Whatmatters

The start of a basketball game is pretty standard.  A player from each team meets in the middle of the court, where a referee throws the ball high in the air.  Each player then jumps to tap the ball to a member of their team, and off they go.

So it was clear something was up at the Senior Night of a high school girls’ game when the player for the visiting team didn’t jump for the ball when the game started.  The home team player tapped the ball to a teammate, who dutifully passed the ball to another teammate, who then threw the ball to a teammate waiting under the basket.  A nice soft shot off the backboard, and the score was 2-0.

The unusual start of the game continued when the referee then blew his whistle, something that doesn’t typically occur after a basket is scored.  This was necessary, since the player who scored the basket left the game—as soon as someone handed her a pair of crutches.  The scorer was the only home team player who was a senior, and even though playing seemed out of the question, there was a desire to make Senior Night special for her in some way.  Thanks to some advanced planning, and the support of the visiting team’s coach, that was possible.  She left the court with two points, a warm ovation, and a memory that will last a lifetime.

And then.  Having given the home team a head start, the visiting team passed the ball down the court to another member of their team, who then made an easy shot– all while the members of the home team stood passively in the middle of the court.  Once that was achieved, the score was again tied, and the level of competition between the two teams could ascend to a new level.

This remarkable display of sportsmanship— sportswomanship—has been seen before.  A softball player blew out her knee rounding first base after hitting a home run.  If a member of her team had touched her, she’d be out; leading a player on the other team to ask if she could touch her opponent.  Once she got the green light, she and a teammate carried the batter to the remaining three bases, touching each of them lightly, so she could earn her home run.

Lest you think this is limited to women’s athletics, a friend who may be the most devoted soccer fan in the world tells me this occurs in men’s professional soccer all the time.  Despite what some may think, soccer is a pretty fast game, and referees typically make more than a few mistakes every match, simply because they don’t see every aspect of some of the plays.  When their rulings seem particularly egregious, players take the matter in their own hands, purposely kicking the ball out of bounds, or to the other team, so that true justice can be done.

As a college counselor, I read many, many, many college essays about sports being a metaphor for life, each experience having great value to the author of the essay.  These essays are said to carry little weight in college admissions offices, but as I’ve often said when the values of the real world aren’t reflected in reviewing a college application, who cares?  The world suggests there are many goals that, at the end of the day, have real little value.  Being true to self doesn’t often make the headlines, but it is vital for the world—and our world—to spin true.

Mistakes?

He spilled something
And cried out for his assistant
In the next room.
That was the world’s first phone call.

Porridge spilled
On a hot cooking stone.
Bonjour, crepes.

One Christmas list
Yields four chess sets.
Imagine the options
The returned three provided.

No, they aren’t all
Rich with possibility.
But is that your first thought
Or your last?

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