Two teams, two championship games

I once again volunteered to coach Biddy Basketball for Eastern. I coached a 1st-2nd grade team with my friend Eric Thompson, and assisted my brother-in-law Jeremy with his 3rd-4th grade team.


Here I am with my assistant, Eric. I'm probably yelling one of three things: "Arms out," "Slide your feet," or "Get between your man and the basket!"



It was a great season for both teams. We both managed to get to the championship games. Unfortunately we lost two very close ones. My team played hard, but just couldn't get the ball to go in the hoop and we lost by just a few points. Jeremy's team gave it their all and wound up going to OT with a nice lay-up with just a few seconds left in regulation. The other team proved to be just a little too much for us in OT and we lost a close one.

It was a fun year, none-the-less. The kids improved throughout the year. I hope that's because they learned something from me. I still haven't had any calls for filling a coaching position in the Big 10...

Eastern Biddy Basketball

This year, as I did last year, I helped my brother-in-law coach a 1st & 2nd grade biddy basketball team at Eastern. Little did I know that I would end up being a head-coach for a 3rd & 4th grade team. I admittedly do no know that much about basketball, but with my brother-in-law (a real basketball man) at my side, I thought I'd give it a go. I am glad I did.

I had a group of really good boys who learned so much throughout the season. We started off good with three wins, but hit a rough patch and lost 3 in a row. The combined difference between the score of two of those games was just 3 points. We finished strong to end our season and headed into the tournament.

As the tournament began, we were playing like I knew we were capable of playing. Every boy contributed as we made it to the championship game in the tournament. In the semi-final, we were down 7 with just a few minutes to go. We tied the game with a ball that rolled around the rim (to build suspense, I guess) and finally went in with about 28 seconds to go. We pulled away in OT and advanced to the championship, where we lost to the undefeated champions.

It was a satisfying experience and I look forward to coaching again next year.