Senior Madness

Senior Madness

We're in the midst of "March Madness", that crazy time of year when collegiate basketball crowns its champion.   And I can't help but think how big a role basketball has played in our family's lives.

Three sons played different levels from grade school to high school.  Seems like Saturdays and Sundays, afternoons and nights, were spent sitting on bleachers, cheering on whoever was playing.  Week nights were for car pooling to sooo many practices.   And it's not over yet - we still have one active in the sport, as a collegiate coach for a successful women's program.   We follow them when we can make the trip.  We've  always been more of a football family but that hasn't kept us from enjoying basketball a lot. 

So much so that, back in the 80's, hubby and I hosted "The Seniors Classic", a backyard basketball tourney, that pitted two-men teams against one another.   Made up of friends, you had to be over 30  (yeah, can you imagine?  We considered anyone over 30 "senior"?) Guys who didn't play, manned the grill.  The wives cheered and performed drill team routines (ha!) and the kids ran around and played hoops, during halftime of the seniors' games. It went from morning til night...intense competition between  friends...bruises, pulled muscles, broken eyeglasses...hardly worth the t shirt each fella had received at the start of the games.

I'd forgotten how much craziness went into the "Seniors Classic".  We had a "Walk of Fame", which one year, had our dear old neighbor, Al Hinkel Sr, an annual spectator, being "inducted".  An MVP was named every year - one year, the refrigerator repairman, a.k.a. the "Norge Man," who had to come and fix our fridge in the middle of the tourney, got the nod...-(probably because he insured that we'd have cold beer all day! ) and "The Horse's Ass" award went to someone who was particularly obnoxious that day or to an occasional referee.

The tournament ran five years....some guys played all five years.  A few of the older ones bowed out to make room for younger "seniors".  Some of those "seniors" are gone now - way too soon... most of us ladies couldn't do a kick line to save our lives these days.. And the "kids" who ran around the yard back then are "seniors" now.  

March Madness, in a Lindenwald backyard...too much beer, a lot of laughs, a few minor injuries, and so many memories...