Scenes from an 8th grade basketball game....

First, let me say I'm sorry. I have spent the last 6 months with one sad blog after another. When did I get so mellow?


I have had an opportunity to go to some local basketball games of late. Specifically, I've been watching Lake Forest's teams. Junior High, excuse me, Middle School basketball sure has changed.

The other night, not only did we stand for the national anthem, but someone came out and sang it. I thought I was at a Yankees game. Next thing I hear is my own father's voice booming from behind a microphone, letting the maybe 150 folks in attendance, know the starting lineups. I was freaking out. The atmosphere was intimidating. A true home court advantage for sure.

See, I played at Bradley Junior from 1987-1989. It was old-school. Practice consisted of nothing but fundamentals: like ball handling drills, defensive positioning, and most importantly....conditioning. The three point line came out when I was in 8th grade. It was considered to be an "evil" part of the game. I'd say that you would see maybe 1 or 2 shots from downtown a night.

At Lake Forest, it was raining threes....and behind the back passes......dribbling between legs.....players animated. At first I thought, this is sacrilege. These boys don't know how to play. Turns out, I got used to it.

So, as I sit at the scorers table watching the game in a chair designed for pre-schoolers, and sitting by my father, a wind blew through the gymnasium. Kinda like someone broke wind.

Where were you when you heard Lane Kiffin had left UT? Now, let that sink in a bit. Sports fan or not, it was news. Even though an earthquake destroyed Haiti earlier, the buzzword was Lane Kiffin. Let me play this out as it happened......

A couple of kids came up to my father and taunted him by saying, "Lane Kiffin to USC." I figured that they were given my Dad a hard time because he's such a fan.

Dad: Uh, oh. That's Charles. (Charles is my grandfather, who lives in Memphis, TN, and graduated from Tennessee...a big fan)

Clay: Maybe there is something to this. (I then turn behind me and ask Cheryl for her PINK Blackberry, wanting to look up ESPN.com)

Clay: Yeah, Dad. It says here that Kiffin is leaving..taking his Dad and Orgeron.

My father reached over and picked up the microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, ESPN is reporting that Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin has resigned from UT and is taking a job at USC."

Folks, I'm sitting right next my Dad. I'm in an Alabama pullover, with a white Alabama toboggan. I'm also holding a pink blackberry. I was convinced I was about to be hit with a bottle in the back of the head.

The basketball ceased to exist. One of the Lake Forest coaches looked over and said, "Really?" Several shouts from the crowd went out. Three complete strangers came to the table and had questions. I could hear some choice words as well. Something like, $@#$ Kiffin, or something about his mother.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you football in the South...or more specifically Cleveland, TN. As I write this, I have been fortunate to be on the sidelines of an NCAA basketball tournament, but that moment at Lake Forest Middle School was about the most intense scene I've ever been around. As I said, about 150 people.

Lake Forest won by the way.


Clayyyy