Game Log 1/31: No freakin' way!

I had a freshman game today that was very calm--had very little contact and very few calls (we were done in an hour). It was a two-point comeback victory for the home team. Down by 7 with a few minutes left, the home team put together a run to win by one. Fun ending. This game was mostly notable because it was the first game played in a brand new gym. I got to baptize the place.

Tonight's varsity game. Man. I had a friend come by to videotape the game. Alas--the battery lasted about a minute, so I won't be able to use it to help me out at all. The game was stinky from the get go, with Gold up 11-3 after a quarter and 21-8 at half. I was worried about my friend getting bored, so I signaled her to head home.

Green came back to win. I still can't believe it.

My game was not great tonight. I didn't quite feel 100% comfortable at any point. It started weird in the first half, when I only called 2 of the 13 fouls called. I didn't feel like I was missing anything or even taking an inordinate amount of passes. Nothing was happening! I talked about this at halftime, and one of my partners suggested that the other was calling too much. I also had a couple of bad brain freezes (I called a free throw violation from trail--inexcusable brain freeze, even though I think my partner missed it). I need to get it together for tomorrow. I mean, nothing tragic happened today...we managed a close game just fine, and heard no complaints from anyone. But I know I wasn't at my best.

It's weird. When there's a game that seems like it's a snoozer, it's not that I stop paying attention--things can go south in a big hurry. But when a game that I don't expect to become close suddenly gets competitive late, it's interesting. I have to take it up a notch that I didn't expect. After squandering their massive lead, Gold had the last shot. An ugly, ugly "jump stop" resulted in a travel call by my partner with a second left. Ballsy call, but correct. (And why the hell was I looking at it anyway?)

I'm thinking back over my varsity career (three years on the varsity list, and several games before I was on the list) and I can't think of another varsity game I did that came down to the last possession. Well, there was this one (still the best game I've had this year), but a needing a buzzer three to tie isn't the same as a two-point ballgame somehow.

THINGS I DID WELL: Managed game well. No complaints. Didn't go crazy with the whistle.
THINGS TO WORK ON: Concentration. Had too many weird mental lapses.

Next up: A blowout varsity game...2nd place (one loss) against last place (no wins).