I Taught My Men's League Hoops Team A Very Important Lesson Last Night
I got this DM on Instagram last month when it was announced the Grudge Match in Berlin, CT would take place with Barstool NYC vs KMS. I felt it was very important to shed some of the famous ...
It was a long time coming and something I had to do. Too much soda, too many "cheat days", and not enough being active through running or sports. The last of which was a shame because I loved playing ball growing up and into my late 20's. I stopped playing for a while because obligations get in the way and if you were going to be away for an hour it was better to work a game reffing or doing the clock and put money in your pocket, than play and risk getting hurt etc. Also guys get older and it because way harder to commit to things like that. It happens.
But back in the day our same group of friends played in the same league for 7 or 8 straight summer. They were guys spread out a few different ages, and sometimes 1 or 2 changed out for another guy, but the core of the team was built around the same guys, and we had a common bond that we all played for the same high school. Plus I got to play with my brother, which is always my favorite, even though he's way better than me.
As life went on and some of the guys got older and oblos, I would really only see them at those games but it was always a great constant to have. Every week for the summer you got to get a run with your boys and compete. We were such a fixture in the league, they eventually started giving us the 10pm tip every week (Thursdays) to make it even easier that you never had to look up the schedule. We had rivalries with teams, the refs who did the league all reffed us growing up, we got excited for "big games" vs a really good player, and we all played well together and were truly a team. It was awesome and somehow both feels like forever ago and 5 minutes ago, I guess that's how life goes. Time moves quick. When I see those guys we still talk about playing and laugh over some different stories.
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The one big tradition we did start a few years when everyone was officially old enough to drink (and we had a little more dough in our pockets) was to rotate who brought a cooler of beer for after the game. It was a concept I took from my Dad during his Men's League games. One of my big laughs was when the team was short and Dad let me fill in at 14 years old, and a kid I looked up to carried in the cooler with a big bucket hat under his red hair and a smile a mile wide knowing he looked ridiculous. Dad didn't let me have a cold one that night, but I remember watching him and his friends laugh, talk and quickly erase the outcome of the game whether good or bad with a few cold ones with their friends. It was something I thought would be what I could be lucky enough to do with my friends one day.
Growing up basketball was all I cared about, and at about that age you learn pretty quickly the NBA and D1 is out of the cards, but being a hoops junkie I never wanted the game to go away. And as Tom Konchalski once said " “Basketball has given me a lot of good friends." I found that to be true of myself. The bond with teammates will always be the strongest of friendships because you know how hard the other worked, how much you picked each other up, and what it was like to work together to compete to achieve a goal. Plus there's no bigger compliment or sign of respect to someone asking how you are friends with someone and you answer "we played together."
Anyway, back to the cooler. The way it worked was you rotated who brought it, (no one ever brought a crazy amount an 18 or 24 pack at best shared by the 7/8/9 guys suited up that night), and it had to be ice cold. When the game ended we would immediately go out to the parking lot, sit or lean on the back of some cars and have a few beers before driving home. It got to the point the refs would share one with us as well because they had known us since we were little kids. The conversations would always start with the game recap, who stood out, a great play, a funny play, and then sometimes criticizing my technical foul which usually led to the most laughs. The refs would offer breakdowns of a swing of momentum play and laugh with us as well. But then the conversations would break off, or stick together as one big one but quickly shift to how guys were doing, how their relationship was going, if they were switching jobs, thoughts on the NBA or college, a "where are they now" against guys we played with or against, breaking balls, and a funny random story. The game result again much like my Dad and his friends didn't matter it was about bonding with your friends. It was an awesome tradition and again one I wish we could have done forever.
So when i got this DM and took getting back into hoops pretty seriously, I got the keys to two different gyms would go shoot late, and started to scout out as many runs as possible in actual games, getting in a consistent league was a slam dunk. I didn't know any of these kids from a hole in the wall, I didn't know a thing about the league and my wife was right to ask hesitantly "what if they're crazy?" But I rolled the dice and it couldn't have worked better. All former athletes in different sports who were from the same areas and high school. Much younger kids 24-25, good athletes, and knew how to play together and the right way, and all really really good guys.
We're 2-2 after last night's win and I look forward to every game. I was on a strict diet and off soda and drinks for the last month, so last night felt like the perfect time to have a little cheat night and show them a tradition they could adopt if they kept their thing going (with or without me) for the next few years. When the game ended I had everyone come over to the car and broke out the cooler as a thank you for the last month helping get back in shape and getting to play the game I loved on a consistent basis.
Like clockwork, the conversation started about the game and then into various ones about different topics. I felt that it was my responsibility as the old guy that if I could give these guys one thing to remember or teach them this summer it was that those beers after a game with your buddies while laughing and talking are some of the coldest, and best ones you can have.
Maybe that will make up for a few of the missed threes. Cheers!