This blog post is definitely more personal and probably less relevant. But I was enjoying reminiscing of a time many years ago now. Thanks for indulging me.
Just to be clear right away … I never played in the basketball state tournament. For those of you who know me, I am short and slow. I play a mean game of H-O-R-S-E, but other than some jv ball, that is as far as my skills have ever taken me. But because of years of watching, I do know the game of basketball and that started when I sat on the bench in high school.
You see, after helping take stats when I was a sophomore, I learned I enjoyed watching the game with a critical eye. So, the next two years, I did not play but instead managed and become team statistician. I can still do many percentages in my head because of that time. Being a part of the Lincoln Christian team was a wonderful experience. While I may not have been on the court, my friends were, and I definitely felt a part of the experience.
Thanks to the excellent online records over at Nebraska School Activities Association, I could verify that our girls team was at state every year that I was in high school. Mainly we seemed to always get stopped at Pershing – that was always an odd place to have a game as the court felt like an island. The closest we came to a championship during that season was an unexpected runner-up my freshman year.
State tournament time was filled with team togetherness, meals made by moms and school spirit. One year when we lost first round, I recall going to watch other games as a team (after all, we had the passes!) The camaraderie from that season of life will always be a special memory.
Fast forward to the game picture I featured on Wednesday.
First of all, thanks to Jill and to Susie for getting the pictures/article for me. A Columbus Scotus player’s shot is being blocked by Megan Wilson of Lincoln Christian, the team that went on to win the Class C-1 title game in 2002. This is the one and only time that L.C.S. girls won the state championship so far.
I have to confess that I watched the game on tv, but I had been in attendance at the game the day before. I had just finished teaching five years at Lincoln Christian and had moved into subbing mode. We had just found that we were expecting our first baby. (In fact, my morning sickness began that week-end and stopped the day he was born 8 months later. He’s 11 now and was worth it!) Anyway, funny how all of that can be brought to mind with just one photograph. I tried to find an actual link to the article, but that does not seem to be easily found – so thanks again to Susie for still having the article on hand! 🙂
I know that many more memories are being made this week-end. I hope that the players and managers will also be able to look back with fondness at this time period. While the losses sting at the moment, they definitely lessen over time. Just the togetherness of being with your friends remain. Of course maybe I would feel differently if I had been the one that missed shots …
Leave A Comment