Game Log: 11/11/05

I had two rec games today--the same league as my last games on 10/15. The first was a total blowout. The losing team started to get a little upset in the second half...I had to talk a couple of the players down. We got to the end without significant incident. I can't come up with anything specific I did very well there--I just feel like things went strongly overall.

The second game was tied at halftime. I called a bunch of fouls on Green early on, and none on White. This always bugs me a little bit, but all things being equal, I'll call my first five fouls on the same team every 32 games. It's not totally out of the question. Besides, my partner had some White fouls. A few players chirped, but I feel like it wasn't a bad game. White went on a huge run to start the second half and won by eleven. Smooth.

Two notable events, one good, one bad. We'll do the bad one first.

In the first game, I was running down the court as new lead. There was a small press--two on two on the backcourt--and there was a quick steal and a quick shot. I was all the way at the other free throw line, and to be totally honest, I dogged it a little (still not quite in shape, although better than the last game). I wasn't running as hard back to the other side of the court. INEXCUSABLE. Because the shooter hit the deck hard, and neither partner or I had it...and it was totally my call if I'd run there. My bad. That was the worst moment of the night.

In the second game, I called a travel on a player who had just rebounded the ball. It was unpopular, but I'm comfortable with the call--thought she lifted and set down the pivot foot under heavy pressure. Anyway, I heard the following from the Green bench: "There wasn't a grab in all of that? No grab?"

I responded: "Nope. No grab."

Whoops. It wasn't the coach, it was a parent acting like a butthead. Since it's never, ever, ever a good idea to talk to the crowd, I'd mistakenly committed a faux pas and made myself look weak.

So I headed over to the coach at the next chance and said: "Coach, I thought that was you complaining, but it was one of your fans. That could get you into trouble, depending on what he says. You'll want to do something about that."

He didn't do anything, but I didn't hear from that butthead (who was seated right behind the coach and likely heard me) again. So it was effective anyway. I'd do that again if the parent is seated behind the bench (and they almost always are).

The other thing to work on: my voice. I'm shouting too much. I need to watch that because I've had some issues with my vocal cords in the past, and since I like to sing and my profession necessitates me using my voice a lot, I need to ease up and only shout when absolutely necessary.

Things I did well: Coach/crowd management, conditioning got better (these are two things I'm working on, so I'm happy about that!)

Things to work on: Don't bail out on press turnovers as new lead! Ease up on the shouting. Might still be ball-watching more than I should.

Next up: Tomorrow, two more rec league games, but littler kids (one set of fifth graders, one of eighth graders).