Playing the Game

It seems to me that I go to quite a few basketball games. I have to admit though, that I don’t really understand the game. I know the general gist of it is to get the orange ball with funny black squiggles on it into the hoop located way up in the air on either end of the court. I’ve picked up that the players have to bounce or dribble the ball but sometimes throwing is ok. (See, I have picked up a few key phrases!) Stealing the ball is definitely encouraged…but only at certain times…I couldn’t really tell you when those times are though. Playing tug-o-war with the ball is considered perfectly fine as well. (I will never forget a couple years ago when an opposing player ended up sitting on the tummy of one of our players in her quest for the ball!)

I think I do a fairly good job of hiding my bafflement when the referee blows his whistle all of a sudden. The next thing I know, the girls are all lined up under the hoop in a very specific order (the coaches see to that) and one girl gets to shoot. Sometimes they just get to through the ball in from the sides. After three years of watching this stuff, I still have no idea why!
As much as the game confuses me, I love to watch it. It’s a very exciting game. Just look at this photo. Can’t you just feel the determination? You see either this expression or a huge grin on Mimi’s face throughout the whole game. The whole team has so much passion for the game and they have so much fun playing together. I give a lot of credit for this to our amazing coaches. Yep, I may be clueless, but I certainly see myself enjoying many more games in the years to come. Go Sparks!