Blue Mustangs

We made a good run, but sadly the season ended last night for the Blue Mustangs, the intramural basketball team I played on with some BCM students. We were knocked out in the Sweet Sixteen round of the tournament by the reigning championship team, the Young Gunnaz. Although the Gunnaz had quite a bit of an edge in athletic talent over us (their team included a player from the VT football team and one from the club basketball team), we had hoped that our solid fundamentals and some hot shooting could lead us to victory. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, and we came up short despite a ferocious second half run that brought us back from being down about 20 points to only being down 8 with about 10 minutes left in the game.

I am so glad that Virginia Tech allows me to participate in intramural sports as a campus minister - I had a great time being a part of this team and getting the chance to play basketball that was a little bit more exciting and meaningful that the pickup games I'm used to. One of the best parts of last night's game was the crowd that came to cheer us on. I didn't count, but I bet there were at least 40 BCM students (and my supportive wife was there too!) there cheering us on. It felt like we were playing in Cassell Coleseum when the crowd would erupt after a defensive stop or a basket.

Our team was also given the "Sportsmanship Award" this past week. We got some free stuff from the sponsors (hoodie from Champion and a coupon for a free pizza from Pizza Hut) and did a photo shoot with their banners. It hasn't been posted yet, but I'm thinking you might get to see a picture of the Blue Mustangs here sometime soon.

Update: They did post our picture on the Recsports website, and here it is:

Shake it like an Earthquake

Last night I played in the most exciting basketball game that I've ever been a part of. Seth, a friend of mine from church, works for the Southwest Philly Community Development Center, and has gotten to know a man by the name of Earthquake through his work. Earthquake is a former boxer, a garbage collector in SW Philly, and a community activist who works toward non-violence. He started a basketball league that plays in a gym at a Baptist church on 70th and Woodland, and invited Seth to get a team together from our church to join in the league. The three other teams were made up of athletic teenagers from the neighborhood. Then there was our group of out-of-shape 20-and-30-something white guys.

Picture this scene: a loud, cramped gym that is about 2/3 the size of a normal basketball court where the walls are about 18 inches away from the out-of-bounds lines on all sides. Earthquake gathers everybody for prayer at center court before the games start and asks God to bless all of the "ballers" and their families. Basketball players and fans line the court and erupt onto it with shouts and yells every time a big play happens for either team. A lone ref with his whistle does the best he can to control the chaos and call an honest game despite lots of fouling and protests on every call.

Somehow, the old white guys keep up and send the game into overtime and double overtime. Thirteen seconds left - they're down by two. Jay Hiatt gets the ball in the post, is double teamed, goes up, hits the shot, and the whistle blows. And one. The crowd goes wild. The clock shows four seconds left. Something happens, and all the sudden the scorekeeper is coming after one of the players on the other team. He gets held back, but the scoreboard is unplugged. Five minutes later the scores and time have been replaced. Jay goes to the line, having had five minutes to think about this shot. He puts it up, off the backboard, and it rolls in! The VCC Ballers Shotcallers pull out the improbable 2OT win!

Earthquake was loving every minute of it, and I'm sure the smile on his face was partly because of the exciting game and partly because his goal of getting kids off the street and involved in healthy competition that ended with everybody shaking hands and congratulating each other was playing out before him. I had to rush home to meet people at my apartment to watch Monday night football, but I think I would have been speeding down 30 blocks of Woodland Ave. with my windows down and music blaring even if that wasn't the case because I was that pumped up.

Little Brother

This Friday night I'm going to get to go to my first NBA basketball game courtesy of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Southeastern Pennsylvania. They've hooked us up with three free tickets so that April and I can take our little brother Isaiah down to the Wachovia Center to see the Sixers play the Celtics. I'm not a huge NBA follower (outside of my fantasy basketball team - which will make me watch for every stat accumulated by Andre Iguodala at the game), but I do understand that neither of these two teams has much at stake at this point in the season. Still, thanks to BBBS, I'm excited to go experience something I probably wouldn't see otherwise, while hanging out with somebody I probably wouldn't know otherwise.

To me, that's been the greatest part of being involved with the BBBS program. Although April and I could have probably found a way to become involved in the lives of some Philadelphians, Big Brothers provided us with an easy and very accessible way to show love to a kid and a family. I'm the kind of person who sometimes needs that kind of socially acceptable device to overcome the awkwardness and uncomfortability I feel when trying to establish something new and somewhat radical for me (especially a relationship). I'm thankful for the vision of people who saw the value in building bridges for timid people like me to befriend those outside of their everyday lives. There's a part of this city I would never even begin to understand if it weren't for Isaiah and his family, and I know that it has enriched my time here already.

March Madness

I remember growing up watching the University of Cincinnati Bearcat basketball team on TV with my family as often as I could. Sometimes, we would get tickets to go to one of the games. I even remember getting my first UC jersey (it was number 3 - Damon Flint). I don't know if I've ever been prouder of an article of clothing.

My aunt lives in Louisville, and had a friend who had season box seat tickets to the University of Louisville basketball games. For a couple years in a row, she was able to get the tickets for the Cincinnati at Louisville (who were two of the best teams in Conference USA at the time) game so that my family, some of my friends and I could drive down for the night, see the game, then drive back late so we could get up for school in the morning. There isn't much better for a kid who is a basketball fan than to get to watch a game from great seats and get free catered food in the process.

I remember listening to a Final Four game on a small hand held radio during a wedding reception once. I can't remember whose wedding it was, or who was playing the game, but I remember it turning what would have otherwise been a boring event for a kid into an exciting night.

A couple of years ago, when I was living close to Washington, DC, a good friend of mine gave me an extra ticket that he had for the ACC tournament at the MCI Center. I got to watch three or four games of some of the best teams in the nation playing. More importantly, I got to hang out and catch up with a good friend for a day.

It seems like I have a lot of good memories revolving around college basketball. Watching the exciting games in the tournament this year brings them back. Sometimes, I think April gets annoyed at me when I'm completely sucked into some of these games, even though I have no real interest in either team beyond what I've picked in my bracket. She tries her hardest to get my attention, but there's really not much point if there's less than 5 minutes left and the score is within 10 points. I just got so excited that I was yelling at the TV during the Washington State vs. Vanderbilt game. I think I can name at least 7 players on the Virginia Commonwealth team from this year. I can't think of anything else that demands my attention and draws me in like a good college basketball game. There's something about the pressure and the passion that are combined in these games that leave me at the mercy of my television like no other program can.