The Finals

Let's say you roll down to late night and you want to play some serious basketball.  You have been thinking about playing basketball all day and all night.  You get down to the thunderdome and there are 30 people there waiting to play.  Everybody rushes to the free throw line to shoot so they can get on the first game.  You see the first game goes to fifteen and the rest of the games go to eleven so you want to play in that first game.  After everybody is shooting you look to the bleachers and you see that a couple guys didn't rush over to get in line.  These are a few of the best basketball players in the school.  You have the guy who is probably the most natural athlete at Union College.  He is big, he is fast, and he can even shoot a little bit.  It's actually not fair because if you leave this guy open he can shoot three's on you all day.  Next to that guy you see the guy who a couple years ago had a sick intramurals squad that won the championship.  He is really good.  When he plays at late night and he is on a terrible team you still have to watch out cause this guy could go off and score seven of the eleven points and beat a better team.  Next to that guy you see the guy who plays awesome on bad intramural teams.  This guy makes a living off of being the best player on a terrible team.  His team never wins but this guy is pretty good.  In late nights of the past all of these guys have gone against each other.  There have actually been some really good games.  Actually let me take that back the second two guys play late night against each other.  The first guy is usually at Rees Hall talking with the girls or out lifting weights or taking facebook profile pics with his camera phone in his dorm room.

  Why are these guys sitting out?  They don't really kick it together that much in the cafe.  You see them and they get up and they go down to the losers court and they work it so they can get on a team together.  What?  This isn't fair.  These guys together are all three in the top seven or eight players at Union.  Why are they getting on the same team?  This isn't going to be fun.  You hear them say things like "We aint losing all night".  You hear another guy say "I'm going to win four games and then I got to walk my girl to the dorm".  Right then there is a trigger that goes off inside your brain. All you know is that  nothing would make you happier then to shut these guys up.   

Their game starts and to your surprise they start to struggle a little bit.  The team that they are playing against on the loser court is made up of late night regulars with a couple of PA students.  The crazy athletic guy and the really good fast guy are having problems deciding who is going to shoot the ball.  It's like they both recognize that each other are good and they don't want to hurt the other guy's feelings.  Also they don't usually play together so they don't have any chemistry.  The third guy starts complaining a little bit because he isn't getting the ball at all.  The other two guys on the team are just guys that the strong guy lifts weights with and they aren't good at basketball so they don't want the ball.  The game is really close but they win when the really fast guy makes a clutch lay up at the end to seal the deal.  

Now they come up to the winners court.  Acting like they played well against the one armed PA team.  They have a run on the winner's court that people would love to have.  They are beating good teams.  The late night regulars are getting frustrated.  With each and every win that this team gets you can see the confidence build.  

It comes down to the final game of the night.  They are playing your squad.  This team has defeated everyone and they don't look tired.  Your team is a mixture of late night regulars and ballers.  You are obviously the underdog.  What you do have that might work on your team is that everybody knows their roles.  You have an obvious best player.  You have a loud fearless player that gets really excited to see that these other guys have decided to play together.  You have a really smart point guard that knows how to get the ball to the best player.  You have a guy that just loves to play D (a Dustin Hackleman clone)  and you have a short little guy that always seems to hit big shots.  On paper your team looks solid but it isn't the most impressive team that you have ever seen lace up the kobe's at late night.  Your team isn't impressed with the stacked squad.  The guys on the bleachers who are taking their shoes off and about to head to the dorm are pulling for you cause they just lost to the stacked squad and they just don't like those dudes.  

The game starts and you are playing tough D.  This isn't the last game of the night where everybody is tired and they should have just gone to the dorm.  This is the last game of the night where everybody is playing hard and their is pride on the line.  The strong athletic guy takes it to the hole misses the layup and calls a foul.  "WHAT!  WHO FOULED YOU?  THAT ISN'T A FOUL HOMEY!"  "Whatever y'all are hackin".  Your whole team is so mad that this dude who is obviously the strongest dude on the court would call such a ticky tac foul after he missed a bunny.  The rest of the game plays out like a dream.  Everyone on your team is contributing while the stacked team is getting more and more frustrated with themselves.  The game is still close down the stretch because the fast guy keeps getting by your veteran point and the third guy might be a little better then you thought previously.  It comes down to the final possession and your loud fearless guy wants the ball.  He has the ball at the top of the key.  The score is fourteen to fourteen.  You can get a layup and extend the game or hit a two and win (twos are equal to threes at late night).  You look at your guy cause you want him swing the ball.  Right as he is about to pass it he changes his mind and launches a 25 footer.  Right as the ball is in the air you feel yourself getting upset over how stupid of a shot that was.  You feel that way right up until you hear the fearless dude say "game time".  The ball splashes through the net.  Your team has won.  The stacked team has lost.  Everyone who was watching is happy and about to go take showers.  The only people that are sad are the stacked team and their girlfriends.  What a great way to end the evening.