At this rate, I'll be succeeding Coach K in 2024

^
Big win!

I am, of course, talking about ...

The Mighty Bucs of Charlotte Country Day trouncing Covenant Day 22-7 in the 7th-grade girls basketball season opener - and my debut as assistant coach.

I can say now what I wouldn't have admitted an hour before the game: I was so nervous, it was as if I had swallowed a box of pogo sticks!

Having seen the opponent play once, I knew we were the better team. And having covered sports at every level for three decades, I also knew the better team doesn't always win.

Sure enough, we led only 6-5 at halftime and two of our starters were in foul trouble. But the girls played superbly from then on, the final buzzer sounded ... and a feeling of happiness - and, yes, relief - washed over me.

This is 7th-grade basketball. For some of these girls, this is their first experience with an organized team. (Country Day doesn't have interscholastic sports at lower levels.) It's supposed to be about learning to be a good teammate and improving one's skills and having fun.

All of that is undeniably true.

But they do keep score, so you might as well be the team with the 22 instead of 7, right?
^