Wins amid the losses

To say the start of the season for the 8-and-under Magic basketball team has not gone well would be akin to the Tacoma Narrows toll collector informing his boss, "Sir, there's been a slight problem."

26-3.

20-3.

24-6.

These are our scores.  

However, the score simply cannot tell the whole story.  It doesn't show which player cried, which player flat-out refused to go on to the court the entire game, nor which player left the bench and ran halfway across the court while the game was going on.  Those last two were the same kid by the way.

It doesn't tell of the pituitary prodigy we faced in Game 3.  This "8-year-old" Goliath was north of five feet tall and had to weigh in the neighborhood of 140 pounds.  He would simply stand in the lane with his arms raised, a teammate would pass it to him, and then he'd turn and shoot as our guys helplessly flailed away.  

At one point the Philistine stood next to our tallest player, who I estimate goes about 4'4."  I swear there looked to be at least a foot difference.  There is no way that kid is eight!

But the score does tell some of the story.  For example, equipped with a few seconds and a rudimentary understanding of basic arithmetic, one might make the observation that even if we added up our score from all three games, we still would not have more points than any of our opponents managed in just one game.

But much as I implored my mother several times on report card days, we ask that you not judge us by our scores.

Let's instead look at this season through the eyes (and Coke-bottle glasses) of our shortest player, whom I will refer to as Ralphie.

Ralphie is the one who refused to go in the entire first game.  The league rules state every player must play a minimum of ten minutes barring injury, illness, etc.

The first time I tried to put him in, he shook his head and said, "I'm scared.  There's too many people here."  The next time his reason was, "The other team is too big." (They were.)  And lastly, "I don't want to play basketball, I want to play baseball."  At one point he was sitting up in the stands by his parents.

In our postgame huddle, I put my hands on Ralphie's shoulders and said, "You're gonna go in the next game for me, aren't ya?"  He nodded.

I had to reassess.  Apparently, my pregame prayer of, "God, please just let us score," would have to be adjusted to, "Lord, please give Ralphie the courage to go into the game."

In game two, he did just that.  

Then there's Will, the kid who started crying six times in our first practice.  He hasn't cried once during a game.  He instead runs full speed on and off the court usually with a big smile.

We did have one kid cry because he got called for a foul.  I told him fouling just meant he was playing aggressively.  That didn't stop the tears, but I did feel like a good person and, really, isn't that what this is all about?

It's these little moments--the incremental improvement, seeing a kid clear a mental hurdle, seeing them having fun, etc.--I have come to relish.

In a few weeks, I won't remember any of the scores; none of us will.  Except maybe the parents who request their child not be put on Luke's dad's team next year.

But the moments will linger.  

Like RJ sitting on the bench as we trailed 18-3, asking me if we were losing.  Or the kids who cried and were too scared to play constantly asking if they could go back in.  And Ralphie--little blonde-haired, bespectacled Ralphie--sprinting toward me after Game 2, a game we had lost 20-3.  As I leaned down, expecting a high-five, he leaped into my arms and gave me a hug.

Those moments won't soon be forgotten.

And no, RJ.  They may have more points than us.  But I don't think we're losing.