OLR's One-Man Machine

On Friday morning, I got an email from our 8A basketball coach informing me of the game schedule for this week, as well as the remainder of the regular season. I really thought that there wouldn't be any game this weekend, at least for 8th graders, because of the scheduled HSPTs at different Catholic high schools in the Bay Area. I was wrong. Somehow, the scheduling gods decided it wasn't too late to send out game schedules the day before.

As soon as I read it, I immediately sent out an email to the team about our Sunday game. It was a good thing we had a 2-day notice. Sigh.

The game was against Our Lady of the Rosary, or shall I say, one player -- their star player. The 12:00 noon game also messed up my scheduled reading at the 11:00am mass. I had to do a little scrambling myself to find a willing replacement at such as short notice. Fortunately, someone volunteered (Thanks, Rebecca).

We were the first game of the day, and it was at Moreau's main gym. I like it when we get to play there because it's spacious and friendly for spectators. We had a little miscue when our assigned scorekeeper did not show up on time. We were given a technical for it. They got 2 free throws off the bat. We were down 2-0 even before the ball was imbounded.

Whenever we play OLR, we basically just play against one player. Everyone else is a supporting cast. This player even acts as on-court coach, yelling out instructions to his teammates, more that their bench coach would. This fellow is big and looks old (I mean, mature) for an 8th grader. I think he even looks older than a high school kid. He had played up all these years, and it's the reason why we're only seeing him this year. He's their star player. Rather, their only player.

I'm surprised the coaching staff has tolerated him all this time. I don't care if he tries to carry the weight of his school on his broad shoulders. It is not the essence of sportsmanship and team play. Certainly, not CYO. He is free to do and say anything he wants. And it appears like his coaches are toothless and have given him their blessings. Obviously, it has gotten to his head (not to mention his father's, too), and the ire of at least a parent of his teammate. Remember the ugly scene that took place at the St. Bede Christmas tournament? It certainly didn't speak well for any of them, much less OLR, as a Catholic school, in general. It was nasty and so ghetto.

After the first half, we were down by as much as 12 points. Despite this (and all the noise and sense of animosity in the air), our boys focused and regrouped. They did what they've done all season long. At the start of the second half, the boys were all over the place. The next thing you knew, they were leading and they never looked back. The parents and friends I invited to watch the game were not disappointed. There was a momentary scare, but, in the end, it was all good.

The win further improved the team's record to 7-1. In the game that followed ours, arch rival St. Anne won over St. Edward, keeping them in second place. With 2 games left, our boys need to win both to assure them on an automatic seed and one of 2 spots in the Oakland Diocese championships.