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.

It's Not The Spirit That Constrains Me, It's My Wife - Men's Basketball Report QCNS 8/31/11

Intrepid Brethren of the Hardwoods,

A fellow commented to me that he thought my weekly reports were amusing but they were a bit verbose......I can only respond that I feel as the Book of Mormon writers who said they were "constrained by the spirit" and could only include 100th of the things that happened. Actually it's not the spirit that constrains me, it's my wife, Kim who reads my missives before I send them out who says, "You're not really going to say that, are you? Sometimes I listen and am constrained. Other times......BUT I still can only include the 100th part of the stuff that happens each week.

Here's my Report-

It's good that we pray before each game as most of those shots I see being thrown up don't have a prayer of going in.

Remember, we play defense with out feet- NOT our hips, knees, elbows, & hands. In verbally warning player not to stick his knee out he replied, "Vic, you see too much!" Yep he was guilty as warned!! So please demonstrate your defensive prowess by getting into proper positions and beating the Offensive player to the spot.

The Offensive Player with the ball cannot push off or jump into/onto the Defensive Player to create space to fire off a haphazard shot. You fellows that love to streak off on a Fast Break or drive to the lane remember that principle when you are bouncing off Defenders, who have legal guarding positions and are maintaining the Principle of Verticality, like a pinball. YOU initiated the contact, so there's NO foul on the Defense. Youse take youse chances when you blast into the pack like that and the chances of my calling a foul on the Defense are not good unless they whack you really hard!

The Principle of Verticality DOES allow a player to jump STRAIGHT up in the air. He is not required to keep one or Both feet on the floor.

I was pleased that many teams DID arrive with WHITE and DARK shirts. Now if we can define "Dark" as really dark (blue, black, ect)- not Gray & Pastel yellows) it would help. You think it doesn't matter, but when the Referee is looking in  swarm of players and seeing multiple colored shirts it's hard to tell if a player is being bumped by a team mate or a opponent. Wearing distinctive shirts makes Referee calls easier. (Yes, I'll consider "Doger Blue" or BYU sissy blue as sufficiently distinct to be a Dark Color. Texas Longhorn puke orange is still banned.)

I notice the supposed "best" Referees are still eschewing actually Refereeing during games and seem content to try to Referee as they play. I'm not play attention to any of their "helpful" suggestions during games. If you want to Referee, put the shirt on.

A big THANK YOU to those who have been volunteering to Referee. You're making good calls!

The hapless Nauvoo Station boys had a sizable cheering section at their game. Or was it a jeering section? Hard to tell with all the hilarity that goes along with watching Nauvoo Station antics. One of the Garlock boys scored a basket in front of the Sistern that the opposing team felt should have been called as a traveling. As Nauvoo Station was on the short end of an in process 70 - 32 drubbing by Cortina 3rd ward, I figured it was better to let the Travel go so he could "look good" for the ladies. Poor boy must be at least 26 years old by now and fully qualified as what J. Golden Kimball described as "Any man 26 year or older and not married is a menace to society." We've got to do something about enhancing his appeal to the marriage eligible sistern of the Stake so he can get married before they ordain him a High Priest to be with Brethren of similar age......so I let the Travel Violation go.....

"Holding a basketball" by Your Best Digs via Flickr

Matt (No last name listed) of the Cortina 2rd ward was the "High Scorer" of the night based on 2 criteria.

1. Someone from Cortina 3rd Ward kept individual scores and showed Matt as pouring in 24 points
2. No other team kept individual scores

Not only did Matt put on an impressive display of Offensive skills I'm guessing he also did not have time to do any Refereeing in his game or help keep score......then again, maybe he DID help keep score which explains his 24 points?

Jeff pumped in 15 points while Todd & Ned each netted 10 points in Cortina 3rd Ward's victory.

Cortina 1st Ward slipped by Desert Mountain 46 - 44 in a spirited game.

Ranch & Vineyard quit keeping score @ 28 - 14, or was that the FINAL score??!!

Ironwood Crossing smacked their arch rival Ironwood 55- 38. Jon Mott proved he can at least hit the back board on a 3 point attempt......can't say much else, but it does create rebounding opportunities for his teammates who all turn & race to the basket for the rebounding positions as soon as they see the gleam in his eye as he starts hin unorthodox shooting motion....

Remington heights 44 points fell just short of Rittenhouse which scored 47 points even tho Jeff Monson has yet to make an appearance for Rittenhouse Ward yet this season.

And the GAME OF THE NIGHT was Dark 60- White 56. That's all the team identification there was on the Score Sheet.

Bro Mortensen from one of the Cortina Wards managed to get his wife, Pres Smith's daughter, back to watch his game. She came the first night & hadn't been back since. Said something about the games being "mildly good entertainment" but not better then watching "What Not To Wear"......as she left the first nite!

And have you noticed Ladd Smith shows up in a different pair of shoes every week? ALL are blinding florescent/ neon colors. Ladd's wife says she is NOT responsible for his wardrobe or shoe selections......

We will take a 2 week break while the Stake YW play a Volleyball Tournament.

Our Tournament will commence Thursday September 29th. That should allow time for aches & pains to be soothed and a few player to return from Injured Reserve.

HOUSEKEEPING-

Teams playing the 6:00 PM game can help speed up the game start by pushing the chair racks off the Cultural Hall floor into the Overflow area as they arrive. Please push them way to the back so there is plenty of room for spectators, rowdy kids & NBA scouts to view games from the Overflow area.

Teams playing the 9:20 PM games could please push the chair racks back into the Cultural Hall near the stage after their game.

Proposed 2012 Schedule-

The Queen Creek Stake, which hosts the Softball Field HAS APPROVED our use of the field THURSDAY NITES August 16th- November 15 in 2012. We'll try to run B-Ball from Feb 28-June 12 in 2012. I'll be submitting that to the Stake this week.

Lost & Found-

A pair of Black, White & Red Nike shoes have not yet been claimed. IF they're yours please pick them up.

Each week B-Balls are being left at the gym. If you lost yours on the court, check the equipment room by the stage.