Four 3-Pointers

My 16 year old son Michael sprints down the court like a gazelle. He's fluid tonight, loose and aggressive, he's on his game. The ball gets passed to him from a teammate on the left, Michael dribbles from midcourt looking for an opening, sees none, whips the ball to his right. Immediately it gets returned to him, he shoots and sinks a perfect 3 pointer.


Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-bop-a-lua baby what I say

There's a scramble for the rebound, the other team fumbles and lets it slip out of their hands, gets passed back to Michael who is still hovering midcourt. He shoots again with flawless precision as if he's playing all alone, and indeed he is because no one is guarding him at that moment. Whoosh, 3 more points.

Here comes Johnny with the power and the glory
down in the tunnels tryin to make it pay

The opposition is good. Really good. It's been a two to three point game all through. The pressure is on but bolstered by his two critical shots, Michael is pumped and clearly having fun. He passes the ball to #3, his brother Patrick. I love it whenever I see this, see them working together as a team, within a team. Sibling rivalry runs high, even higher when you share the same birthday. Patrick has scored a couple baskets himself in this game, and I can see he wants to shoot now, he wants to outshine Michael. But tonight is Michael's night.

Patrick almost loses the ball in a steal, retrieves it and that momentary lapse sets him back on the right course. He gets the ball back into his brother's hands and blocks the offense who try to grab it from him, allowing Michael to shoot unobstructed, again from midcourt. Again, nothing but net.

He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play

It's Michael Jordan time, with 23 seconds left in the game. We're down by two, 57-59. Determination and sweat are clearly visible all over the court now, and the aggressiveness goes up about 3 notches. Patrick is on the bench, but Michael is still out there, he knows what he has to do. The opposition is all over him, they won't get fooled again. But in that inexplicable way that some nights are just magical, there's magic in Michael tonight. With two seconds left in the game, Michael shoots his final and fourth 3 pointer, sinking it just as the buzzer sounds. Game over, 60-59. A game to remember.

Dedication, Devotion
Turning all the Nighttime into the Day
And He do the walk
He do the walk of Life

With acknowledgement to Dire Straits, for the soundtrack: here