You know victory is near when...

.....your team chaplain hits a half court shot during chapel time right before the state championship game the next day!

I could see it coming for a couple of weeks actually...not necessarily making the shot, but being challenged to take it. When post season play started, in an effort to keep things lighthearted at the end of basketball practice, Carmel HS Coach Scott Heady began a half court shot contest. The first week it started out as just the players with some of the coaches shooting after the guys had gone into the locker room. Coach Heady played at Shenandoah HS and I heard he was pretty good so when he would hit about half of his attempts it didn't surprise me. The next week the coaches started joining the players in the fun, and when I saw they were giving the student managers a shot I knew I was in trouble. You'd think since I saw this coming I would have been practicing, but I don't think I've shot a basketball in at least a year because of some physical limitations. I especially hadn't taken any half court shots. As the last student manager took his shot coach asked, "anybody else?" That was all it took... one of the players started chanting my name, and it wasn't long before everyone was joining in, and the pressure was on. I tried to deny the ball 3 times but they kept pushing it back to me so I started emptying my pockets of coins, pens and keys (I was in dress clothes and shoes). All I could think about as I approached the circle with the ball is that they are looking to ridicule me for shooting an air ball so I didn't care if I heaved it over the backboard... it was going to get there. One of the mangers fortunately shot a rough video (See below) of me hitting the shot that I won't forget for a long time in front of the 2012 Indiana State HS Basketball Champions.

As soon as they were able to get me calmed down we started chapel. I was more confident to talk to them than I had been all season as I started out the talk with..."Gentleman, you know you are going to win tomorrow when your team chaplain hits a half court shot in practice the day before!"

What a great memory for this old athlete...The stuff legends are made of.....Still got it Baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjn-QUrHF1c

The Walk-through

I was honored to get a text from the Carmel HS basketball coach this week asking me to attend the Saturday morning "Walk-through" with the team in preparation for the Sectional Championship game against #1 HSE later that night.
When a team gets into post season play it's not as easy as the regular season when you are usually preparing for one opponent, and at the most 2 opponents a week. In post season play a team has to be prepared for 2-3 opponents a weekend in sectionals and if they are fortunate enough to survive they must be prepared to play 2 opponents a day in the Regional, Semi-state and State games. That's where the walk-through comes into play. Because you need enough strength to endure and because the time in-between games is often short the abbreviated, slower pace practice is a necessity. It's simply watching some game film and going out on the court to walk through a game plan that you would normally run through at full speed if given enough time to prepare and recoup your energy when it's done.
Mentally walk-throughs are tough on a young athlete because he's not usually patient enough to slow down  and buy into the planning process to make sure that everyone understands their assignment and is on the same page. They don't feel like they are accomplishing anything, or can demonstrate success at that moment so it's hard to stay focused. I only know that from my first hand experience on sports teams in MS, HS and College. I was going through the motions on the outside, but on the inside I was thinking... "We already know how to do this, we've been doing this almost everyday since November and it's March. How many times does coach need to remind me to _____ and then to ______? I could do this in my sleep. There's no way this is the best use of our time."

Do you think that as believer's in Christ and his daily direction for our lives we sometimes don't want to slow down for the walk-through to prepare for the day and all the different opponents we are going to face? I know I underestimate the importance of it more often than I care to admit. I head into the day without slowing down for prayer or reading a few chapters in His Word for me. How irresponsible that would be of me as an athlete. I couldn't afford to blow off the walk-through before any game, let alone the big ones, and in life we don't have the luxury of knowing when we get up in the morning if we are going to face a big one or one that we are in the habit of handling on a daily basis.  In the New Testament of the Bible it states 8 times (* see footnotes below) that in some form or fashion the teacher or writer knew what he was telling them was something they quiet possibly already knew but God was telling them they needed to be reminded of. I can't afford to not take advantage of walk-throughs every chance I get, or arrogantly think that I am above slowing down to be reminded. I want to be prepared for whatever the world is going to through at me, so I handle myself in a way that would glorify Him, and many walk-throughs are necessary for me to do that.

BTW...Obviously, the Greyhounds weren't taking the walk-though lightly on Saturday morning. They were well prepared by a great coaching staff and bought into the fact that up to game time they were in need of being reminded and prepared as they later beat HSE by 18 points to capture the Sectional Championship! Congrats Hounds! As a team we also did the spiritual walk-through at the end of practice as we prayed for the families in southern Indiana who lost loved ones to the tornados just the night before, and also thanked God for the opportunity to play in such a significant game later that night.

Chaplain Ray

* Jn 14:26, Rom 15:15, 1 Cor. 4:17 & 15:1, 2 Tim 1:6, Titus 3:1, 2 Pet. 1:12, Jude 1:5