March Madness

I'm enjoying March Madness, as usual. It seems that wherever I happen to be living my loyalties gravitate to a local team. Years ago I was in Iowa when the Iowa Hawkeyes, coached by Lute Olsen, went all the way to the Final Four. And after years in the Midwest I still tend to favor Big Ten teams.

This year, though, I'm following Gonzaga with lots of interest. They're a small school in Spokane that happens to have an exceptional basketball program. This year's team is touted as the deepest and most talented of recent years. They beat Iowa to make it into the Sweet Sixteen. Friday evening they go up against UCLA with a berth in the Elite Eight on the line.

The reason for Gonzaga's basketball success is head coach Mark Few. He was born and raised in Oregon, graduated from the University of Oregon in 1987 and joined the coaching staff at Gonzaga in 1989. He was an assistant coach until 1999 when he took over the top position.

In his sixteen years as head coach Gonzaga has a 435 - 102 record, a .810 winning percentage. That makes Few the winningest active coach in the NCAA. Gonzaga has won the West Coast Conference regular season all but one of the years Few has been head coach, and has won the WCC tournament all but three of those years.

This year marks the 17th straight year Gonzaga has made it into the Big Dance. But Few has never been able to lead his team beyond the Sweet Sixteen. Will this be the year? I'll be watching.

There's another thing I like about Mark Few. He's an avid fly fisherman. The consensus is that he will never leave Gonzaga. Some attribute that to loyalty, or to his northwest roots. I think it's because of the great fly fishing out here. He's particularly partial to Alaskan Rainbows.

Whatever happens in the tournament, you can be sure that once it's over it won't be long before he'll be out on the water getting his head straight again. (Me, too.)

Here's the money quote from an  ESPN article on Few and fly fishing:

Fly-fishing, believe it or not, helps Few find harmony within the hustle.

"It just brings it down," Few said. "I walk out the next day at practice in a much better place. Even come home in a much better place. My wife will tell you, [I'm] a much better parent, a much better husband. Everything. These seasons and the job can become all-encompassing sometimes. And so it's good. It's a great time to think and think about your team and plan and do things in that area because you have a lot of time just standing there in the river. I think [fly-fishing] is probably the biggest thing that I've always tried to do."

Youth Sports Post: Jeremiah "Flying"

February has arrived. In my calendar this is the first month of Spring. So don't despair.

Meanwhile, winter weather is asserting itself here again in the form of cold temperatures. Don't worry, I'm sure it's the last gasp, but for now we're in the middle of what looks like a stretch of days below freezing and nights in the teens and single digits. That means there's shelf ice forming on the river again.

It was open for a few days, but my life agenda wasn't. It has been a busy time. So I didn't make it to the river, or to Rocky Ford. But warmer weather is on the way. Really.

Happily, one of the things that has taken up some of my time is high school basketball. My second son Jeremiah is a sophomore, and his Junior Varsity team is having a good season.

So is Jeremiah. Number 24 just keeps getting taller and better. Those were the days.

The other night we were playing one of our most notorious rivals. The boy's varsity, the girl's varsity, the boy's C-squad, the girl's C-squad, and the girl's JV all lost. But the boy's JV won in a thriller.

Jeremiah played hard and made some good plays. This was one of the more interesting ones. He misses a breakaway layup, but manages a follow up assist the hard way when his friend Adrian gets another steal and passes back to Jeremiah. I enthused about his acrobatic recovery, and he said, "Yeah, well, why didn't Adrian just make a good pass?"

Because it wouldn't have been as good a video, my son.

Youth Sports Post: Family Basketball

If it's winter outside...

It's basketball inside.

Walking out of the cold and dark into that big, warm, echoing gymnasium and hearing the squeak of shoes on the shiny floor takes me back to the glory days of all the games in all the winters of my youth. I have to confess that I wasn't good enough to be on the team then. I was a Pep Band guy. But we had teams that went to state, and I was with them all the way.

My boys, though, are athletes. Jeremiah made JV as a Freshman. He's not a starter yet, but he has his moments. Our local photographer, who takes photos of all the high school sports, was kind enough to send me this photo. (I just realized it's a family portrait. That's me taking video, and Kim beside me, up on the top row in the background. And Isaiah is on the bench.)

Isaiah's on the bench because of his ACL surgery. He's recovering well, and hopes to play soccer in the spring. For now the coaches have made him an assistant, so he gets to go to the pregame coaches' meeting, and take stats during the game. They're also teaching him about the game from a coaching perspective, something they feel will help him when he gets back out on the floor next winter.

He would much rather be playing, and I wish he could, but it still does this father's heart good to see both my sons sharing the same bench and doing their best for the team.

May Day Festival: Parade and Street Ball

You know when trout season opens that the time of parades and festivals and rodeos is upon you. Saturday was the first, the May Day Festival at a town up the road. Small town parades at this time of year are celebrations of the fact that we made it through the long hard winter; we did it together, as a community; and, as a community, we can get through anything.

And so every part of town life is dressed up and paraded down main street, and even those things that have a serious or even threatening side--the fire department and law enforcement--are seen for what they really are at their best: the way we help each other out, and watch each other's back. And all kinds of different people, people who might look askance at each other at any other time, stand side by side along the street and chat and joke and help each other's kids share the candy thrown by the passing floats. Everyone is glad to be reminded that they aren't alone, and that we're all in this together.

We've been here long enough to know what to expect in these parades, and we still like it all. There are always the princesses and attendants...

The marching bands...

And Smoky the Bear.

There are, of course, the sirens, now signalling only delight.

The Shriners can always be counted on to keep things on a high level. And they don't throw out candy, they pass out stuffed animals to all the kids.

You'll always see some of your friends out there,  with the Garden Club, or the hospital auxiliary, or just having fun like my friend Pat.

There are always horses, bringing back echoes of frontier days on these streets.

And, my favorite, the Rodeo Queens.

It all makes everybody feel like a kid again.

After the parade we walked down the street...

To the site of the Three-on Three Basketball Tournament. This is big. Dozens of teams in several age brackets play on eight courts all day to determine bragging rights until next year.

This is street ball, and it can get rough. And it's not just for the boys. The "Smokin' Hot Babes" in the flourescent green shirts did a number on their opponents.

And sometimes injuries can occur.

That's why Jeremiah likes it so much. He had been looking forward to this for a long time. His team, "The Average Joes," played hard but got  beat twice and were eliminated. By now, their opponents, from several different towns, are friends, too. It's easier to get beat by friends.

So what do you do when you've been eliminated from the tournament? You go fishing in the river with your friend and make sure your friend's Dad sends a photo message to your parents of your best Smallmouth of the day.

Youth Sports Post: Brothers

Jeremiah is playing AAU basketball. The season began months ago and lasts forever. Isaiah's JV season is over, so he's been going to AAU practices just for the heck of it.

When I picked them up this evening after practice I made the simple request that they pose together for a photo. Seemed like a good idea to me. But somehow they couldn't do it in front of their friends and fellow jocks. So this is the best I could do.

Click on photo to bring them to life.

Actually, I like it. I think it captures their essence.

Youth Sports Post: Paris and C Squad

I reported recently on a big win by Jeremiah's Eighth Grade team in an exciting overtime game. I think my words were, "This is the kind of win that defines a season." This is why that win is and will be so important:

Yeah, the last game didn't go so well. Others won't either. But as Humphrey Bogart says to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, "We'll always have Paris."

Meanwhile, Isaiah, a Ninth Grader, has started practice. Last Saturday the various high school squads, boys and girls, played each other as a kind of tip off to the season. I have to say that Isaiah is now on "C Squad," the squad of boys not good enough to play on Varsity or JV. In his case it was because he had gotten himself into some academic trouble and had to bring a couple of grades up.

He was disappointed--steamed--but he has responded with a level of maturity that makes us proud. Not only has he brought the grades up, he has developed a loyalty to C Squad. My guess is that he will be promoted to JV soon, but in the meantime he is determined to help C Squad be as good as it can be. Their first game is Saturday. Go C Squad!

Click for animated photo sequence.

Youth Sports Post: Jeremiah Helps Team to Big Win

Props to Jeremiah and his Eighth Grade basketball team. They played their top rival last week, a team that towers over them, and won in overtime, 30 to 25. The key was swarming defense; they held the other team scoreless in the overtime period.

Click for animated photo sequence.

Their record is now 1 and 2. They have improved immensely since game one, and this game has boosted their confidence sky high. They could rack up a few more wins. But even if they don't, this was the kind of win that defines a season.

Way to go, guys!

Spring Before My Eyes

Click on photos for full size image.