March 3, 2009

A Basketball Hero

Posted in community, Life, Personal, story tagged basketball, DeKalb High School, Milwaukee Madison High School, sportsmanship of the highest order, Wisconsin high schools at 1:51 am by pdxfirefly

      The news  has compelled me to write about two high school basketball teams in Wisconsin.    Basketball teams must present their rooster to the referees prior to the game and those are the players that will play in the game.   In basketball,  (as I understand it)  if you substitute an unlisted  team member, it is considered a technical foul against your team and then the opposing team gets two free throws .  

       One young man was not  at the game because he was with his dying Mother at a local hospital and not expected to play and so he was not in the game’s scorebook.  After his Mother died, he felt such a sense of loss that he wanted to be with those he felt closest to –his team mates– and so he arrived late at the game.   He told his coach that he would like to play and at half time he went into the locker room with his teammates and suited up to play.    His coach consulted with the opposing team’s coach.

        Being fully aware of the rules, both opposing coaches approached the referees seeking to allow the boy to play without penalty to the team.   This request was made by the opposition even thought the game was very close and they have a player who shoots about 98% on his free throws. and the “gimme” free throw points could have made the difference between winning or loosing at that point.  Still the referee would not budge on the rules.  The team would be charged a tech foul and the  other team would be required to take their two free throws.  Of course, all of the players on both teams were aware of what was going on and probably most of the spectators.

        As the second half began, before  the 98% free throw shooter took his place on the court key,  his coach had a few words of “encouragement ” for him.   This is what coach said, ” You do understand that you will miss both of these free throws, don’t you?”  To which his star player nodded and said “I understand”.  At which time, the coach knew they were in total agreement.   As “Mr 98%”  proceeded to “miss” both free throws;   there was silence in the stands….but not for long.   As soon as the second throw was missed, both benches and the stands erupted in cheers .    In that second, the coach knew that  he had made the right decision.

       This is the stuff of which character and memories are made.  No one who was present at that game will ever forget the lesson in compassion that was so artfully taught that night.  Oh, and let us not forget the lesson in sportsmanship that was taught.  This was the one career moment that a coach lives for — some never have the opportunity presented to them — some don’t recognize the moment — and still others make a mess of the opportunity.  These coaches embraced the moment and gave a story to the world.   Who in this story was the hero in your mind?

Here is the link to a sportswriters account of the story:

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2009/02/25/88479671/index.xml

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