Tournament Day 2

Their loss last night earned them the 9:00 game this morning so we had to get up early today...boo!

On the plus side, the game was a good one and the team finally won a game.  They really needed that win for a morale booster.  

Because they were winning so easily, the coach instituted a "no shoot until you pass the ball 5 times" policy.  This enables them to work on their passing skills while holding the score down.  

Zack scored 15 points and had at least 5 or 6 blocks.  For once, they weren't outsized.

In fact, they had the cutest little kid on the court - only a 4th graders and soooo small.  But he played the whole game and held his own against the big 7th and 8th graders.

Now they play again at 5:00 but, because of the way the tournament is set up (a round robin) they cannot even be in third place - even with a win.
Crazy!

Another Tournament

The team has been on quite the losing skid losing 7 out of their last 8.  I am not big into putting too much emphasis into wins...but I also know how frustrating it can be to continually lose and be overshadowed by taller players.

Or, as was the case Friday night...player.  One single player on the other team who scored 3/4 of their team's final points.  

The game was being reffed by the in-our-household infamous ref who called the travel on Zack which led to his being pulled from the game by me.  And...with 45 seconds left in the game...the instance repeated itself as Zack tried to split a double team, was fouled, and was called for travel...by the exact same ref!!! What are the chances?  He nearly lost it again but sat there on the court with his hands up in a "what-in-the-world-game-are-you-watching-ref" kind of gesture.  Even that it too much reaction for my taste - but an improvement over last time.  

They, of course, lost the game but made a heck of a comeback from being down by 13 to only losing by 5.

Zack had only 6 points.

One aspect of Zack's game I think he could really improve on is boxing out.  he should be facing the basket more but instead he faces the player.  

Another Game Another Loss

No pictures since I was not able to attend the game tonight.  We had our annual open house at school...the one that no one attends and we all stand around.  Well, people come for the pre-school and kindergarten and maybe some at the middle/high school level.  But the elementary - forget about it.  At least I was able to get a lot of work done in the classroom.

Now... on to the game.  I don't know much about it other than they lost 40-28, they turned the ball over quite a bit, and the "refs were mean", telling one boy on the team to "take his foul like a man" when he was holding onto his arm.  

Zack scored 10 points.

They have another tournament this weekend and are in quite a slump.  Winning is not the top priority and should not be the most important thing...but in this case, if they lose tomorrow night they have to play at 9:00 Saturday morning - and I don't want to get up that early on a Saturday!

Winter Storm

So...there was no snow day.  But there certainly should have been!!! I will not commence my rantings about school closings (or lack thereof) and why small private schools feel they need to follow the district in calling snow days when they have students who travel for much greater distances.

Anyway...it was a beautiful snow that I watched this morning from my window at school.

As one of the third graders aptly put it, "It looks like Narnia out there."

But finally, at noon I had had enough and decided to have a sub called in and go home.  You know, living in the country on a county road that never gets plowed or salted.  

the view from my car on the way home

The county road was as bad as I thought it would be.

Now we're home for the evening, Winter Storm Denise is winding down, and we're left with this ugly white stuff.

and I don't mean the dog.

Changes

 I'm not just talking about the weather...which has gone from snow...to melting...more snow...more melting...and more snow...all in the month of January. We've also had rain, thunder,lightening, and dense fog all in the past three days.Today was 55* with massive wet puddles of melted snow everywhere - tonight we'll have falling temps, rain turning into snow with freezing rain, fog, and 4-8" of blowing snow tomorrow. I smell a snow day!!!

Other changes this month: Zack turned 14.

We celebrated with a Friday night birthday dinner at Tortilla Flats.  All that was missing was C.J.  Sometimes I really miss our monthly Tortilla Flats Friday night dinners.

He decided to bring a cake at lunch to share with his buddies (and possibly one certain girl)

But quite possibly the biggest change has to do with work.  I am in the second week of a seven week stint in the third grade classroom full time - while someone else teaches computer.  The teacher is on maternity leave and while they had a sub lined up to fill in...she backed out at the last minute- to be fair, she got a full time job - so...since it was crucial to have a certified teacher in there - and most anyone can get by with teaching computer (makes me feel so worthless) this was the arrangement they came up with.

I was not too thrilled last week.  It meant going back to full time, going back to recess duties and after school duties, having to be to school earlier (and later sometimes) than I normally do - really I have become quite spoiled!  Also, the class was how-shall-I-say really testing their boundaries last week...and they got to see how mean I can really be!!!  I was so exhausted last week that I was in bed an hour early every night!

This week, so far, has gone much better!  And, knowing me, at the end of this seven weeks I am sure I will go back to the computer room kicking and screaming. 

As a side note: Now that I am completely weaned from my medication, I have had four seriously bad coughing fits this week.  Gagging, eyes watering, gasping-for-breath coughing attacks.  Pray there is some answer for this like there was for the pain! Please!!!!!

Christmas Leftover

Rough Day on the Court

Zack (a.k.a. Mr. Excited) was up and in his uniform by 8:00 this morning...about an hour earlier than needed. 

After Thursday night's game hopes were pretty high for their first game.  The game before theirs went into overtime so we had to wait...

The game spiraled out of control quickly as the other team pressed the whole first quarter...and we could not score the whole first quarter.

Believe me when I say this was one ugly game.  It is not worthy of much commentary.  This was the halftime score.

The game got so ugly that the coach ended up sitting the starters for the entire fourth quarter.  The game was sooooo out of reach and he figured he'd give the others some playing time and some playing experience.  

Anyway, Zack scored 4 points in the 3 quarters he played.

Their second game was later in the afternoon...and just as ugly.

Hard to explain since this was the same team they just beat by two points last week.  But, as a team, they were just off today...their shots weren't falling, they were not rebounding well, and their passes were sloppy. (the officiating was horrid but even poor officiating cannot contribute to a loss by THAT much)

Zack had 11 points in this game and quite a few blocks.

He also had a couple of "firsts" today.  First of all, he forced his first charging foul by planting his feet and holding his position.  Also, he suffered his first on court injury when he jumped to try and pick off a pass and landed on his side.  He lied motionless for a couple seconds and the refs stopped the game.  Surprisingly, he was able to shake it off and stay in the game...even though he grabbed his elbow several times the rest of the game.  I guess we'll see what his elbow looks like tomorrow.