Over the weekend, we took the boys up to North Andover to compete in the 5th Annual Ryan Bourque Invitational Tournament. It was a good weekend for the boys off the court, with trips to the Nashoba Valley Snow Tubing Park and Dave & Busters. but we did get bit by the inconsistency bug on the court.
I will admit that some of the problems we encountered were that there were rules in place that we weren't used to. If that were the only problem, I'd have a much sweeter taste than the foul, bitter taste that the trip left me with. I can't really argue on the side of poor officiating, because one thing last Spring taught me is that if you aren't going to stand your ground against an aggressive, physical team, then the refs may not feel compelled to call the foul. I know some people will say that the boys were tired - 4 games in three days, complete with swimming, snow tubing, arcade games, and the NBA All-Star event mixed in could be a bit much for a 10-year old. I completely understand this, it makes sense.
What has me at a loss for words is how we seem to always fall the same way. We play a couple of really good games, and then play a few terrible ones. We play hard, we play smart, we play basketball. Then in the blink of an eye, we go back to playing like it's November 15th and we are just getting together as a group; we can't use both sides of the court, we can't pass the ball, we just look like we haven't spent hours upon hours practicing, growing, learning. No one gets upset enough to dig deep and find a way to beat back fatigue long enough to earn the respect of the fans and opposition. That I think is the most difficult part. There's no anger in most of the guys, no getting upset enough to help me try to rally the team.
It's frustrating, it's borderline infuriating. It's hard to stay upbeat and positive when we play this way. I know I want to improve in that area, but it's so tough when you have so many swings like this. It'd be hypocritical of me to give up, so I'm not. I'm mad enough to keep looking and finding a way to keep working, keep my energy up and be more positive when it gets dark. I'm not a quitter, and I still believe in my team - through all the ups and downs, the hours of work, the sacrifices we've all made, how could I stop? We've got a few more weeks, and although we'll end the season with a losing record, I'm going to find a way to secure a victory for these guys in some form - even if it is just a moral one.
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