Just Turn It Off

Just like that, he flipped the switch.

Both of my boys got an amazing skill... and not from me.  They have my passion about their own likes (and dislikes for that matter - little guy is NEVER going to like broccoli, no matter how many times he tries it) but they definitely possess an ability to let go that I have never attained.  I call it "flipping the switch".  Turning it off.  Letting it go.  Moving on and not looking back.

It's amazing to me, really.  I still mull over conversations I had 20 years ago, replaying them in my mind wondering what other path I might have taken and what that might have led towards.  It's a curse, really.  Not necessarily a regret though.  Just an inability to turn it off.

I guess I have a lot of lights on upstairs.

Our final football games occurred this weekend.  Knowing exactly what we were most likely entering, little guy had huge passion and fire.  He was excited.  He was nervous.  Despite a rough season, he wanted to leave his heart all over that field.

He did.  He worked hard.  He made mistakes.  And he loved every progress and success.  As he sat on the field after the final game, he fought back tears.  Not tears of disappointment - he knew better than that.  Tears that once again the game he loves has come to end.  His pure love of the game is an awesome thing to witness.

We hugged a lot last night.  We wrapped up on the couch for a few hours.  We snuggled before bed talking about it.

And today, it is gone.  The switch is flipped.  He isn't dwelling.  He isn't sad.

It's basketball season.

I wish I could do that.  All of that passion, excitement, drama, anxiousness, stress... all shut off.

And who says we can't learn from our children.

Have a great Monday, friends!

Jen

MADNESS!

LET THE MADNESS BEGIN.

I met Hubs in August of '92.  Although he traveled a significant amount (and usually over the weekends), we did our best to see each other and develop our relationship.  Our perfect storms were when Bubba was with his father for a weekend and Hubs didn't have a trip.  He dropped on one knee in December.  The wedding plans were in FULL swing by early spring of 1993 - we planned a July wedding.  No waiting here!

Then it happened.  He stopped calling.  He was "busy" all the time.  He spent weeks away from me and with the guys.

And I learned what March Madness was all about... the hard way.

I can still remember feeling furious at him for weeks.  "You're watching basketball, AGAIN?  How damn long is this crap on??"

Clearly I didn't care at that time in my life, nor did I want precious time taken away from me to watch sweaty boys playing on teams we didn't even know.

Little did I know.

As my alarm blared this morning, I rolled over quickly and turned it off.  I always know Hubs alarm is going off about 20 minutes after mine so I snuggled in and smiled knowing I was going to get a little snooze.

I opened my eyes gently, viewing the beautifully pink and red sunrise coming over the horizon.  Although I'm sure freezing, the birth of morning was gorgeous today.  Within seconds it dawned on me:  I never see the sunrise anymore with daylight savings time.  What time is it?  I scrambled up to look at Hubs clock (and him snoring away happily).  7:20.  CRAP!  How in the hell did we ALL oversleep?

Oh yeah - it's March Madness.  Hubs is off watching two straight days and 48 hours of basketball.  Then he'll do it again next weekend.  And the next weekend.  For weeks until it's over.

I scrambled down the hall screaming for little guy to get out of bed.  Choir practice, 7:20.  Ah man... I love being a mother.

Of course we got him up an hour early yesterday even though it was Late Start Wednesday.

I do have to make one small admission:  I absolutely LOVE college basketball now.  It took years and quite frankly the participation of both of my boys to get me totally into the sport, but I'm there.  I even have my own bracket (the winning one, of course).  Sometimes I might pick because I dislike the other team more (ahem, kU) but no doubt I love the statistical side of the equation.  

For all my girlfriends, take a deep breath and know they will come back to you.  For my married girls, take some time for yourselves during their "busy season".  You'll be shocked how much you can accomplish while they are busy!

As for me?  I'll be sitting somewhere, preferably with friends and colleagues, watching as many games as I can.  Go Tigers!

Enjoy the madness!

Jen

WINNERS!

The season is complete.  2013 USSSA Kansas/Missouri Division 1 State Champs.  Wowzers.

Little guy has had quite a year of sports.  We were tournament champs in baseball as well, something we had never gotten but had always wanted as a team.  But even with that experience one is never quite prepared for the event to occur.

Our weekend was a flurry of emotion.  We played two games on Saturday, being defeated in both.  As we went to bed Saturday night, little guy was worried.  I tried to console him - they were prepared as best as possible for the upcoming final game.  The Coaches had given them everything they needed.  It now needed to come from within.

Yes, he is competitive.  Yes, he does care about winning and losing.  He recognizes only one can win and one will lose.  It empowers him to dig to his core and work from his heart.  It teaches him perseverance.  Never give up.  And no... I'm not a fond believer in participation medals.  There, I said it.

His true test came in the final game.  With 20 seconds to go, he went on the line to shoot two.  No pressure or anything.  We were down by 2.  Ugh.  I wanted to throw up, literally throw up.  I couldn't watch - but I had to watch.

Swish.
Swish.

Both dropped beautifully like he had practice a thousand times.  He was visably nervous but he worked through it somehow.  I'd like to think his love of the game deep in his soul was engaged at that very moment, keeping him as relaxed as possible.

Our ball, foul at 13 seconds of our best shooter.  Missed the first, hit the second.

Time expired.  We won by 1 point.  ONE POINT.  The perfect reason to never give up.

After playing four games in two days burning roughly 3,500 calories, little guy collapsed into bed that night.  He wondered if Coach was sleeping with our trophy.  He thought maybe his friend D was sleeping with his MVP trophy.  He should... he deserved it.

I always get a little bit nervous about transitions in sports.  It's hard to move forward after a season like we just had.  It's a weird let down feeling to know it's over.

What did the boys do last night?  Set up the basement with little guy's pitching mound.  Placed all of his baseball gear downstairs.  And started conditioning.

One day out from basketball.  Guess I didn't need to worry after all.

Have a great Tuesday, friends.  I hope you feel as successful as these little guys did on Sunday!

Jen

Post up, Little Guy!

It's hard to believe this is our final weekend of basketball.  It's also hard to quantify the immense growth our little guy has experienced in just a few short months.

A zillion, times infinity.

Youth athletics are a tricky minefield to maneuver.  I'm sure all of my similarly situated friends could attest.  They are political - way more than one would assume a youth program would be.  Not only can coaches and organizations be ruthless when it comes to scouting, requesting and placing kiddos, parents can be equally maniacal.  They scream at the coach when we are winning because we didn't have enough challenge.  They scream at them when we lose because we were unfairly matched.

And don't even get me started on the officiating.

For our little guy though, sports life continues to just be pretty easy for him.  He was invited to try out for a team and he made it.  It turned out to be a perfect fit, both in coaching and in organization.  We were challenged, sometimes significantly, but the cost was definitely worth the price.  I have literally NEVER seen this much growth in this short of time in the little guy in any sport his entire life.  It makes me so proud to have witnessed it.

This has been his 6th year of basketball.  He has always been the tallest kid on his team... every single year.  Mind you not necessarily the "biggest" kid, but definitely the tallest.  As such, he has been thrown to Center with minimal instruction.  I've stood next to his coaches as they shouted "Put your hands straight in the air, Cooper.  Catch the ball, pivot and throw it out."

A seemingly easy job for a kid that was always 2 to 3 inches taller than everyone else.  Oh, with a massive wingspan, I might add.

As a result, he never learned any true skill to the position.  He didn't learn to box out because his hands reached the ball before anyone else.  He didn't need to learn to post up because he could catch the ball over everyone's heads.  He didn't learn much footwork or really ball handling other than the basics. 

And now?  It's night and day.  I can't even believe he is the same kid.  Granted he isn't signing in the NBA anytime soon but the improvement is significant.  Both of our Coaches took a dedicated interest in catching Coop up to the rest of the team, pushing him to perfect the fundamentals of his position.  And then they did the best thing ever for him:  they played us up.  The majority of our games were against 6th graders.  Some of these tweens resembled 27 year olds.  It was the perfect challenge for little guy since he could no longer just put his hands in the air.

Although we have averaged 8 games or so each basketball season for the past 5 years, I now see what 50+ games will give a kid.  Sure, it sounds like a lot.  But it's amazing what our kid's can endure when they LOVE something.

And LOVE it he does.  I've even heard him murmur that he now loves basketball more than football.  Shhhhh... we didn't tell Hubs.

I'm sure it will change in about two months when we start baseball, the next love of his life.

Better than girls!

Have a great Saturday, friends!

Jen

Post Up!

Sorry I've been MIA friends!  This basketball season is sometimes overwhelming, with tournaments all weekend long.  The upside is that we (yes, I said WE) are having a blast!  The downside?  Oh yeah, I have no TIME anymore!

Joining our team has been by far one of the best decisions we have ever made for our little guy.  Well, for now, anyway :).  We have made great new friends (as has he) and watched our little guy grow exponentially from last year.  Not only is he much more confident in his body structure (which to me would be impossible given his growth spurts are no less than 3 inches every year!), but he is much more confident in his abilities to USE his body, resulting in a much more aggressive player.

We couldn't be more proud.  Even when he makes mistakes.

We completed the third leg of our college campus tournament, which began last month at UMKC, traveled to (gag) Lawrence and ended in our fave place... Columbia!  Coop would sign up for college today if he could figure out how to get in.... particularly, Mizzou of course.  He was born for college.  He can't wait to get to college.  He doesn't care what he studies, he just wants to be there... stat.

I've learned a lot about these traveling competitive teams.  We are identified as a Division 1 5th Grade team, and as such our coach enters us in the majority of the tournaments we play as such (meaning we don't play down divisions, we play equivalent teams or higher).  The result is that we are playing some of the best teams in the state most weekends.  We don't always win.  But we don't always lose, either.  We are most definitely challenged, that is for sure!  That's why I believe little guy is challenged so well - he is finally playing with and against kids at his talent level.

Our parents are fantastic.  They don't get mad or complain if we lose (well, not to or around me anyway).  They support our coaches and their efforts knowing that we have longer term goals than just this weekend's tournament.  We are all winning, even when we are not.

This weekend though, just to take the edge off a bit, we played down in division.  To make it fair, we played up in age.  So we ended up in the 6th grade Division 2 and 3 group.  Coach didn't say of course, but I believe he was giving us a break... asking us to drive 2 1/2 hours away, pay for hotel rooms and food and playing the same ole same ole tough teams would have been a harder pill to swallow.  This way we still had competition of course, but we were given a better shot of winning more.

The Lone Star actually let these monsters in... :)

Pool time at the hotel with the team

Winning we did... but not without work!  We played four games in two days, ending the tournament run in 1st place.  The kids were ecstatic.  And so were the parents. 

Campus Challenge Tiger Classic Champions!

A weekend off and we will be back to fighting hard for movement in our tournament bracket.

It's time for soccer sign ups but since they are going to overlap, little guy has elected to sit that season out.  He is absolutely loving basketball and can't imagine trying to do both.  Me either... these p's are TIRED!  But not as much as little guy of course!

Have a great Tuesday, friends!

Jen

Simply the Best

In my wildest dreams did I ever image paying $15 for one pair of socks.  Oh sure, maybe Versace gold plated socks... then I might.  For me, of course.  But never, ever, for athletic socks that I'm going to sweat my balls off in.  Or better yet my stinky, smelly 11 year old.

But alas, it is happening.  $15 a pair.  Sometimes more, depending on the size / length.  And there is no end in sight because they are making them for football as well as basketball.

Lord help me.

And that doesn't even touch the shoes.  The SHOES.  I am betting I could buy a sweet ass '98 Toyota  Corolla with the amount of money our 9 basketball players have spent in socks and shoes.

At first, I thought it was just our basketball team.  We joined a new team this year and everyone had matching shoes and bags as well as uniforms.  To my delight, it wasn't just us.  Oh no.  It's every single team playing this season.  Everyone.  Boys and girls.  Their parents are frantically buying up their team's colors in these damn socks.

 Thank God we won't be buying these for baseball season.  I get a couple of months to save up before football season starts.  And more sock buying.

I guess this replicates my Jordache jeans fetish.  I'll never forget my mom flipping out over paying $50 a pair.  For denim.

Yep.  What goes around comes around.

Does it feel like Monday to anyone else?  Have a good night - we get to start over tomorrow!


Jen

Gimme a Break!

You would have thought we played an official NBA team last night.

Coop on the free throw line

Three years ago, we decided to move little guy from our local recreational basketball league to a competitive team. After one of our games, little guy and I went into the bathroom to change his clothes. Upon exiting, the opposing team's coach approached me.  She told me she liked Coop's size and asked if we would like to join her team. Right in front of our coach. Class move.

I thanked her for the offer and politely declined.  Then somehow, she got my email.

Over the course of the next two years she barraged me. I explained to her I wasn't interested- we loved our coach, our team and weren't leaving.

After our season ended, we decided it was to much on him and moved him back to rec. She continued to push me.

She was an ex college player and was living vicariously through her players. It was so obvious.  She rattled her resume to me every time we spoke.  As if I care.  I'm far more interested in the way you address my son than I am in what you did 20 years ago.

Flash forward to 2012.  We joined a competitive team again.  This time I did a ton of research on every Division 1, 5th grade team in the Kansas City area.  Some were cut from the list quickly if I already knew them.  And her team was one of them.

Now.... we play her.  That's almost worse to be honest.  She has truly taught her boys straight up street bully ball.  She screams from the sideline (standing, of course) the entire game.  If a referee calls a foul on one of her boys, she screams at them, too.  She complains loudly that our team (and every other team, for that matter) are "dirty players".  ESPECIALLY if she loses.

We drew the short straw and played her this weekend.  The first time we faced them this season we won.  We certainly weren't going into the game assuming we would though - her boys are tough.  This go around, they won by about the same we beat them by the last time.

But it wasn't easy.  Not just the playing, either.  Her parents are a complete nightmare.  They scream at our boys the entire game.  Through free throws, while running down court, when shooting.  It doesn't really matter.  They act just like the leader of their team.  Hmmm.. I wonder why?

I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone last night.  Parents were yelling at each other, kids were mouthing off, the coaches were arguing.... it was not my idea of a good time.  As soon as the game ended, my heart palpitations finally slowed down.

Today, however, we beat both teams in our pool.  Our reward?  We have to play her again tomorrow.

Ugh.

I honestly am not sure I have enough Xanax to get through the game.  She stresses me out that bad.

The best though.... at the end of our game against her Friday night, right at the buzzer, one of her bully kids slammed into Coop (on purpose, I swear).  He took an elbow to the face, falling and bouncing his head off the court floor.  It was LOUD.  He was not happy.  After coach and I got him up off the floor  (making sure his eyes weren't dilated), she tried to come over and shake Coop's hand to say good game.  It is the nice thing to do, after all.

Not gonna happen.  Hubs was in between the two of them faster than anything I've ever seen.  Mr. Protective.  I barely caught what was happening and just had to laugh.

Wish me luck, friends.  You all should know by now how much I love confrontation.  Should be a great game tomorrow.  Thank God we just got paid - we may need bail money.

Have a great Saturday night!

Jen

Bend it, Beckham

Our football season has come to an end.  Unfortunately for little guy, it came abruptly. 

We played our last two games this past weekend in a local area tournament.  Saturday was tough - we played a very strong team with great athletic abilities.  The score was tied 6 to 6 at the half and we knew it would be a tough battle to keep momentum and bring it on home.

Unfortunately, we didn't.  Sometimes that happens.  We lost momentum, the other team made two scores and we went down.

For the boys, they played their hearts out.  With 2 minutes to go in the game, little guy tripped over a lineman and fell forward into the helmet of one of his teammates.  His fingers bent back towards his wrist as his friend continued to move in forward motion. 

End result:  high wrist sprain from hyper extending his fingers.  Ouchie.

So now, on the heels of full transition into basketball, we are here.  2 weeks no physical sports.  Rest, ice, splint and Advil.  And lots of praying.

It was a relief to have the doctor rule out any breaks on Saturday as hubs and I were convinced a bone in his hand had been impacted.  Thank God we were wrong.

I've slid into full on nurse mode, although I have to admit I don't baby him as much as I used to.  Maybe I've just grown calloused to his injuries.  Not that he has many.  I just know we aren't out of the woods until the day he stops playing sports (which according to him will be NEVER).

We have already found out we have tournament this weekend so this could be interesting.  Doctor said NO basketball but of course we will be taking him all week to practice.

It's fun being a sports mom.  Honestly, it is.

Happy Tuesday, friends!
Jen

Hoops are Up

And just like that, we are in the throws of basketball season.

Ah, my little jock.  He sure keeps me running.  At least I'll be warm in a gym at 8:00 am.   And at 9:00.  And at 11:00.  And again on Sunday at 8:00.

Oh - and we play our Superbowl football game on Saturday, too.

I honestly don't know how he does it physically.  He has to be totally exhausted pushing himself through two sports simultaneously.  Two very physical sports.

Sometimes I wish he'd just play chess.

But no, he wants to play rugby.  Or lacrosse.  Anything that lets him tackle, run and score.  Here's a clip from his first game (that he was able to play in) this season:

I love our basketball team already, in particular the coaches. They are amazing men - leaders with expectations, biggest supporters of the boys and grasping every teachable moment possible with enthusiasm and encouragement.  Exactly how I envision coaches should be.

Thank god we fell back and moved our clocks.  I have been literally exhausted lately.  Hopefully this extra hour will jump start me back to normal.

As if I'm ever normal.

Jen

Have a great weekend, friends!

Hitting the Court

Football is finally coming to an end... for little guy, that is.  We are in the playoffs and starting to wind towards the end.  And I'm so glad.  I so sad to say that because I absolutely, positively love football.  But this season has been so different and quite frankly difficult at times.  But I'll leave that alone for another post.

Basketball, on the other hand, is just beginning.  I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am.  After years of trying to find the absolutely right fit for our little guy, I think we finally nailed it thanks to the recommendation of one of our football friends.

 


Coop tried out and made it onto a competitive team, Victory Basketball (Gunners).  The team is led by two men, both of whom I am already completely impressed (which isn't easy to do, folks).  The head coach is approachable, direct and a great communicator... all things I look for in someone who leads a team.  In addition, it isn't all about the winning for him.  He recognizes that the kids are learning more than the fundamentals of basketball.  They are learning how to cooperate with others, collaborate in efforts and to have each other's backs.  The good stuff, in my opinion. 

This weekend kicked off not only a football playoff game but our first basketball tourney... the Lee's Summit Optimist Tournament.  While playing with my girlfriends out of town, hubs took the boy to FOUR games in 48 hours (1 football and 3 basketball).  Yes, he is a saint... since you wondered.

The coaches wanted the kids to be very challenged their first tournament so to ensure competitiveness they signed us up to play against 6th and 7th graders.  We are in 5th, just to remind you.  Yikes.

The first game went great.  Coop landed himself a "double/double" (I'm not sure these are actual terms or he just makes them up... I don't really care though, it makes him happy either way).  16 points on the board, 16 rebounds.  Wowzers.  Obviously playing center (again)... story of his life until his buddies catch up with him height wise.  Works perfectly though for tip offs...

Our little guy... #35

The second two games were tougher.  Little guy's description was awesome.  "Momma, they were SO TALL!"  Yes honey, that happens when they are two years older than you :).  Finally though he's found his competitive height!

Check out how tall the kid is behind Coop!

By the end of the weekend, he was EXHAUSTED.  Worked perfectly for me to nap after my girls trip since he was napping, too!  He loved the success, loved the challenge and remembered how much he loves basketball all around.

But he's still certain it is the socks that did the trick:

For those of you unaware of this strange phenomenon:  Nike Elites are quite the popular thing.  They are socks, folks.  And they are $14 a pair, in case you wondered.  Because why wouldn't they be?

I can't wait for more basketball.  Between you and me, I think it may fit little guy's athleticism the best.  Shhh, don't tell his Dad....

Have a great Tuesday, friends!


Jen