basketball games (some 300+) in the past 18 years.  I've been in every type of game imaginable.  I've played exciting close games that my team has won.  I've also played some bad games where my team has been blown out.

Tonight's game rates as one of more satisfying wins I've ever been part of.  My team played ok in the first half but stumbled badly to start the second half.  We went from being down 4 points to down 10 very early in the second half.   We managed to cut the lead to 6 points with our bench.  The starters came back in and just torched the nets.  The other team was stunned and could not respond as we pulled away for the victory.

The reason that game was satisfying was that we did it as a team.  Our team has one guy who might be considered a star.  The rest of our guys just average players.  In addition, out of the roster of 9 guys, only two guys (27, 23) are under 30 with FOUR guys over 40 (42, 41, 46, 52).

I've learned that chemistry can't be understated which was greatly shown by the San Francisco Giants.  We all get along and pull for each other greatly and that has contributed to our team's success.  We have one more hill to climb next week in the championship game.  I'm confident that our team will continue to play together and give it our best shot next week.  Perhaps some of the San Francisco Giants magic will rub off on my team!