It’s basketball tournament time. When I was in high school that was the most exciting time of the school year.

My senior year basketball season was very memorable. It was a mixture of sadness, frustration and joy all rolled into one.

Our mother died unexpectantly from a massive heart attack the day before Thanksgiving that fall. So, my basketball season was marred by those sad memories.

Our father would begin the process of selling the family farm as we adjusted to the loss of our mom.

But there was basketball, a game that I loved, that helped see me through the sudden and sad change in our family’s life.

I was not a basketball star by any means.  I would grade my basketball skills at around a C+ with occasional moments of achieving a B+ status.

I was a five- foot, six- inch, speedster with a sometimes deadly two- handed set shot from the top of the key! 🙂 (Unfortunately, the three-point shot had not yet been invented otherwise who knows where my basketball skills would have taken me. 🙂

We had five seniors on the team and our coach, Mr. Jerdee, decided instead of electing captains for the team we seniors would take turns meeting at center court, shaking hands with our opponent’s captains.

I had that honor of being the captain when we played the neighboring town of Ortonville. I can still remember meeting at half court shaking hands with Ortonville’s tri-captains and receiving the referee’s words of wisdom.

We must have made an amusing sight as we proceeded with the handshakes as the Ortonville players were all six foot tall and taller and I was the tiny five- foot, six- inch midget. 🙁

But the excitement of being captain was quickly dashed when the starting lineups were announced.

I assumed when one was the captain that meant he would be in the starting lineup. Wrong! I was forced to take the bench with the other reserves. 🙁

Ortonville was ahead of us at half time by twenty points and I did get into the game with a couple minutes left to play.

I was embarrassed and angry. I was never going to go through that embarrassment again.

Several weeks later we were playing a home game in Clinton in front of our home fans.

Our opponents were the Herman Panthers who had a very talented team.

We were sitting in the locker room preparing to enter the gym for warm-ups when Coach threw me the ball and said, “Mike, you be captain for the night.”

I caught the ball and immediately threw it back to him and emphatically replied, “No!”

He grabbed the ball and threw it back at me and sternly said, “Yes you will be captain!”

You could have heard a pin drop in the locker room. The air was tense.

I loved basketball and I didn’t want to get myself removed from the team so when the ball came bouncing back to me, I grabbed it and grudgingly led our team onto the gym floor for warmups.

But I was angry! Now in my home gym I would face the humiliation of being a non-starting captain! The adrenaline began to flow.

As the team was warming up it was tradition that the cheerleaders introduced the starting line-up with a special cheer that went something like this, “Let’s have a rah-rah for Mike, rah for Mike.  One, two three four, who are we for, Mike, that’s who!”

All five starters would be introduced in this manner.

As I led the team through warm-ups the cheerleaders amazingly announced my name as a starter!

Did my refusal to accept the captain role in the locker room cause this surprise starting assignment?

I’m not sure why but hearing my name announced made me even angrier for some reason so when game time arrived I was more then pumped.

The normal pre-game butterflies were even missing. I was on a mission.

I have never played a game of basketball as ferociously as I did that night.

I must have been involved in a dozen tie-ups where the two players involved had to have a ‘jump ball’ to determine which team controlled the ball.

I was all over the floor scrapping to get my hands on the ball.

I was fouled many times and went to the free throw line to shoot a one-and-one. My free throw skills were not anything to brag about consequently what could have been a twenty- point scoring night was not to be.

I had never played a game of four quarter basketball anytime that year so at the middle of the fourth quarter my legs began to cramp.

For the first time in my basketball career, I hoped coach would sub someone for me.

I had played an amazing game.

When Sev reported in for me at guard the most amazing thing happened. It was not a standing ovation, but the fans gave me an ovation that lasted several minutes.

In fact, Coach Jerdee looked back at the bench with a frown. I think he was expecting to see me standing with arms raised and fist pumping.

I was slumped on the bench in a state of exhaustion.

I and teammate Lee were high point men with eleven points apiece.

The next day my classmates bought a congratulatory card for me and each signed it. I still have that card. 🙂

The next game we played the Hancock Owls and I started my second game in a row! It was not nearly as exciting as the Herman game as I had come down from my ‘locker room’ antics and the adrenaline flow was not as great.

The only basket I scored during that game was an errant pass that went over my head and hit a hustling ref ahead of me between the shoulder blades.

I caught the ball as it ricocheted off his back and scored a layup. 🙁

It’s been over sixty years ago that I ended my basketball career as a Clinton Rocket and as I think back on that exciting time, I’ve come to realize that ovation I receive as I left the floor was not only for my performance, but our small community was honoring the loss of my mom.

I think everyone in attendance was wishing she could have seen the game too.

Fond memories. 🙂

Until next time.