Basketball Has it All!

Bro Joe, Joey, Tanner, Joe Rice, Chris

#1 & only son, Loyd

 My blogging mentor/friend, Annette, reminded me earlier this evening that "March Madness" was taking place as we were communicating by cyberspace. I rarely watch basketball on tv unless it's a local team or unless my son, Loyd, is the referee or unless my brother or someone else is here to whom mom will reluctantly turn the remote over to. I call her "flicker finger" because just as sure as I show the slightest interest in anything that is showing on the tube (which is rare), she switches it!  Some real drama has taken place when she couldn't locate the remote & I have been awakened from naps, showers have been interrupted, & chairs turned upside down looking for the misplaced/lost device. Either Loyd or Joey (forgot which) bought us a new one but she didn't care for it, so she just got out the gray duct tape, repaired the old one & it's the one we still use.

I first recall loving basketball during my high school years when we had a pretty good team. I didn't get to attend all the games since we lived several miles out in the country, but dad would go on occasion, & I would catch a ride with friends when I could. I can still recall having a heart wrenching crush on coach "Gunner" Bill Gatlin. At that time, I thought he was such a "hunk" as the gals of today would say. I thought his wife, Shirley, was the luckiest woman on the planet. It was so ironic that they later divorced & he married a woman from my grandmother's hometown in Swifton, Arkansas, that my grandmother knew well.  Fred Pulley, who was a classmate of mine scored more points than anyone to date one season. So, we had some excitement during those years between 1957-1961. 

I can't recall the exact date the "new gym" was built, but I think it was completed around 1960. What a facility, especially for a town our size. We moved  from very small, cramped quarters to a facility that was hailed statewide. The famed Christmas tourney is still held every year. Even though the parking is horrendous with folks having to park almost out in the street, on the ball diamond, blocking people's drives, people come from almost the Arkansas border to participate in & to see this event. There has been SRO on many occasions, not only for the Christmas event, but county tournaments & other games. Basketball has it all in our part of the country. We've also witnessed some very exciting volleyball matches in this gym - my daughter, JJ & several of her classmates & friends had the fortunate experience to play under the tutelage of coach Barb Dalton who won a state championship one year. Their team sure gave us some excitement & thrills that JJ considers such a wonderful part of her high school memories. This lady was not only a great coach & teacher but such a great mentor for these young ladies. 

Our only son, Loyd, had the good fortune of being part of a winning basketball team. It was a sport he played the year round with his buds. He made lifelong friends, 2 of which have since died, such a difficult loss for him & our entire community. His coach, Ken Jackson, was also a very good role model. I am so thankful to God for this. He really enjoyed the sport & it helped make his school years very enjoyable & he is still very much into the area of sports today. He manages a sporting goods store & much to his mother's chagrin, refs college basketball games. It's difficult for me to attend a game that he is calling, because, Lord forbid, when someone disagrees with a call he makes, I just want to go up in the stands & have a "come to Jesus meeting" with them of which Loyd would highly disapprove. I think it can be a very effective teaching tool if we allow it to be; if we remember never to take the fun out of it, never purchase our victories at the expense of their losses or achieve satisfaction at the price of their agony. The pleasure must be in the playing, in being together; winning & losing can destroy the best that life has to offer. 

Lots of exciting basketball continued for me when Joey & Chris played in the 90's & I look forward to the years ahead with Joey's Tanner & Chase who are already practicing here at the house at the same bb goal that Loyd installed for his nephews. Mom & I have had lots of fun sitting under the carport watching our kids, grandkids, neighborhood kids, brother Joe, various & sundry others including lots of girls while away lots of time playing basketball. 

I have spent many happy hours & chalked up wonderful, joyous memories in the Bloomfield gymnasium watching basketball, volleyball, plays, musicals, graduations, (we even had our prom there back in the day); I have laughed, cried, gossiped, yelled, screamed, (it's one of the best places on the earth just to sit & observe people), it just ruins you from going to other high school gyms to watch events in my humble opinion. It's also one of those places that I've absolutely wanted to "jerk a knot in someone's tail" when in the middle of some performance, speech, etc.someone would get up & traipse across & up the steps, open the rr doors loudly & totally disrupt the moment! 

Our little community is small, but we have a beautiful veteran's cemetery, gorgeous city park, beautiful churches, a wonderful county court house that still sits in the middle of town, AND we still can boast that we have had the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament for over 50 years now. I have lived here all my 67 plus years and don't know most of the names of the streets in town, but I know many of the fine people who live here in this little piece of Heaven to me where you see lots of bb goals when you drive down the street/s.

I must close on a somewhat somber note; for the first time in many years, I do not have a Wildcat. JJ gave me a Bearcat t-shirt yesterday, & I admit I had to swallow hard. When Jake & Joe moved to Dexter, that took the 5th generation of our family who had been Wildcats; Aunt Movidene, me, Joe, my 4 kids, Joey & Chris, Jake & Joe. When they look up in the stands, they may just see a purple & red t-shirt. I would always yell for them, of course, encourage them to do & play their very best, but this blood will always run purple!