A Little Fire in the Belly

It was the last game of the regular 7th grade city league basketball season today. O. was most determined to win this last game because he thought they wouldn't get into the tournament without a win today. When we got home from basketball practice yesterday afternoon he spent 40 minutes shooting hoops in the cul-de-sac. Last night before bedtime he was out there again, in his snow boots and sweatshirt shooting hoops by the light of the outside garage lights. This morning he was out there again, shooting from every angle. I haven't seen him practice like this ever before.

When we got to the game today (being the second ones there after the coach and his son who is also on the team), O got right to work warming up. I was hoping to get his game on tape, but I found out I didn't get the camcorder battery charging soon enough for it to make any difference to the battery. Drat.

It was a hard-fought game, but we only tied once and had the lead once. The other team was just a little faster and a lot more accurate with their shots. Our boys kept it close, but in the end the other guys won. It certainly wasn't for O's lack of effort, though. I was so proud of him. He's the tallest boy on his team and he was in there rebounding hard, and he ended up scoring more than half of the team's points for the whole game: 18. Okay, so I'm bragging a bit. But I was so excited to see him get fired up about something that really mattered to him and give his best effort. I hope he finds this inner fire more often about things that are really important as he gets older (staying active in the Church, going on a mission and working his heart out every day, getting good grades in school, finding a career that makes him excited...the dreams most any mother would have for her son).

In spite of the loss, a few of us went out for milk shakes and burgers after. I know it's still winter, but a shake sounded good. I shared with with L and B, and O got one to himself. Mint Oreo. I preferred our caramel pecan shake. Most of the other boys on the team had some kind of play practice this afternoon, so they couldn't stay to visit.

It sounds like the team will be involved in some kind of tournament play, though. They'll find out this coming Tuesday what the tournament schedule will be. Maybe I'll even have my camera working by then!