This weekend

The Tournament

Tomorrow we head to Warroad for the sixth grade basketball trip. We are taking Kory, her friend, and her friend’s sister. But when we get home from supper, there is a message from one of the players. This poor girl’s mother has not been to a single game. So the girl must find a ride herself to every game. To compound that, Kristie said on Thursday (their last practice before the weekend), the girl attempted to pay her registration fee (each girl - or rather their family - must pay $25) with a bag full of change. It just about broke Kristie’s heart. Kristie had already tried to call social services to see if they could help the family, but she never heard back from them. However, another coach took the girl aside and said she didn’t have to worry about the fee.

When Kristie returns the girl’s phone call, she notifies Kristie that she lost the jersey she loaned her from the elementary school (her mother either didn’t have the money or refused to pay for her jersey). Luckily, she found an old jersey of Casey’s to loan her. To compound that, the girl needs a ride to Warroad. Usually we wouldn’t think twice (there is another player whose parents are zero involved in her life who we routinely give rides to and pay for food when necessary) about such things, but we don’t have enough seat belts to cover everyone.

It just sickens me how so uninvolved some parents are. Now Dad didn’t make many of my games - other than in football - but that was because he was usually gone in his truck or farming. But too many are like poor this girl's parents (the girl whom we usually give rides). For one tournament this girl called and said that she needed a ride since her step-dad was in jail. Since he had several DUI’s, he was on work release. But he has to spend his weekends in jail. So that leaves her mother. However, never once have we even seen her. So when Saturday morning rolls around, we load every body up and head over to her house. As we pull into the alley, we see a Bud Light can lying in the snow. Koko gets out and dashes to the door. She pounds for at least a minute before there is a crack in the door. After a few more minutes, Crystal emerges looking like death warmed over.

On the way to the tournament she fills us in: her mother had several friends over for a party. They were drinking and carrying on. Her brothers were all in her room playing their PS2 (how is it that some parents can never make it to a game or afford to send money for their child to eat but they can find money to drown them in the latest video game systems?). So she tried sleeping on the couch, but her mom and friends were playing drinking games and blasting the radio. In the midst of this all - despite her telling her mom that she had a tournament in the morning - Crystal tried to get a few minutes of sleep curled up on the couch.

It’s a damn shame. Some kids just don’t have a chance.

*****

The tournament reprised

Well, it went pretty well. They finished second. Each team in the sixth grade section finished 2-1, except for poor Baudette. They didn’t win a single game. We trashed them right off the bat - something like 30-2. Then in the second game we lost to Roseau 24-28 in double (yes, double overtime). It was incredible. Never in my life did I ever expect I’d get so worked up over sixth grade basketball (and part of me feels ashamed that I do get so caught up in it - I’ll talk about that in a forthcoming essay). It was a game we could have won, but things just didn’t go our way. The thing I liked best about this game - and this was the highlight for me - was at one point late in the game Roseau’s coach asked for a conference with the ref. She was mad about an inadvertent whistle (the ref had no clue how to ref - and worse yet, he was the Warroad coach!). So while she was discussing this, there was a time out. Kristie huddled her team up and they were all focused on regrouping and getting things corrected. Since I was taking book, I looked over at the Roseau players. They were clustered together bickering at each other. They had lost their composure. I thought we had the game won at that point. But to their credit they put the press on us and we fell kind of fell apart. But we ended the day with another over time game - this time a win - in just one overtime - against Warroad 28-26. But since it was a round robin tournament, the tie breaker game down to points scored and points scored against. Warroad had an edge on us of about 8 points, so we came in second. Still it’s only their fourth loss of the whole season.

Unfortunately during the second overtime one of our players (the first one I talked about at the beginning of this entry) lost her cool (which she is quite apt to do). She slammed the ball down and it flew a good ten feet in the air. Now this would be grounds for a technical, but for whatever reason, the ref let it go (it was one of the few things he let go - he called about 45 traveling calls). But Kristie didn’t. She called her over and benched her. Of course, the player pouted. She never got up from up her seat to join in any time out discussions or even the post game talk. Again, I have to ask where she learned this? Yep, from home. Or whatever ‘home’ she has.

So Kristie benched her for the final game too. She told her - “I went out of my way to get you here. I gave you a school jersey, which you then lost. I let you use my son’s jersey. I talked to you twice already about playing with class. And despite all of that - you pull this!”

I would have kicked her off the team. But that’s easier said than done. I don’t dislike the kid. She just needs to learn a lesson.

Of course, out in the hallway after the games parents (me included) were talking over the games as if we were talking about global affairs. Where does this insanity come from? I can see getting caught up in the moment, but it’s sixth grade basketball! I think this little world of grade school athletics I’ve found myself caught up in speaks absolute volumes about where we are not only as a society but also as people. And we wonder why our kids are so screwed up. It’s simple: us!