Tuesday, January 29, 2013

JV Basketball. Again.




Last night in the last home game of the season, the Mathews High School JV girls beat rival Middlesex in one of the higher scoring games of late:  37-14.

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I get so involved in these games that you would think I was out there on the court.  I am physically and emotionally drained.  Completely.

Also?  I get cotton mouth for about the first half.







I'm not talking about the cottonmouth moccasin that frequents our shorelines.  I am talking about the condition that some weird people get due to nervousness,  hormonal imbalance stress, and anxiety.

When I played high school basketball, back when people drank out of garden hoses and this other ancient relic of a contraption known as a water fountain, I chewed Gatorade gum to help with the cotton mouth I'd get before every game.  But I was a player and had every right to be riled up and a little nervous.

A healthy dose of adrenaline helps you play better.

But as a spectator?  Cotton mouth?

It's happened for almost every single game this season.  By the second half it goes away.  (Not coincidentally, the second half is usually when we play our best.)

Last night against Middlesex, however, we came out strong and stayed that way for the most part.  Sure there were sloppy passes, balls that would not drop in the bucket, some missed foul shots. A technical called against us.  A few balls slammed down on the court in anger.  A few "out of the ref's vision" pushes.

But hey. It's a JV team. We can't expect perfection even though one in our midst physically feels pain when they turn over the ball.

This team cannot be beat on defense, though, and luckily we started pressing right out the gate.  Usually Coach Tommy only uses the press in dire situations, such as when I am about to go into cardiac arrest because the game is so close.

This game, however, after we made the first bucket, we started pressing.  And it worked.

Oh, how it worked.

Anyway, the girls have one more game Thursday night at King William.  If they win that game, they will have a perfect, undefeated season.

It doesn't get much more perfect than undefeated.

This edition of Mathews High School JV Sports Synopsis brought to you by one MHS Has Been who puts as much physical energy into spectating as some of the girls do on the court.

Just ask anyone who sits next to me.  (That would be Mr. Junie on my right or my mother and father to my left, all of whom cringe every time I jump up and down hollering. Oh, and the Moughons.  And the Callises. They cringe also.)

The End.





8 comments:

deborah said...

Go Team Go!
If I were there, I would cheer with you...hate that cottonmouth, yuck!

Jamie said...

Does the team box out too? I'd sure like to watch a basketball team where I don't have to yell "Box Out!" or "Turn Around!" as the other team heads up the court. Our High School program is very very sad. And that's being polite. Still, I yelled and cheered like I was watching our team win.

Ann Marie said...

I will have you know that I received a phone call at the beginning of the Varsity game that you had once again left my mother stranded! Giggle

Meg McCormick said...

I love how into it you are! I played 7th and 8th grade "basketball." We wore these really old silky uniforms that were probably leftover from the 1960s. I stunk. But I had these really cool Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star high-tops, so at least there was that.

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

AM-My father stranded her too...but we did leave her with a vehicle to get home in. So there was that...

Background for anyone else: My parents usually ride with me to the home games, and I always leave after the JV game because I have two starving teenagers to feed, one of which is ravenous from playing four quarters of basketball.

My mother always asks if we are interested in seeing the varsity. I just can't.

So, a couple of times lately they brought their own car so my mother can stay after the JV is over. My father rides home with me because he's worn out and goes to bed early.

AM's father sits almost directly opposite us in the stands...and claims my father and I are abandoning my mother. (But we leave her with Mr. Junie so she's in good company.)

He also has the 411 on all our cheering antics. Early on he said we weren't animated enough. I think we have more than made up for it lately!


No new blog post from me this evening. Between work trying to kill me and a meeting at the high school on how to prepare for the college application process, I am all done for the day.

Hope to get some pictures tomorrow/Wednesday...it's supposed to be in the 70s here!

Anonymous said...

You missed your calling you should
have been a sports reporter ! lol LIVE WITH CBW AT MATHEWS HIGH SCHOOL I can see it lol luv ya girl











Daryl said...

i am sure you need me with you to scream and jump ... GO GO GO GOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Mental P Mama said...

So so so proud!!!