YMCA Basketball...Fun Times !!!

Today Christian's team played their last YMCA basketball game of the season. It was a fun season with a great group of kids that were easy to coach. We were down 4 points today halfway through the 4th quarter, but brought it back to tie it up, and then Christian tipped the ball to Daniel Callen under the basket and he put it in at the buzzer for the win. It was exciting...even though we are not supposed to be keeping score...yea right! You can tell by the smiles, they were having a blast!!!

True Sportsmanship !!!!!

This is an awesome article about a high school basketball team that put the life of a player on the opposing team ahead of winning a game. In a society that so often believes that we are to "win at all cost"....this team and their coach made a choice....to keep things in perspective.


Team's gesture supports grieving opponent

Two missed free throws, ordinarily the cause of a coach's headache, became the symbol of sportsmanship in a Milwaukee boys' basketball game earlier this month.
Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer on Saturday, Feb. 7, decided he wanted to play in that night's game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School after previously indicating he would sit out.
He arrived at the gym in the second quarter, but Franklin's name was not in the scorebook because his coach, Aaron Womack Jr., didn't expect him to be there.
Rules dictated Womack would have to be assessed a technical, but he was prepared to put Franklin in the game anyway. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his players knew of the situation, and told the referees they did not want the call. The referees had no choice. But Rohlman did.
"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?'" Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."
McNeal, a senior point guard, went to the line. The Milwaukee Madison players stayed by their bench, waiting for the free throws. Instead of seeing the ball go through the net, they saw the ball on the court, rolling over the end line.
"I turned around and saw the ref pick up the ball and hand it back to the player," Womack said in the Journal Sentinel. "And then [McNeal] did the same thing again."
Said Rohlman: "Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him. It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."
"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the newspaper. "It was the right thing to do."
Womack, overwhelmed by DeKalb's gesture, wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, which had first reported the story.
"As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders," Womack wrote.
DeKalb had traveled more than two hours for the game, and waited another two as Womack rushed from the hospital, where he had been with Franklin, to the school to gather his team.
"We were sympathetic to the circumstances and the events," Rohlman said in the Journal Sentinel. "We even told Coach Womack that it'd be OK to call off the game, but he said we had driven 2½ hours to get here and the kids wanted to play. So we said, 'Spend some time with your team and come out when you're ready.'"
The two schools had met twice previously, and this one ended with a Madison victory, but as in the other games, they also shared a pizza dinner, "four kids to a pizza, two Madison kids and two DeKalb kids," Womack told the Journal Sentinel.
"That letter became a big deal in DeKalb," Rohlman said in the paper. "We got lots of positive calls and e-mails because of it. Even though we lost the game, it was a true life lesson, and it's not one our kids are going to forget anytime soon."
Womack, in his letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, added this at the end: "I'd like to recognize Darius who stepped up to miss the shot on purpose. He could have been selfish and cared only for his own stats [I hope Coach Rohlman doesn't make him run for missing the free throws]."

A long day....But well worth it!!!

This past weekend I took an elementary basketball team to a tournament at Shannock Valley. I coached Taylor's 5th and 6th grade YMCA team this winter and we just kept the team together (and my son Christian who is in 3rd grade) to practice more and play a few extra games. It has been fun and the kids have really benefited from our time together. As you can tell from the picture, we won the tournament....but it was a long day of basketball....12 hours to be exact!!! I love coaching my kids and being involved in the things that they do...and trying to have an impact on their friends lives as well. The kids are growing up so fast and I know this time will not last forever....so I am trying my best to take advantage of each moment....I don't want to miss anything. One more week of basketball....then it is time to get ready for baseball season :-)

This Will Touch Your Heart

This is one of the most amazing and inspirational stories I have ever seen.....

I am Blessed

I wanted to share a picture of my two girls. I am thankful this Valentines Day to have a wonderful family...but extra thankful for my wife. Miss does so much for our family, which allows me to do alot of things that I have always wanted do do. She is a wonderful mother to our kids...and most of the time I have no idea how she gets everything done. We have been through alot together so far on the dusty trail of life and I love her more today than I ever have. Everything that we have been through has brought us closer together. She has grown into an amazing woman of God and I am very blessed to call her my wife (I am sure to get major brownie points when she reads this..LOL). Here is a video of our song that we danced to at our wedding. Thanks Miss...Happy Valentines Day...I Love You!!!!

Just a Thought.......

College football teams usually have great traditions. One of the greatest is that of the University of Notre Dame. My son Christian is a Notre Dame fan (don't ask me why) and I was telling him about the sign that hangs in their locker room that reads "Play Like a Champion Today". On game day when each of the players go on the field, they touch the sign. It reminds them of the great teams of the past and the tradition they are responsible for upholding. They think of the the hard work that it has taken to get to where they are and all of the people in their life that have helped them to get there. I know Notre Dame has struggled lately, but the players that have played there always talk about the significance of that sign, "Play Like a Champion Today".

It got me thinking about my daily life and what I want to accomplish. How I want to act, how I want to treat people, the difference that I want to make, and what I want people to see when they look at me. What does it mean in my life to be a champion today?

I thought of Philipians 2: 3-5

“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

So I thought....what if we had a sign hanging in our house and the first thing we did before we played the game of life each day....would be to touch the sign that reads "Live Like Jesus Today".

Just as a reminder of everything he has done for us and for the attitude he wants us to take with us into the world each day...no matter where it is that God has placed us to make a difference for Him!!!!

You Are in Charge of Your Attitude

This is one of my favorite quotes. We can't always control the things that happen in life...but we can always control how we respond. We can choose to honor Christ even in the the face of controversy.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Charles Swindoll