There’s a lot of great basketball being played right now. As I write this, the Wisconsin Badgers have just been crowned Big Ten champions and, as a result, have secured a No. 1 seed in the west region of the NCAA Tournament. From what I’ve read, this is the first time in program history they have accomplished that feat. Good for them!
We are a basketball and, really, all-sport family. Many, many years were spent honing a well-earned bleacher butt, cheering and supporting our kids. I wouldn’t trade a moment of it. I’ve mentioned before how through the years my husband had rearranged our farm-chore schedule to accommodate our children’s activities. Now looking back, if we’d have let the cows keep us from being there for our kids, how regrettable that would be. A cow needs to be milked every 12 hours; they couldn’t care less if it’s 3:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., or whenever!
Our children have graduated and moved on past the basketball court, so my husband and I have broadened our horizons and turned toward Wisconsin basketball at the higher levels. It’s not that we weren’t always Badger fans, it’s just we were more concentrated on high school sports for that time frame in our lives.
Basketball at the collegiate level simply amazes me. I marvel at their physicality and their athleticism. Many times a slow motion camera catches their heads above the rim and those windmill slam dunks are spectacular. How can they do that?
The only thing I’m concerned about is these young men are in college for one reason: to earn a degree. There is talk of Sam Dekker declaring himself eligible for the NBA draft. I hope not! My advice? Finish college, get your degree, mature and develop your character and skill level and then, after graduation if you still want to declare, go for it.
College sports have become highly visible. There are cameras in the young men’s faces, and many times college plays make Sports Center Top 10 highlights. Microphones get shoved at these athletes for interviews after big wins. Lots of times the cameras are circling them as they step off the buses and into the gymnasiums. They are getting all this attention and, as such, some who are not totally grounded can get caught up in the hype and develop huge egos.
After the Big Ten win, Bronson Koenig was being interviewed and he just could not talk, his thought processes were going around in circles and he started laughing, obviously embarrassed. Sweat was literally dripping off the tip of his nose. We laughed, not at him but with him. “That’s just the way I would have sounded!” I declared. How are they supposed to have a coherent thought when they’ve just won a Big Ten championship title in overtime, with, at one stage in the game, a deficit of 11 points? The sheer amount of energy and grit needed to seal a win like that is mind-boggling.
Badger Coach Bo Ryan was interviewed after winning the Big Ten championship and he said, “Now these guys gotta go back and study for finals. These kids have a big week ahead of them.” I cannot imagine how they can concentrate on studying when also exerting emotional and physical energy into these games!
With all of the hoopla considered, I firmly believe participating in sports makes for a well-rounded, solid individual who can handle all kinds of commotion and distractions and still stay on task.
Sports teaches many things, not just the fundamentals. It teaches youngsters how to lose. Not everybody gets a medal. Deal with it. One learns how to work hard. Just like farming, sports is all about consistency and repetition, working hard to achieve a goal. Participating in sports enables one to work as a team to reach a mutual goal. You learn discipline and make sacrifices that ultimately enrich one’s life, reaping benefits way beyond sports. Participating in sports can solidify a foundationally sound, concrete structure on which to base one’s future.
Our middle son finished his college career by playing collegiate baseball all four years. As a result, he has perfected his time-management skills plus made friendships that will last a lifetime and, in the process, enhanced his college years tremendously.
It’s so fun watching these Badger boys play ball. Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky is an all-star phenomenon, Nigel Hayes is cool under pressure, Josh Gasser plays tough all the time and Bronson Koenig swishes threes with amazing precision. Our Marion Mustangs went up against Sam Dekker and his Sheboygan Lutheran basketball squad three years ago in a Division 4 sectional championship at Waupaca. Dekker put on a clinic and we were handed a stifling defeat. Watching Sam’s outstanding play as a UW-Madison Badger, I feel we have a connection with him somehow. It’s our claim to fame: We played against Sam Dekker! Ha! Gotta take what you can get!
Hard telling how far into The Big Dance these boys will get, but it’s been so much fun watching them this season. Congratulations, Big Ten champs and go Badgers!
(“The aspirations of good people end in celebration; the ambition of bad people crash.” Proverbs 10:28, The Message Bible)
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