One Family-Three Great Seasons

The 2008-2009 basketball season is now officially over for the Stricklin family and I must admit that even though I'm still in mourning, it was a pretty good season for all of us. As UCC followers already know, we finished the season 29-3, averaged 90 points a game and were ranked #1 in the Pacific Northwest from start to finish. My son Brad and his North Eugene HS teammates won their first three playoff games and got to finish out their season at historic Mac Court on the campus of the University of Oregon. My oldest son Jeff, a junior on BYU-Hawaii's team, saw his season come to an end last night when the Seasiders lost at the buzzer and were upset in the NCAA West Regional Final. They had their 25 game winning streak snapped and finished with a 27-2 record.

Jeff's game was on TV last night but didn't start until 10:30pm PST.
It looked like BYUH had the game locked up with about seven minutes to go only to let it slip away at the end. The parent in me was concerned about how disappointed Jeff and his teammates were feeling. (When Jeff finally called after the game he could barely talk and wasn't much better when I called him this afternoon) The coach in me had to completely analyze what happened and so I went over a tape of the game until after 2am. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I watched the tape, the game always ended the same way!!

Coincidentally,I was cleaning out a closet this morning and came across a book by John Maxwell called "Talent Is Never Enough" and I instantly started to think about our three teams and how each one ended the season. You know, although it is definitely a great place to start, talent really isn't enough. Sometimes you need you need a little luck; sometimes you need better decision making from both players and coaches; sometimes you need favorable officiating and sometimes you just need someone to step up and make a play! But because talent isn't always enough, sometimes the best team doesn't win, and that fact can result in some exciting possibilities - unless of course you're the best team! The 2009-2010 season can now officially begin! Let's hope it's another great one for all of us!!