Parent Night

Parent night is a night set aside to honor parents for helping their kids become basketball players. A good idea. And well-deserved. But don't you think the kids should plan and execute said parent night? I do. That's not how it works, at least at our school. How does it work at yours? At our high school, parent night is planned and carried out by the moms in the booster club. And they did a great job! It was a lot of work and we thank them. We received maroon and gold carnations, and notes from our kids during a pre-game introduction. Pictures were taken. A
half-time shoot out between the parents proved that most of our kids inherited their basketball skills from someone else. (Just kidding.) And to top it off, after the game that night, we had sloppy joes, chips and dessert. A wonderful evening. One I am sure each mom and dad will remember. Will our sons remember? I sure hope so.

Officiating

Do you ever notice that the one thing every fan at a basketball game can agree on is that the officiating is horrible? Only trouble is, both teams think the officiating favors the OTHER team. How can that be? Must be our vantage point. From where I sit, I can clearly see each time someone fouls my team and doesn’t get the call. And from the yelling all around me, I know my fellow fans see it too. But I am blissfully unaware when the same happens to the opposing team. When I hear the other side of the stands protest, I wonder what all the fuss is about. Hmmm. It must be that I have selective blindness. I appear to be in good company – everyone else in the stands suffers from it, too.

Spaghetti dinners

On Thursdays during basketball season, the team heads over to one of the player’s houses after practice for a spaghetti feed. From the kid’s point of view, it’s a great chance to unwind and eat together before Friday night’s game. From a mom’s perspective it is a rare opportunity to imagine what it would be like to run a boarding house – madness. In 5 minutes, 20 teenage boys grab plates and load them up with spaghetti, garlic bread and brownies. They drink 5 gallons of milk in the blink of an eye. It is a whirlwind. Then, before you even catch your breath, they are gone. And all that remains is an untouched bowl of salad you were hoping they’d eat, but knew all along they wouldn’t.

Breakfast with the Moms

The high school basketball coaches held their annual breakfast with the moms on Saturday, December 16, 2007. It was a great opportunity for moms to learn some basketball lingo and get to know the coaches and each other a little better at the start of the season. I love that the coaches do this for us.

This year the coaches taught us the meaning of all those hand signals they use during the game. Of course, I promptly forgot what these complex charades stand for. But at least I know the coaches and players are actually communicating using these signs and not just waving to each other. Perhaps I'll develop some hand signals to use at home. I have a good one planned for "clean your room." Anyone out there have a hand signal for "take out the garbage"?

Long basketball shorts on the way out?

Since all fashion is cyclical, I'm pretty sure basketball shorts will stop being knickers someday soon. Recent photos of the pros show that basketball hemlines appear to have bottomed out and may be heading up again.

Basketball Fashion Timeline

Our kids may look back in horror at the long, sagging, gouchos they call shorts today. They'll ask, "Mother, why did you let me wear shorts that hung down past my knees? Those were hard to run in! I had to keep pulling them up throughout the game and it broke my concentration."

Until then, we'll continue hearing our teenagers snigger when they see images of basketball players from the past. And with our superior knowledge of fashion trends, we'll resist the urge to say, "I told you so." a few years from now.

Cheering vs. yelling

My daughter told me I yelled too loud at the last game. Oops. Fact is, I do yell at basketball games. But I call it cheering. She was sitting right in front of me so maybe it was just my volume that got on her nerves. Or [self-analysis here] perhaps I was yelling and not cheering. The truth is that one person's cheering is another person's unsportsmanlike conduct. And it's a lot easier to tell the difference in others than it is in yourself. We've all heard someone in the stands yell "Defense!" and by their inflection knew they meant "Go team! Play good-D!" And we've also heard someone yell the the same word "Defense!" and knew from their tone that they really meant "You idiots, do you even know how to play defense?!!!" I'd rather be in the first group. So maybe at the next game I'll just clap. It's hard to misinterpret a clap.

Are you a psycho sports parent? Take an MSNBC quiz to find out.

Shopping for Basektball Shoes

It's that time of year again - time to shop for basketball shoes for the upcoming season. Whether you buy your shoes online (Eastbay is my favorite) or at the mall, the quest is on. Four competing forces make this purchase a challenge: 1. Fit & performance, 2. Cost, 3. Team colors, 4. Cool factor. As a mom, I tend to focus on the first three. My high school basketball player, however, puts a lot of emphasis on #4. And when it comes to cool factor, I admit to being completely out of my league. So last year when Stephon Marbury launched his $15 line of basketball shoes I wondered if they would pass the cool factor test among teenagers. The shoes launched in Oct'06 with a lot of press. So one year later - what is the scoop? Are they cool enough for teenagers? Are sales strong? Should we buy them?

Stephon Marbury on Good Morning America

All about the launch of $15 Starbury from 1 year ago.

Stars in my eyes

I don't see my kids clearly. I'll admit it. I see them as stand-outs, as angels, as stars.

When my son runs down the basketball court, I hear music. Harps. I see beams of light shooting out behind his head.

How about you? When my son makes a basket do you hear music and see bright light? I didn't think so. And no offense taken.

When OPKs (other people's kids) run down the court, I hear nothing. I see no beams of light. Oh I see great performances from OPKs, but they are human performances and full of reality.

The funny thing is, I hear the music and see the beams even when my kid misses a pass or gets a foul. Or sits on the bench.

Is there a name for this phenomenon?

Taken to its extreme, it has parents believing their kid is never wrong, never at fault and keeps them from holding kids accountable for their actions. That’s not the kind of affliction I’m talking about. I’m talking about the kind that is relatively harmless and usually only hits when we see our kids on the playing field or on stage.

I look down the row of chairs I’m sitting on and I see other parents with stars in their eyes. Or is it just me?

Mom's practice - it's all about the shirts

The new head coach of Ranger basketball held a mom's practice at the beginning of last season. And as I reflect back on it now, I bet the coach was more nervous about the meeting than we moms were. He'd faced the moms before. He knew what we could be like.

Ostensibly, we were there to hear about his coaching philosophy, tour the locker room and receive matching shirts. Coach even brought coffee and doughnuts to that Saturday morning meeting. But the real reason for the meeting was to get us to brace ourselves for the coming reality - some of our kids weren't going to start or even play much. And we needed to get comfortable with that.

This photo shows what we looked like that day.

But I wonder what we looked like to the coach? Perhaps a pride of lionesses ready to pounce if our cubs were to get hurt?

It's the coach's job to pick the best players for the team, but I bet if he had taken a secret ballot that day, most moms would have ranked their own kid as one of the best on the team. Probably nature's way of insuring our offspring grow into adulthood. But it can't be easy for a coach, who sees our kids and their talents realistically.


Lionesses we are. Lionesses we must be. At least we all have matching shirts.