He has definitely improved a bunch since last year--he and some friends play in the driveway alot. He's not afraid to play really aggressively, which I have to admit makes me a bit uncomfortable. I am typically not that competitive or in your face. I just keep thinking that the mom of the kid he's fouling while trying to get the ball is probably thinking, "Man, someone tell that kid to take it down a notch. They are supposed to be playing for fun." He usually comes close to fouling out of every game.
Needless to say, Jeremy LOVES IT. In all capitals--L-O-V-E-S I T. Which is exactly why Alex plays that way. They had a ref threaten to throw Alex and another equally-aggressive kid out of a game last year because "they were playing each other too hard." Jeremy almost had a cow. Seriously. He almost gave birth to a live, kicking little brown calf right there on the shiny gym floor of our local YMCA. All I heard for the next 2 hours was "They want me to tell my players not to play hard? Not to give 100%? That's right guys--get out there and DON'T play your best. It's insane. Whatever. Now I'm going to tell them to play even harder."
Jeremy has been teaching them plays this year and how to use their teammates instead of relying on that natural instinct to ball-hog it all the way to the basket. Alex and this other kid have gotten pretty good at finding and passing to each other, prompting Alex to proclaim that they "are like Kobe and Lebron." We all got a pretty good kick out of that--I don't think he really even knows who those guys are other than basketball players. My shots weren't that good because I was fighting the three crazies that kept trying to take my camera and most of the action seemed to happen when all I could see was a group of bums.
Avery enjoyed his front row seat--and by front row, I mean lying on his stomach as close as I'd let him get to the sideline. He watched every move and shot--he knew when they had made one or missed it. PURE JOY. With about five minutes left in the game, he snuck across the court to the players' bench during a timeout while I was leaning down to put my camera away. He was in heaven. Aidan watched for about the first 10 minutes and then spent the rest of the time sliding around on the metal bleachers. He liked watching everyone in the stands. Hmmm...I wonder who he gets that from?
Someone needs to tell that crazy screaming coach that this is basketball, not football. No touchdowns here, coach. There are Kobe and Lebron in front of him congratulating each other on a well executed play. They triumphed in the end by 20 something points, which means they are still undefeated with about four games left. At least until all of Jeremy's players get thrown out out of the game for playing too hard...
And I'm a little sad by a bad decision made by our favorite swimming Olympian....come on, Phelps. Your mom's going to be crying for a different reason today.
3 comments:
Oh, I can see it now. Jeremy, that is. I love the shot of him. That's hilarious.
Be thankful that you are embarrased by Alex's aggression and not by the fact that he skips down the court and turns circles with his arms sticking out when he should be helping his team mates get the ball in the basket. And when guarding, atleast he tries to take the ball instead of dancing around in front of the kid and making faces at him.
Yeah, that would be my son.
But...atleast he has fun. RIGHT?!
Does Alex run down the court saying, "Come on Alex! Don't be a jerk!"
I always used to love how jeremy would chastise himself down the court.
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