A Good Start to the Day

I was sitting at my computer in my classroom this morning at 7:20am. I look up and who has bounced into my room and is sitting down in the front seat next to me-- Rainee Sibley. It would have been pretty easy for her to have stayed home, but there she was. She stayed and chatted for 20 minutes. And as fast as she talks, we really covered 40 minutes of conversation! We talked about how much it hurt to lose, and she talked about how much she was going to miss going to practice today. She asked how I was- pretty thoughtful for a teenager to ask an adult how they were handling things. She said she was here today because she needed to start today to get some of her grades up. Energy!!

Then she talked about wanting to get started working on her game. When were we going to start weights? When were we going to start open gyms? Could we bring in people to play against? What drills would help?

"Rainee it is 7:30 in the morning, you have too much energy for me. You need a break from basketball."

"Ya, you are probably right, if I didn't take a break, I would probably end up being sick of you." (Thanks Rainee!)

I appreciate her energy and appreciate the motivation she expressed. But I really appreciated being able to talk with someone this morning who had the ability to make me smile. Thanks- Rainee. It will be awhile. Once we get started again I hope Rainee and the others have the same enthusiasm that she expressed this morning.

Good teams always seem to exceed people's expecations. The "total of the team" surpasses the "sum of the parts." Good teams have intangibles, good teams have a chemistry that is tough to see. Rainee is a good example of our team's "intangibles." Rainee was never our leading scorer or our leading rebounder, but could we have made the Elite 8 without her? Nope. Rainee brought an energy and enthusiasm that helped define our team. Champions are never lukewarm.

And I would dare say that there are about 16 other stories of players who each made unique contributions to our team chemistry and success.