Church Ball Madness

When I think March Madness I think about everyone excited to watch tons of basketball, games always on TV, fun brackets to fill out, and plenty of excuses to make treats (come on, you have to have something to munch on during the games). Church ball is pretty much the last thing I would have thought but apparently it fits right it, just not in the fun way.

I'm not really the biggest fan of Church ball because sometimes it gets crazy. I'm always scared Karl is going to get hurt so I just cringe the whole time. Fouls aren't the most consistent or just don't exist(depending on the ref). But I guess that is just part of the experience. But I swear basketball just has a way of bringing out the worst in people, or at least most of us. I swear Karl is immune to anger, he hardly lets anything phase him. The other people on the team and sideline, myself included, are not so fortunate. Last night was just another testament of that.

The end of the game was close and both sides were getting frustrated. There were a lot of fouls, a lot shoving, and I was just staring at the clock wishing the game would end so only two players (both on Karl's team) would be leaving with blood stains and Karl wouldn't be next. With not even a minute left I was reminded as to why I am not always a big fan of basketball. The refs made a call and the other team didn't like it.

Side note: I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would want to be a ref. No matter what you call people hate you. Even if you were somehow able to call a perfect game people still don't like you. It just seems like a no win situation. Back to my story.

So they made a call and the other team went crazy! They were screaming at the ref from the court, the bench, and even the spectators were getting in on it. I couldn't believe it. Confession, I don't always agree with the ref, in fact I rarely do. But that doesn't give you license to yell across the gym at them. We were in a church for crying out loud. And the refs are just volunteers. At least professionals get paid to have people hate them. It was ridiculous. So the refs caved and changed their call. Our team ended up losing by two. I was just glad it ended.

But the whole point of this is that I am so impressed with Karl and James. They were both frustrated about the calls and how the game went but they didn't freak out or get angry. Karl was talking about the game on the way home, about different plays and calls, but he wasn't angry or upset, he didn't bash the refs or the other team. He just took it all. Cami has said the same thing about James. I think it must be a Jepson gene. I'm more on the opposite end of the spectrum but I'm working on it. So I'd just like to say thanks you guys for your good examples and Karl, thanks for being such a good influence on me. I don't know where I'd be without you.