Two are better than one
When my wife and I bought our house in Auburn, we only asked for two things in the negotiations. We wanted the sellers to leave the basketball goal and their Big Green Egg. We could have probably done without the Green Egg, but the basketball goal has been a home run, to mix metaphors.
The concrete driveway allows for a good level surface, and the lighting from the house enables games to go on all night. The heavy glass backboard is adjustable over a wide range of heights, allowing all of my grandchildren to participate in games or practice.
At every football tailgate, the kids are playing together at the net, fostering interaction between a wide range of ages. Strangers become friends quickly as sports is a language all its own, bridging the awkward gap that first appears when kids meet for the first time.
Although I played basketball growing up, I was not a natural at the game. Just because you are tall doesn’t mean you can jump high, shoot well, or take every rebound. What was tall in my day is now short on the courts.
Nevertheless, I have grown to love basketball more and more. My grandchildren play in rec leagues, and at their different schools. I love seeing their passion and dedication to the game, not just with basketball but any sport they play.
Today was basketball overload, in a very good way. Our granddaughter, Laura, plays on her school’s high school varsity team. This is her second year on Providence Christian’s varsity although she is only in the ninth grade.
Laura is not the only young person on this team. In fact, most of the players are ninth and tenth graders. But seeing them blossom the past two years has been a joy. Their coach has done amazing things that has led them to play as one. They have become dominant in their classification in Southeast Alabama.
I wish I could attend every game but today was especially difficult to miss. Although I could not attend in person, new technology allows me to stream the game on my phone. I then transfer the game to my television, and it is just like I am watching an NBA game.
Today, I was able to watch the PSC Eagles win their Area Championship and see Laura hit several 3’s from beyond the circle. The final score was 61 to 25. It was almost as good as being there in person.
After Laura’s game, we headed to Neville Arena to watch the #1 Auburn Tigers take on the Oklahoma Sooners. The arena was packed to the rafters and some tickets were going more than what a quarter’s tuition, room and board cost me when I was a first-year student at Auburn.
I attended the very first game held in the old Beard-Eaves Coliseum. “Pistol Pete” Marovich, while wearing his trademark dirty, floppy socks, shot 46 points in leading LSU to a 90-71 win over Auburn.
Auburn basketball ebbed and flowed over the next few decades. Just over 40 years after I attending my first Auburn basketball game in the Coliseum, the new Auburn Arena opened. It was the first step in what was to become one of the most challenging places for visiting teams to play in all of collegiate basketball.
Tonight, Auburn destroyed Oklahoma by a score of 98 to 70. It was not that close. The end of the bench was playing long before the game was over. While Johni Broome played his usual game, the 28 point margin of victory was more the result of teammates playing together. There was a high number of assists, blocked shots, and the points off the bench were significant as usual.
This is not really a sports column, although I have only written about basketball thus far. In reality, what I was struck by today was the teamwork on both the Providence Christian Eagles and the Auburn Tigers. Unselfish players passing the ball and having fun. Playing with passion until the very last whistle. Celebrating the team win more than the individual stats.
Mike Krzyzewski, the legendary coach at Duke for over 40 years, once said that two are better than one if two act as one. I saw that in two different games today. Both were the product of players buying into that philosophy being taught by their coaches. It was amazing to watch.
Another way of saying it is that two working as one is better than one working alone. I suppose those words apply to almost anything we attempt in our lives.
o0o
Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]