This has been a tough season. The last regular game was played on Saturday, giving this team a 2-9 record. Yup, this was a rough one. We started out so well; I was so sure this was going to be a dynamic season. Turns out, not so much. My poor Bball Girl spent most of her games in tears. Tears, I tell ya. Her mother's defense of her says the girl plays with tremendous heart. She's aggressive on defensive, fast as lightning and a powerful point guard. Problem is, when they are losing, sometimes losing badly, that ole' girl doesn't take it so well.
Our lowlight of the season would have to be the game where the team was losing pretty badly in the 3rd period. As the ref blows the whistle for some random call, The Hub offers some constructive coaching from the sidelines. That's his job, right? As she takes it upon herself to argue (ARGUE!) back with her coach-dad from the middle of the court, he tells her to get it together or she will sit out the final period. Yes, friends. All of this happened as the gym was silent. Oh, goodness. Could I just shrink into disappearance from embarrassment? The worst of it would have to be Bball Girl's final remark: "Just take me out now, then!" Oh, wow. I thought I was embarrassed before, now I want to yank the girl myself. Utterly embarrassing. Thankfully those parents had the good graces to wait to talk about us until they got in their cars after the game was over. Somehow I forgot to thank them for that. The Hub called a time out and tried to regroup. Let's just say that was not a fun ride home. 4th grade house league basketball rules prevent a coach from pulling a player during a period for any reason other than injury. Although I am sure The Hub could think of some injuries he might like to cause (kidding!), she had no injury. An injury to her common sense and home training, perhaps.
You know that I spent the next week preaching to her about good sportsmanship, and mostly declaring to her she has got to get her emotional game together. The poor girl was in tears in the 2nd half of almost every game. I get her frustration, myself feeling the same from the sidelines. She was the team's lead shooter and is a good basketball player. Her team, as a whole, really, just not so great. That interprets to her running down opposing players, sometimes bulldozing them, in an effort to stop the run. Oh, boy. Soccer Chick and I would sit on the sidelines shaking our head. I, personally, would not want to face that against me on the court. Her face gets so serious, and she looks downright mean. Scary, in fact. About that time, I would slowly raise my hand to cover my face. I don't even want to see what's coming. She charges directly for a player, and if the team is losing badly, and she's frustrated enough, she didn't even care if she took a flagrant foul or if the player wasn't even hers to cover. Oh, sigh. She'll be a beast when she gets to high school ball. But for those little 4th grade girls she was their nightmare.
Thankfully, this final game this past weekend Bball Girl kept her stuff together. I couldn't tell her enough how proud I was. Perhaps I was just happy my prayers of "please do not let her embarrass me with those tears flying all over the place...AGAIN..." was what was answered. What I was thinking was let's please not give these parents another occasion to wonder if all the girls does is cry. Bless, that girl, she is such a kind soul. She is emotional; she's in-touch with her emotions. She feels things strongly and it shows. She didn't handle losing too well. Tomorrow night, this same team faces round 1 of the playoffs. Will they win? It's likely. They are ranked 8th out of 10 teams, and are facing the 9th ranked team. If they win...well, then they face the 1st ranked team on Saturday. I'm shaking my head, already. Ya'll pray for me.
The most exciting news would be that for the spring season she has decided to run track. I'm so excited for this! She's super fast. She gets that from her mama. Although the people in my life don't believe that, knowing me now, I desperately try to convince them that I was super-fast in my youth. I didn't use it, so I got to lose it. But once upon a time, a long 30-something years ago, this gal could run...and she could dance, and... I keep trying to convince my family of these many spectacular talents I possessed, and how I have delightfully passed them on to my incredibly athletic and talented children, and I just don't get why they insist on doubting me so!
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