The 2 Nephites

It was a LONG and chilly night. Long because only 1 game had each Ward field a 5 player team all from their own Ward. Chilly on regards to the general shooting percentages on the night. Apparently, some fellows took advantage of the 2 week Queen Creek school Spring Break for a family retreat following last week's Trek. Other than the 1st game of the night, we did manage to get 5 on 5 games throughout the night by patching together hangers on from prior or following games.

There was a lot of slick ballhandling on the night, so next week I'll have the ball scrubed and treated so it isn't quite so slick and doesn't slip out of peoples hands so easily when catching passes.

We might not have had any "real" games on the night but at least Mitt Romney had a BIG WIN night in the Illinois Republican party!! That was a great relief, too. The last time a Mormon was a presidential candidate in Illinois he was shot and the Saints chased from Nauvoo across the Mississippi River to Utah!

6:00 PM Ranch VS Nauvoo Station – I sensed we were off to an inauspicious start when Nauvoo Station had a full team and Ranch was a complete NO SHOW. Dang it, too! You may recall a prior game report mentioning 1 of the 3 Nephites playing for Nauvoo Station with the "Reservation" style of run, run and run more brand of basketball!? Tonight we had 2 of the 3 Nephites show up for the Nauvoo Station and I was looking forward to a fun game. But, alas, it was not to be with noone from Ranch in attendance.

Also not in attendance were any of the eligible young Sistern from Nauvoo Station. Guess the boys forgot to make sure their game was announced in the Relief Society Meeting. May explain why so many of the Nauvoo Station Fellers are at or rapidly approaching that age where they are considered to be a "menace to society"……

The boys played 4 on 4 and scored 1 point for a regular basket and 2 points for a 3 point range shot. After 35 minutes of playing the final score was 7 - 8. Yep, them hapless boys can't score a bucket OR a date!!

6:40 PM Cortina 2nd Ward VS Cambria – slightly less in auspicious start for this game with 3 gents from Cortina 2nd and 4 from Cambria at game time. So, some of the Nauvoo Station boys staying to play, including the 2 Nephites. Folks got run ragged trying to keep up with them! Turned out their names are Corbin & Jobehn.

The nonmember that played for Cortina 2nd last week did not make it to this week. Seems he took a shot to the chin last week that required 6 stitches. That's Church Brawl and "call your own fouls" for ya!! So much for that "missionary" effort!

Returning to the hardwood for Cortina 2nd was their gregarious Captain, Kyle McCluskey. I don't know if Kyle played Full Back or Running Back in high school. Must have been Full Back as that position does not require as much fleet of foot or quickness as Running Back does. Kyle LOVES to drive the lane and does it like a Fullback, too! He claims to have scored 20 points in their game but that might have been attempts? His wife's admonition before he left home was, "Go! You need the exercise. Just don't come back hurt!” He didn't get hurt. Can't say the same thing for fellows that were trying to defend his drives to the hoop……

7:20 PM Ironwood Crossing VS Remington Heights – PIZZA TIME!! One wife/mom ushered her young brood up the stage, plant them down and plopped open a large pepperoni pizza! Even offered me a slice! But I already had my Chipotle Steak Bowl Pre-Game meal and was still full. Thanks anyway.

Fortunately for young 11-year-old call Kobe Mott of Ironwood he was not needed to fill the 5th spot on the team roster tonight. Too bad for Kobe and too bad for the team as their scoring dropped off without his razor-sharp jump shooting!

Lots of kids on the stage by this point so I opened up a bunch of chairs and laid them on their sides to form a barrier in front of the stage so no kids would roll over the edge like almost happened last week. It worked, too!

Both teams played with vim & vigor. I noticed a few of the fellows had trouble tripping over the lines painted on the floor. The thickness of the paint must have been catching their shoes as they moved around.

8 PM Cortina 1st VS Crismon – Gonna have to start calling them 0'Cortina 1st Ward owing to the Irish green shirts they showed up in. I thought maybe they'd visited a pub before the game, got confused and thought they were Notre Dame fans instead of BYU…

Cortina 1st is anchored by Shaquille Brooks in the middle. What a great guy! He always has such a smile on his face when he says, "You mean that's a foul, too??!!”

Crismon broke out a super batch of team enthusiasm early, wildly cheering every 3-point shot attempt. But as a few were actually dropping in the chant for "Shoot It!!" quickly changed to "Pass it!!" I think I did see them attempt a "Wave" celebration along the sidelines after a 3-point shot finally dropped.

Young Strebeck (to distinguish him from his dad, the "Old" Strebeck) is a Fireman's. I thought the famous "Fireman's Carry" was a rescue move Fireman used to carry injured people out of harm’s way. Yeah Strebeck has his own version of a Rireman's carry. It's when he jumps on the back of the player in front of him to get rebounds.

I'm also a bit worried about the Crismon team’s machismo as 1 of their players showed up wearing a PINK T-shirt to play.…

Crismon’s Jared Wright has been working on his "No Look Pass". So far, it's more "No Look" then "Pass" but he'll get it working one of these nights I'm sure.

8:40 PM Ironwood VS Rittenhouse – I know we played this game but I can't remember a thing about it except Matt painter evidently lost a $60 AZ Diamondbacks pull over that he left at the gym a few games ago. I'm sure whoever's wearing it now appreciates mats generosity…

9:20 PM Desert Mountain VS Vineyard - I'm quite impressed to see Vineyard all in matching white jerseys until I realized they were the jerseys I bring each week in case players forgot to bring their own white shirt.

Desert Mountain fielded 4 players and 1 bleeder. He is a Young Men's Leader that had come out on the losing end of a "Dodge Ball "game played by the Desert Mountain Young Men earlier in the evening and had a gash over his eye.

At half time Desert Mountain wanted to switch balls. They didn't shoot any better with the replacement ball.

Rules Book Stuff (since we are supposedly calling our own fouls) –

Who calls the Foul? – I don't care who calls it! Defense on themselves or Offense against that defense. Somebody just PLEASE call your fouls. I saw a Cortina 1st Ward player go flying across the court and no foul was called. He sat there for a moment and mutter to his self, "Guess that wasn't a foul after all!”

By contrast, the players for 1 ward were mumbling something about not being able to breathe on an opponent without having a foul called. Man up. Be honest about it – BOTH ways!

Block VS Charge – hardest call to make in sports…… What are the keys?

1. If the Offense Player (“A") has the ball, he must expect to be guarded. The Defensive player (“B") can't get as close as he can WITHOUT CAUSING with CONTACT with "A".
2. IF "A" is running with the ball "B" does NOT have to allow any time or distance in setting up his defense of position. That DOES mean player "A" could be running down the court, looking backwards to catch a pass and immediately upon catching the pass collide with "B", who had established a legal guarding position, and the foul would be on "A".
3. Typically, if "A" contacts "B" on the torso (waste, chest or shoulders) "B" it is a charging foul.
4. If the contact is on "B"'s knee or hip it usually is a blocking foul on "B".

Hold or jump ball –"B" reaches in and legally puts his hand on the ball preventing "A" from passing or shooting. "A" then yanks the ball away from "B" whose hand ends up grabbing "A's" arm and "A" wants a foul called on "B". NOPE. When "A" yanked the ball away he caused "B's" hand to end up on "A's" arm. Should have been called a "jump ball" when "B” stopped "A's" ball movement or let the play go UNLESS there was excessive contact by either player.

Excessively swinging elbows – A player can grab a rebound and rotate back and forth on a foot to guard the ball from an opponent reaching in and grabbing the ball. But if his elbows move away from his body so that an opponent opponent might be whacked in the chin – EVEN IF THERE IS NO CONTACT– the Referee can call "A" for "excessive swinging of the elbows". It is a violation just like traveling and the ball is awarded to the opponent. Doesn't seem fair since there was no contact? The objective is to stop players from swinging their elbows around like weapons to unfairly prevent an opponent from playing the ball AND to prevent injury from the swinging elbows – like the non-member that ended up with stitches from last week!

Double Foul – called when two players foul each other at the same time. Most often while rebounding 1 guy is pushing and the other is pushing back OR both lock arms and hold each other back.

Multiple Foul – 2 defenders (usually) foul the same opponent at the same time. Does not happen much except in Church Brawl where it happens on almost every play.

Calendaring – for those who are planning their vacations around basketball team games…… There will NOT be any games May 14th–18 as the floor is being refinished that week.

See ya on the court!!

Vic Pear

Stake Men's Sports Rabble Rouser (Not a hard job to do!)

The Defense Parts Like the Red Sea Before Moses

First, A Correction: Last week I reported Crismon defeated Remington Heights by 1 point and Marc McDowell nearly pulled out the victory on his ownself. The Remington Height boys have informed me I was mistaken!! With a few seconds remaining in the game (I'll come back to this point momentarily), Marc made the 1st of 2 Free Throws. Then bricked the 2nd. Crismon rebounded but was not able to hit a desperation shot to pick up the win. So Remington Heights won, not Crismon as reported, and apparently Marc did win the game almost on his ownself!

Now as to the “ few seconds remaining" – we do not have an operational scoreboard or clock as of yet. It is rumored Church Facilities has approved replacing the controller but it has not arrived as yet. Perhaps before the tournament we will get it. Perhaps not… In the meanwhile, I'm using the clock on the wall in the Cultural Hall to keep track of game times. Obviously not the most accurate mechanism to note seconds remaining. So the end of the game is pretty much a subjective thing for me to determine. If it's a close game and the losing team has a chance to score a go ahead Buck, "a few seconds" might take 30 seconds to play so both teams get a chance to win the game. If someone has the ball that has been cranky or complained about officiating calls, "a few seconds" might mean 2 seconds and the fellow can't quite get a shot off before the "buzzer" rings to end the game. It's not fair, I know, but I like it!

Just an observation: A great place to watch football or basketball games is from the End Zone area. You see the space between players and plays & offense developing that you can't detect from the normal sideline bleachers. The stage could be a good place to watch our Stake games if we actually had someone running offense on plays.

6:00 PM Ironwood Crossing vs Nauvoo Station: Nauvoo Station was a "no-show". Apparently having Stake Conference last Sunday instead of regular church messed them up and no one bothered to announce the game to the team. Guess TEXT MESSAGING doesn't work on their phones??!! I knew my son, Tyler would not be playing. Last week he had a spot of cancer removed off his neck. Only took that US ARMY Medical Corps 4 years to decide the quarter sized red splotch was cancerous. He now has an ugly 4" scar behind his ear and instructions not to exercise vigorously for a couple weeks. Playing Stake Men's Basketball somehow was deemed to vigorous endeavor. If his doctor had seen the pace at which we play in our league he might not have minded Tyler playing.

SO… Ironwood Crossing decided to play against themselves. Only problem was they had just seven players. So I suggested Janae Nevitt, Ole's recent bride play. (You'll remember Ole's exploits – not from basketball as there weren't any, but from softball. He's the fellow that hits em’ as high as he does far and usually out of the park) He said OK. When asked if he wanted to guard her, as she was on the opposing team, he said "NO!" because she was a better basketball player than he was. Ole was right.

6:40 PM Cortina 1st VS Cortina 3rd: Must have been mutual night for the Cortina 1st Ward. Only one of their team showed up and he was 10 minutes late!

So we played another "pick up" game and the fellows decided to call their own fouls. I saw a lot of fouls in the game but not many were called. Some of the interaction could have resulted in a mugging police report but nothing was called.

7:20 PM Ironwood VS Ranch: Neither team had a full slate of players but there were several still hanging around from the 6:00 and 6:40 PM games, so we had another "pick up" game. Not wanting to risk getting kicked or elbowed while throwing the ball up in the center circle to start the game. I elected to have each team pick a number between 1 & 10. One team picked 4 and the other was 7. My number was 11. Since 7 was closest to 11 that team got the ball and the game was on!! (I never said the number I was thinking was between 1 and 10. I just said for them to pick a number between 1 and 10).

Not much remarkable happened in this game, though I did notice Nate Schlink had been working on his jumpshot and now manages to get the ball to the rim on a consistent basis. A considerable improvement from his "Air Ball" launches his last season!

I do miss Ladd Smith, he for whom the shoes which color always matched his shirt, who is not playing this year due to health considerations. We hope he gets well soon. No other players have his sense of style!

8:00 PM Cambria VS Vineyard: Vineyard has evidently repented of its slothful ways last season of being No Shows and actually had five players for game time. Way to go!! Cambria had a full team so we actually had Ward versus Ward game. I made some other notes about the game but can't read my handwriting, so I can't report any further on this game except to say I wrote something about someone having good form on their shots but that form did not always translate into made shots.

8:40 PM Remington Heights VS Desert Mountain: Shortly after the game started a few players saw me jotting down notes and asked if I was keeping score. Nope. If you want a score kept or want to know how many points you scored rustle up your own scorekeepers……

I know other teams try to defend against Marc McDowell, but he is so smooth on a drive to the basket it's as if the Defense parts like the Red Sea before Moses as he glides in for a layup. To his credit, he hasn't thrown down any dunk shots to embarrass anyone. Of course, being 7' tall does make a difference……

image via 

Remington Heights had to recruit a 17 year old to have five players. I said OK. They pulled that same gambit last year in the tournament, except the "17 year old" was that Farabee kid who now plays on the Highland High School Varsity basketball team. NO, the Farabee kid can NOT play for Remington Heights during the tournament this year! Regular-season I don't care since these games don't count.

I noticed a recent convert playing on the Desert Mountain team. I remembered him from State Conference 6 months ago also sporting cowboy boots, pressed jeans and a colorful but pressed cowboy shirt. His fiancé said he felt a bit conspicuous with everyone else wearing white shirts and ties. NONSENSE. I told him to look up cowboy Joseph Kimball from my Cortina 2nd Ward. Cowboy is his Standard outfit at church and looks sharp in it! (Well, as sharp as Joseph can look considering…...)

I was reminded of a Stake I lived in previously when the good intentioned Stake President introduced a strict policy that EVERY MALE was to wear white shirts to all church Sunday and Conference meetings. I remember looking around seeing several brethren wearing colored shirts that were probably pressed with the razor sharp creases, which had just been declared unacceptable. I also saw several fellows wearing compliant white shirts that were so wrinkled you couldn't tell if they've just been hauled out of the clean clothes basket but not ironed or dug out of the dirty clothes basket from last Sunday…… Which of those fellows appeared most reverent and respectful of that meeting, the gents in the sharp pressed colored shirts or those in the crumpled up white shirts? My vote was for the pressed colored shirts!! The same with anyone wearing cowboy wear to church - pressed shirts, pressed jeans, polish boots. That's showing respect for the place and occasion and I applaud them for being true to their character.

The same hopeful Stake President & in the same meeting also banned bright "Rush Limbaugh type" ties. Only conservative ties were approved apparel. The next week, a 5th Sunday, a Stake High Councilor showed up to present a video about the church welfare system to a combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting in our Ward. The video feature the Church President, Gordon B Hinckley, in what can only be described as a "Rush Limbaugh type" tie. My comment that President Hinckley would not be allowed to wear that time in our Stake Sunday meetings was not well received……

And all I asked our brethren is to bring a White & Dark colored shirt so they don't have to wear one of my white pull over shirts sweated in by someone else!!

9:20 PM Crismon vs Rittenhouse: I've noticed a new phenomenon the season. When I asked a team leader to call on someone to offer the pregame prayer they are pointing across at the other team and asking one of them to offer the prayer!! Happened twice this night. OK with me. If you think the other team has someone who'll be more affective and calling down the blessing of heaven on our games than someone in your own ward I'm all for it!! YOU know your teammates better than I do…

Shorts are not required when playing in our league. Full length jeans are fine, though they do limit you're leaping ability and cut down on your fast break speed a bit. Jared Wright of the Crismon Ward managed to play rather well in jeans and even managed a nifty "behind the back – no look pass delete quote. I'm not suggesting it was the jeans. Maybe it was the "no look” part of the play, but the Pass would have even better if it had been completed to teammate rather than a defender. And Brent Slade is a monster on the Offensive Boards!! Of course he'd had lots of practice going after his own missed shots. But the "follow your shots" quote is a valid coach's promise to practice!

This was a real "Run & Gun "game. Unfortunately, most of the shots fired off or blanks……

Comments on Rules & Foul Philosophy:

Contact – The incident of CONTACT does not necessarily mean a foul has occurred. A number of considerations need to be contemplated in deciding if a foul is to be (for those honest enough to call a foul!)

Did contact cause the player to lose control of the ball, miss the shot or throw an errant pass?

Did contact put either play at an unfair advantage?

Severity of the contact. A love tap or a WWW forearm smash?

Did the offense of player initiate the contact by jumping into the defender, dropping a shoulder like Full Back Off Tackle run or using his arm to hold back the defender?

A player may be bummed but if the Referee doesn't think the bump affected the play there is no foul called.

Sometimes you'll see an Offensive player – especially on last second shots – jump up and contort their body to deliberately make contact with the Defender hoping the Referee will call a foul and send the shooter to the foul line. Not in my games. When the shooter does that 2 things occur:

The shooter looks ridiculous. Take the shot!!

The shooter will likely miss the off-balance, failed to win the game from a made basket & won't get the chance to win in a bogus awarded free-throw!

The hand is part of the ball – if the player's hand is slapped while while that hand is on the ball, unless it's a particularly hard slap, it's not a foul.

Reaching In – Reaching is NOT a foul. Try looking it up in the rule book. It ain't there no matter how many times Al McCoy, the Phoenix Suns announcer says, "There is a Reaching In Foul!" How you gonna steal the ball and less you reach in!

Hacking the other players arm (not hand on the ball) or holding IS a foul. Reaching in is playing defense.

On a shot – if the defender hits the ball FIRST and then the hand, we have a blocked shot. The subsequent slap of the hand did not interfere with the shot. It was already blocked before the slap.

3 Point Shot Attempt Foul – often times a defender will use his ample backside to bang against the shooter, supposedly "Blocking Out" the shooter on a 3 point attempt and bounce the shooter backwards. Everyone wants the shooter to be awarded Free Throws. NOPE. Almost always, the shooter has returned to the floor by the time the blocking out bump occurs. Once the shooter is back on the floor the shot attempt is over any foul is a Common Foul and shots are taken only if the offense of team is in the Bonus situation.

Driving between defenders & out of bounds lines – players usually have never heard this. Few coaches either. But it is the rule! If an Offensive player WITH THE BALL attempts to drive between two defenders OR a defender and out of bounds line AND THERE IS LESS THEN 3' OF SPACE BETWEEN THE DEFENDER OR THE OUT OF BOUND'S LINE, the responsibility for contact is on the dribbler. Now if a defender sticks a knee or elbow out or pushes the dribbler we have a foul. Otherwise it's the dribblers problem if he bangs into a defender and falls down. On the sideline a coach will yell, "he got forced out!! "Yep, that's exactly what happened. The dribbler got into a spot he wasn't supposed to be. The defender cut off the Out of Bounds line access area and the dribbler went Out of Bounds. Great defense!!

Hopefully this clarification will help when you're calling your own fouls OR Refereeing a game. I hope!!

Lost & Found: that AZ Diamondbacks pull over I reported being left behind last week has not been claimed. If no one claims it this week (you need to tell me the color) I'm sending it to DI.

Banned Team Colors – all previously banned team colors are reinstated except ASU. I asked Brother Padilla from one of the Cortina Wards why he hasn't been out to play B-ball since I lifted the ban along time ago on wearing Texas puke orange colors. He said he wasn't a very good basketball player and did not want to embarrass himself. I told him that concern wasn't stopping any of the other Brethren from coming out to play & shouldn't be stopping him either.

QCNS Men's Basketball Report

3/07/2012

A Visit From One Of The 3 Nephites - 2012 Opening Nite Stake Men's Basketball

6:00 PM Game    Cortina 1st vs Cortina 2nd

When Cortina 2nd Ward was a NO SHOW I was thinking "somethings never change" – namely teams not showing up on game night…… And this is MY home ward, too! Led by Kyle McCluskey, who has successfully navigated Cortina to be a perennial 3rd place finisher and everything. Most teams would give the boot to a manager that can't do better than 3rd place year after year, but Cortina 2nd doesn't have anyone else willing to take the lead or any more capable, so Kyle remains…… I later learned Cortina had a "Daddy Daughter" Primary Activity and that's why they were a No Show, except for one fellow that did show up who evidently does not have a daughter in primary. That his wife & young kids came to watch would verify that assumption.

A Cortina 1st Warder warming up for the game that was not to be, put up a shot that was obviously not gonna hit the rim & hollered, "Oh NO, it short." His ever sympathetic teammate quipped, "probably won't be the only short shot you have tonight!" Such fellowship!

Those that did show up decided to revert to the traditional method of selecting teams & shoot free throws. The 1st five that make a free throw are on a team. After a half dozen brick shots I told them to just count out 1 - 2, 1 - 2, etc. to select teams as they would only had 40 minutes of game time & by the time five of them made a free-throw the time allotted to play would all be used up. (And the same guys that can't make a free throw like to attempt three point shots!!)

"RAWR!" Image by Riley Kaminer via Flickr

6:40 PM Game    Ironwood vs Nauvoo Station

A quick reminder, my son Tyler has finished his US Army service which included two tours in Afghanistan. First as a Paratrooper with 82nd Airborne, then as a Sergeant with Psy Ops / Special Operations.

Tyler has whined his whole ball playing career that I am unfair and do not call foul on players when theyfoul him. Feel free to hammer him when you play Nauvoo Station. I'm still not gonna give him any breaks!!

I've got to admit my son Tyler did make me proud in his debut playing for Nauvoo Station in the Queen Creek North State Men's Basketball Program and almost lived up to the hype he was putting up about his "game". In fact, Nauvoo Station finally won a game, prevailing 46 to 33 this time. The Nauvoo station brethren need to take up a collection & buy some "up to date" shorts for one of the Garlock boys who showed up wearing shorts that were throwbacks to the late 70's - way too short & way too tight. Avoiding the embarrassment of being seen by the Sistern of the ward was the only good thing about none of those single Sistern in showing up to watch the game. Fortunately Brother Wright, the ever faithful bishopric member, did show up and handled the scorekeeping duty.

If you've never seen Northern Arizona Native American "Reservation Basketball" you've not seen an awesome display of fitness & endurance and a unique brand of basketball. This season I worked a Post Season Tournament Game in Prescott Village at the Tim's Toyota Center. Many of the teams were from the reservation. Just prior to the Tip Off of my game a Native American fan hollered, "get ready to run like you've never run before ref!!" And he was right, too!! Well, Nauvoo Station had a Native American player show up. No one seemed to know if he was in their ward or had been invited by a ward member to come play. (He might even be one of the 3 Nephites for all I could find out). From the moment he stepped on the floor until he stepped off the court he did not stop running. He ran whoever was guarding him from Ironwood ward ragged. It was great to see that style of play, so I hope he plays the rest of the season!! If he does, and you're guarding him – get ready to run!!

A pleasant surprise for this game was Chris Capps of the Cortina 2nd Ward, a season High School Varsity and Tournament experienced Referee, he showed up to say saying he'd come to help referee. Also Jon Mott, Ironwood Crossing's Elder Quorum President, former Globe High School Boys Varsity Coach and currently coaching at Coolidge High School also showed up saying he'd come to referee. He figured learning more about how referees work and think would help him be a better High School Coach. That may be so, but the thing that would best help Jon to be a better coach would be to have a few players on his team taller than 5' 8"…… Tough to rebound & win against a 6' 5" Center when your Center is 5' 8".

7:20 PM Game    Cortina 3rd vs Vineyard 

I don't remember much about this game. One of the players was a fellow I had taught as a Teachers Quorum Advisor when I first moved to Queen Creek five years ago. Nothing like seeing a "kid " you taught and finding out he's now 19 to make a fellow feel old!! I was in such a state of shock I don't know if we even had two full teams.

8 PM Game       Desert Mountain vs Ranch 

8:40 PM Game    Cambria vs Rittenhouse 

Don't remember anything about these games I was working with Jon Mott on the court and did not take any notes. Jon has learned that when a ball goes Out of Bounds & he is the referee nearest the ball, it is advisable for him to blow his whistle. Jon's most common question of the night was, "Guess I should have blown my whistle on that play, shouldn't I?" He is learning it's a lot easier to referee from the coaches sideline then when wearing the striped shirt.

I'm hopeful Jon and Chris can help referee most of our games because when they can't you brethren will get to experience the referee challenge! The alternative is to let you call your own fouls and I already know that doesn't work!! There are some players that insist "I never touched him", even when there's blood evidence, who'll who will never call a foul on themselves. And there are some that will be slammed into the stage and say it was a clean play and not call a foul on the other guy.

9:20 PM Game   Crismon vs Remington Heights 

A rematch from one of last season's Semi-Final Games and it WAS A GAME!! We could have charged admission for the quality of this one!! Crismon squeaked it out again by one point in the closing seconds of the game. Marc (what was his last name?) from Remington Ward showed why he's the dominant player in our stake and it almost looked like he'd pull off the win on his own late in the game. But Crismon also had several excellent players and held on. (Sometimes literally.)

Because you asked and I'm such a nice guy: We are playing High School Rules which do not allow players on a Free-Throw to enter the lane until the shot hits the rim (that's assuming the shot will hit the rim, of course.) Everyone wants to think they're NBA and want to enter on the "release" by the shooter. "Ask and you shall receive "– as an experiment I'm going to say OK to that even though I'm concerned it's going to lead to a lot more pushing and shoving for position and elbows to the chin. We'll try it for a few nights to be sure you are all behaving yourselves. Don't mess it up!

Lost but found: A V-necked Diamondbacks long sleeved warm up shirt. Tell me what color it is & it's yours. If no one claims it after a couple weeks it's headed to DI. You can check with me after this Sunday Evening's Stake Conference Adult Session.

Schedule change coming: Got a notice the gym will be closed one week in May for floor refinishing so I need to make an adjustment to the schedule, so be watching for that.

Ladies Nites: A few Sistern have asked when they get to play basketball. Some are former High School Players, you see, who miss playing the sport. Even though I sometimes think I'm watching some Brethren play like women on our men's nites, (one player complained he had been poked by a "too long fingernail" Tuesday night) perhaps it's fair to give the ladies at least one night to organize and play? So, since these reports are passed by Present Bagley and High Counselor Arnson to President McClure, this will serve as my asking the Stake Presidency if they'll approve one night of Ladies Basketball this season. If I get permission I'll let you know. Until then it's no use asking me about it anymore because I ain't the Stake Relief Society President and I don't schedule women's sports.

2011 Men's Championship Games Report - Queen Creek North Stake

What a night!! Many thanks to Adam Sessions who volunteered to be the scorekeeper all night relieving teams of that chore. Adam is the fellow that recently came up to me following a Stake Training Meeting waving his smart phone in front of me with a copy of the most recent "Game Report" on the screen saying, "Are you this guy? You're a nut!" Adam is a retired basketball referee of some renown from California.

Also many Thanks to David Dixson, my High School Referee partner, who agreed to suspend his "no church ball refereeing" policy and work our Championship night games. I'm sure he regrets that decision by now…… After some ill tempered comments by a Cortina 3rd Warder in the final moments of and while in the throes of losing the Championship game. David commented to me between games that some of the brethren did not seem to like some of his foul calls. I told him not to worry about it, he was doing great because the brethren don't like MOST of my calls…

6:30 PM Game – Cortina 3rd vs Ironwood Crossing

Pregame I saw Brian Judy – he of the odd cross handed softball batting grip that gives me shivers up the spine when I see it – takes a run at the basket gripping kids size ball & dunks. Strictly speaking, dunking during pregame warm-ups is a Technical Foul. I asked Brian if he just dunked. He said yes, so I said, "let me see you do it again." He did and I said, "Brian, don't you know that dunking during pregame warm-ups is a Technical Foul? I'm gonna have to light your team up for a "T" and start the game with Cortina 3rd shooting Free Throws and be awarded the ball to In-bound." There was an awkward moment of silence as Brian furtively looked back and forth from my grim countenance to his teammates trying to decide if I was serious. Finally I said I wasn't going to enforce the "T", just no more dunking.

For some reason that reminds me of another pre-game exchange a couple nights ago. Someone was talking to me as we were trying to start a game. Brad "The Hack" (a play at words on how he plays) Hekekiah of the Rittenhouse Ward (I think?) Hollers, "Come on, Vic. We've got a dollar waiting on a dime!" Frankly I was surprised Brad has such a low personal self-esteem value. I figured him at least to be a "two bit player "…

Both teams broke out in a "run and gun "offensive mindset. Perhaps I should say Cortina 3rd offense was run and "GUNN "as Matt Gunn took the EVERY 3 point shot opportunity he had and never stop firing them up!

Even without the leadership of Jon Mott, Ironwood Crossing was pounding the ball into the key and looking as if they had an offense scheme to execute. Both teams were tossing up and making 3 point shot from all over the place.

There's more I could say about this game, but in deference to Matt Gunns quip about my "lengthy" reports I will not recount his exploits any further.

Jon Mott's 4 points per game scoring average for Ironwood Crossing might have made the difference in the games outcome. Cortina 3rd wins 68 to 65.

7:30 PM – Crismon vs Remington Heights

This game was as good as I thought it might be……

I was figuring it might be a long night for Crismon as they were missing Jared Wright, a former PGA aspirant (that's Professional Golf Association for the Sisteren). Jared is as good at ramming in 18' Jumpshot as he is at snaking in 18' putts on a 13 Stimpmeter Rated Green. (For the Sisteren – and the non-golfing Brethren – the Stimpmeter measures the speed the putt will roll roll across a putting green. Anything 9 & above on the Stimpmeter is considered a very fast putting surface even for the PGA. Almost like putting on a wood floor the ball rolls so fast!

But Jared's absence was offset by the "the Rotund One" not making it to the game for the Remington Heights to slash & mash on his legendary drives to the basket.

I thought the difference maker was going to be Marc McDowell of Remington Heights. Marc played collegiately at Pepperdine – although with that beautiful Pacific Ocean view from the campus I don't know how much playing time he got in. Enough, though, to play 1 year of Professional Basketball after college in France. Oui, oui!!

Lots of shot attempts in this game. I'm starting to think some of the brethren have a strategy that they'll throw up any crazy shot and count on their teammates getting the rebound to score an easy put back shot. That could work when you have got Marc McDowell to rebound. Some of those crazy shots actually go in and you know the shooter was as surprise as everyone else by the Cheshire Cat smiles on their face as the run to the other end of the court to go on defense.

One fellow who's shots were no accident was some Farabee kid from Remington Heights. He'll be on Highlands Varsity team this year, I think. Prior to the game his dad commented his son had a State Championship Diving Meet the next day and was hopeful he'd be the State Champ on the 1 meter board. I asked what in the world he was doing playing church basketball risking injury the night before a State Dive Meet!! Where was his mom?? Apparently his mom told him not to play, but you know how teenage boys and their dad can be and he played anyway. Technically, since he is not 18, he should not have played anyway. At the center circle before administering the jump ball to start the game I pointed that out to Crismon and asked if they were OK with his playing. The boys from Crismon opined they could beat anyone any ward wanted to throw at them and said to let the skinny kid play!

Brent Slade, who at 34 years old, who found it more than a small challenge keeping up with a quick and big hopping teenager as he drew the assignment to guard Farabee, wished the kid had listened to his mom! Brent was all tuckered out by Half-Time. Old age is coming at you faster than you think, Brent. Just ask Jason Filley. Get used to it!

I was tired, too…… At half time I heard Adam Sessions say something about the score was 34–28 and then asked for the score sheet for the next game. So I thought the 7:30 PM game was over and that 34–28 was an awfully low scoring game!! Low for a game end score yes, but pretty high powered for a half time score!!

For the record…… If Mark McDowell is behind you as you are trying to get a rebound and suddenly the ball is lifted out of your hands – it is not an Over The Back Foul. It is either you are too short for you have no hops and Mark just snapped the ball in a clean way. As coaches say, "you can't coach height. You have it or you don't” Marc has it.

This game was intense.

Are the referee calls always right? No. As I write this a World Series umpire just called a guy safe at 1st base that was out by half a step. Only the "best of the best" umpires get to work for a World Series game, yet the call was missed! Either this year a major league umpire called a guy safe that was out that would have been the 3rd out in the 9th inning of what would have been a rare "perfect game" for the pitcher. Ouch!!

College and Pro's even use replay technology to get close calls right. Unfortunately our Stake doesn't even have a working scoreboard much less replay technology to help us out.

So, no, try as we might, us referee types do not always make the right call. But does that justify players and fans ragging on the referees?

We had 23 fouls called on Remington Heights and only 12 on Crismon. I can't explain that but I assure everyone there was no bias in making the calls. That's just the way David I saw the game… To Remington players credit we did not hear any bellyaching out of them. They play hard. They lost the game but not their tempers. Good for them!!

Crismon won the game 61-60 in no small part due to MADE free throws. It was a great game!!

Championship Game

Crismon Ward Bishop Strebeck strolled in just before Game Time with his suit on. I suggested his team was all tuckered out and needed him to go suit up. He said he would except he didn't want to "show up" his younger players. I don't know if he'd have shown them up, as it has been a long time since he played high school ball, but he certainly would have been the most accurate Two Hand Set Shot and Two Handed Underhand Flip Free Throw Shooter on the floor………… Also the only one!

Cortina 3rd had been sitting for an hour waiting to play, so rigor mortise or lactic acid had started to settle in there. Crismon, especially Brent Slade from guarding that Farabee kid, was all worn out from there overtime game. David Dixon and I had just worked two hours of basketball and we were tired,… But the game needed to be played to crown our inaugural Stake Basketball Champion.

Suddenly everyone that had been launching 25 footer "nothing but net "shots were coming up short. Seems a few legs had turned to rubber and there were no more hop in their hoppers!

As the shots got shorter, some tempers got longer.

We had a glitch in the game in the 2nd Half when someone on the Cortina 3rd Ward bench asked me how many timeouts they have left. Understand, each team knew they got one time out and it's not the referees job to keep track of Time-Outs. It's the teams responsibility… And how tough is it to count to one? Any finger can handle that task, can't it! Anyway, while I was trying to communicate with Adam Sessions to find out if Cortina 3rd had do use there ONE Time Out that half yet, David Dixon did not realize what I was doing and let Crismon inbound the ball. Cortina 3rd Ward stole the ball and scored a lay up.

I blew my whistle and cancel the play, much to the displeasure of some Cortina 3rd Warders. Hey, if those 3rd Ward boys could count to ONE they wouldn't have had to ask me how many timeouts they had left & that basket would have counted. It wouldn't have been the game winner for them , anyway. Crismon held on to win 55-49 victory.

If it's Not a Real Game We're Going Out to Eat! - QCNS Men's Basketball Tournament 10.6.11

Brethren,

We play WEDNESDAY October 12th.

Maybe it's because no one gets in to clean the place up following Sunday Go To Meeting, but that Men's bathroom on the west side is rather putrid on game nites......

Phil Knight must really love our Stake. I think half the guys that show up are wearing Nike shoes and / or apparel.

Image by Mister Leung via Flickr

6:00 PM Vineyard VS Crismon- As anticipated, Vineyard was a NO SHOW, again, and Crismon advances. Crismon had five guys at the game time and everyone of them was a player. They may be the home team to beat the state champions! One of the Crismon wives came to watch the game. Then when she discovered it was a forfeit and the kids had not been fed, as she thought her husband was going to do before he came to the game…… She gathered up the kids and hollered over her shoulder as she walked out, “If it's not a real game we're going out to eat!”

7:00 PM Cortina 1st VS Cortina 2nd – Evidently the Cortina 1st Ward team manager miss read (or did not read) last week's E-mail about changing their game from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM and announce the 6:00 PM as game-time. Didn't matter much as only three Cortina 1st warders showed up for the 6 PM game.

One left and one more showed up so they still only have three players for the 7:00 PM p.m. game and were eliminated by forfeit. Now I have to show up in my home Cortina 2nd Ward and face the cat calls for having predicted Cortina 1st would win the game……

One of the wives had set up camp with her kids on the stage. Suddenly she waved for her husband to come from the far end of the court where his team was warming up for an urgent question. "Are you going to be playing at that end of the court all game? We won't be able to see you!”

"No dear, we'll play at both ends." Was his comforting response (I just report the stuff, I don't try to explain!)

(Good thing Cortina 1st were shorthanded and had to forfeit. The Desert Mountain Young Women thought they had the court reserved for a Young Man/ Young Women activity. The poor Desert Mountain Bishop came over to ask if we were in the tournament play that night. He was hoping it was just a regular play so that game could be canceled and allowed the YW/YM activity to take place. (I suspect he did not want to face the wrath of a Sistern burned by the men's sports……). Plop plop, fizz, fizz, what a relief it was when I said it was a Tournament Game but a forfeit game and the YW/YM could use the court until 8:00 PM. The Young Women's President graciously suggested we just pulled the curtain across half court so the YW/YM could use one half and we could play a half-court game at the other end.

8:00 PM Ironwood VS Remington Heights – With Remington Heights "towering above the rim playing" Mark McDowell absent I thought it would prove their demise and said as much prior to the game start time. A Remington Heights player said they'd get fewer defensive rebounds but it wouldn't affect their scoring. You best be ready to back it up if you're going to talk big folks. Ironwood pumped out 53 points. Remington Heights only manage 82...... Who needs Mark McDowell, anyway……