So unfortunately the games this past Sunday had to be cancelled. The school had new lights installed and 1 of them was apparently falling from the ceiling so it's a good thing the games were cancelled.
Regular season is coming to a close and the playoffs are starting soon. Should get interesting when the playoffs start. It'll be fun seeing everyone compete that much harder...hopefully guys remember the Captain's rule and treat each other with some respect.
I've started thinking about next year...the first thing I'm gonna do is probably book board officials once the permits are solidified. I think it'll be less headaches overall for everyone. Won't have to worry about if this guy or that guy can ref and hopefully people will have a little bit more self control if someone they don't know the person blowing a whistle on their blatant fouls! I also think it is necessary if I plan on expanding the league and having people outside my circle of friends register. It'll increase the quality of the run too.
I can't believe I'm friggin' blogging about this at this time of the day/night...
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Team by Team breakdown..from my eyes
Bulldogs
Arguably the deepest and fastest team in the league, they haven't found their stride yet. Good shooters & versatile forwards. Scoring isn't a problem for this team and they have the ability to cause trouble on defense. Chemistry and getting familiar with each other has been the biggest set back. Can cause problems once they start to click with a healthy roster.
Gators
The defending champs although with a different look than last season. This years edition of the Gators features a more physical & aggressive team with the same defensive mindset as last year. They make you grind out the games but have the ability to beat you in different ways.
Rebels
The biggest front line in the league, they're tough to beat when they're focused and play their game. Controlling the glass has been the biggest key to their success. The free throw line is something they'd rather avoid. Solid team defensively, rely heavily on their big 3 on offense.
Wildcats
A very quick team with intense players. Can get up and down the court in a flash. Converting steals & turnovers into transition points are their strength. Streaky outside shooters with a good mid-range game, blink for a second and they're off and running. Liability is on the defensive end where they lack an inside presence and lose focus. Must keep composure if they plan on making a run.
Arguably the deepest and fastest team in the league, they haven't found their stride yet. Good shooters & versatile forwards. Scoring isn't a problem for this team and they have the ability to cause trouble on defense. Chemistry and getting familiar with each other has been the biggest set back. Can cause problems once they start to click with a healthy roster.
Gators
The defending champs although with a different look than last season. This years edition of the Gators features a more physical & aggressive team with the same defensive mindset as last year. They make you grind out the games but have the ability to beat you in different ways.
Rebels
The biggest front line in the league, they're tough to beat when they're focused and play their game. Controlling the glass has been the biggest key to their success. The free throw line is something they'd rather avoid. Solid team defensively, rely heavily on their big 3 on offense.
Wildcats
A very quick team with intense players. Can get up and down the court in a flash. Converting steals & turnovers into transition points are their strength. Streaky outside shooters with a good mid-range game, blink for a second and they're off and running. Liability is on the defensive end where they lack an inside presence and lose focus. Must keep composure if they plan on making a run.
So there are my reviews of the teams so far. Each team has it's strengths & weaknesses but overall, I think the teams are well balanced and anybody can win on any given night. On a side note, I hope the league players have been watching March Madness...these kids play incredibly clean & fundamentally sound basketball. Some of ya'll can learn a thing or two...like realizing how many fouls the refs let you babies get away with.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
First Entry...
Alright, so here we are the first entry.
We're halfway through the MBA's second regular season and there are a lot of great things happening and always areas for improvement. Although there are only 4 teams we've had some really good games and it seems that there is lots of parity between teams. The league has grown...last year (our first year) we were playing 4 vs. 4 in an elementary school. This year we have enough people to run 5 vs 5 in a high school gym while still offering a pick up run on Mondays. Hopefully one day it will get big enough that we'll be able to organize a kids league and maybe even some sort of camp, you never know.
One of the challenges is dealing with the growth. We've been doing this Monday night pick up run for more than 10 years now and about 3 years ago we started getting 20 or 30 people asking to play. So I figured I'd turn this thing into a league..and since we're all friends, we'll ref our own games hoping there would be less arguing. Everything would be done on a volunteer basis to keep costs low and I would try to become a certified board official in York Region so I could share my knowledge & experiences with other people who'd want to ref games in the league. And believe me, becoming a board official isn't as stringent or difficult as some think...there is actually a lot of political bullcrap in their selection process.
After being affiliated with the York Region Association of Basketball Officials (YRABO) for a handful of months, I realized it wasn't for me. The YRABO wasn't a complete waste of time because I gained a lot of experience & knowledge. I reffed a few high school games, learned about proper mechanics, the flow of refs, who covers which area, positioning and of course aspects of the rule book. I learned that calls are missed if you aren't in position to see it...and THAT is something people don't understand. Knowing the rules is easy, being in position to make the right call is what's important. YRABO also allowed me to see things from the refs perspective and gave me a better understanding of how to deal with refs in leagues I played in....2 refs, 10 players. That's the same ratio of teacher to baby that they have at my 2 year old sons Day Care LOL.
I was 5 years old when I was introduced to basketball and I've loved it ever since. In the last 15 years, I've played in 5 different men's leagues and won championships in 2 of them. Who knows how many tournaments I've played in. Eons ago Tony on the Gators & I played together in High School and we won the York Region Championship. I've never met a ref that called a perfect game because a foul can be called on every friggin' play. What I have noticed is that the officials always called fouls that gave someone an unfair advantage...I've also learned that players never commit fouls LOL. Anyway, I've played in my fair share of leagues and I'm no stranger to the game of basketball. I'm a student of it and love this game immensely...this is something I always had in common with my friends that came out on Monday nights.
So what am I getting at by giving you a brief synopsis of my life & basketball? I want people to see where I'm coming from...to see how this league started and how the guiding principles of brotherhood, friendly competition and a love for the game drives it. Profit is not the goal of this league...building positive relationships through basketball while helping people improve their skills is. I've done my research by playing in other leagues and I know what they offer and for how much...I have a vested interest in this league and put a lot of time into it so when people bring complaints to me, I listen and try to find a way to resolve it. But I've heard some really funny things.
Check out some of the things people have said to me over the past month and my thoughts aftewards:
"You should've gotten sleeveless shirts."
Cut the damn sleeves off then...
"You should get board officials, other leagues do"
Do you know how that will affect the cost of the league? When it is necessary, I will call board officials and when I do, be ready to pay more than double what I charge now.
"There's a conflict of interest if players ref/stat track the games"
And what interest is that? What tha hell do any of the refs/volunteers get out of fixing or playing favourites in a league with 4 teams. My team is 1-4 right now...and this is MY league. What conflict is there? Volunteers are the backbone of the league...without them, there would be no league.
"Allan influences the refs.."
Yah, my teams 1-4 record shows it. I mention to them what calls to look for next week and share my reffing experiences with them to help them out. I know how tough it is to ref so I'll do what I can to help them along the way. On top of that, there's nothing wrong with talking to the refs...it's the game within the game. My motives are always to improve the league and keep the games going smoothly. You can always get the refs to listen to you if you speak to them RESPECTFULLY!
We're halfway through the MBA's second regular season and there are a lot of great things happening and always areas for improvement. Although there are only 4 teams we've had some really good games and it seems that there is lots of parity between teams. The league has grown...last year (our first year) we were playing 4 vs. 4 in an elementary school. This year we have enough people to run 5 vs 5 in a high school gym while still offering a pick up run on Mondays. Hopefully one day it will get big enough that we'll be able to organize a kids league and maybe even some sort of camp, you never know.
One of the challenges is dealing with the growth. We've been doing this Monday night pick up run for more than 10 years now and about 3 years ago we started getting 20 or 30 people asking to play. So I figured I'd turn this thing into a league..and since we're all friends, we'll ref our own games hoping there would be less arguing. Everything would be done on a volunteer basis to keep costs low and I would try to become a certified board official in York Region so I could share my knowledge & experiences with other people who'd want to ref games in the league. And believe me, becoming a board official isn't as stringent or difficult as some think...there is actually a lot of political bullcrap in their selection process.
After being affiliated with the York Region Association of Basketball Officials (YRABO) for a handful of months, I realized it wasn't for me. The YRABO wasn't a complete waste of time because I gained a lot of experience & knowledge. I reffed a few high school games, learned about proper mechanics, the flow of refs, who covers which area, positioning and of course aspects of the rule book. I learned that calls are missed if you aren't in position to see it...and THAT is something people don't understand. Knowing the rules is easy, being in position to make the right call is what's important. YRABO also allowed me to see things from the refs perspective and gave me a better understanding of how to deal with refs in leagues I played in....2 refs, 10 players. That's the same ratio of teacher to baby that they have at my 2 year old sons Day Care LOL.
I was 5 years old when I was introduced to basketball and I've loved it ever since. In the last 15 years, I've played in 5 different men's leagues and won championships in 2 of them. Who knows how many tournaments I've played in. Eons ago Tony on the Gators & I played together in High School and we won the York Region Championship. I've never met a ref that called a perfect game because a foul can be called on every friggin' play. What I have noticed is that the officials always called fouls that gave someone an unfair advantage...I've also learned that players never commit fouls LOL. Anyway, I've played in my fair share of leagues and I'm no stranger to the game of basketball. I'm a student of it and love this game immensely...this is something I always had in common with my friends that came out on Monday nights.
So what am I getting at by giving you a brief synopsis of my life & basketball? I want people to see where I'm coming from...to see how this league started and how the guiding principles of brotherhood, friendly competition and a love for the game drives it. Profit is not the goal of this league...building positive relationships through basketball while helping people improve their skills is. I've done my research by playing in other leagues and I know what they offer and for how much...I have a vested interest in this league and put a lot of time into it so when people bring complaints to me, I listen and try to find a way to resolve it. But I've heard some really funny things.
Check out some of the things people have said to me over the past month and my thoughts aftewards:
"You should've gotten sleeveless shirts."
Cut the damn sleeves off then...
"You should get board officials, other leagues do"
Do you know how that will affect the cost of the league? When it is necessary, I will call board officials and when I do, be ready to pay more than double what I charge now.
"There's a conflict of interest if players ref/stat track the games"
And what interest is that? What tha hell do any of the refs/volunteers get out of fixing or playing favourites in a league with 4 teams. My team is 1-4 right now...and this is MY league. What conflict is there? Volunteers are the backbone of the league...without them, there would be no league.
"Allan influences the refs.."
Yah, my teams 1-4 record shows it. I mention to them what calls to look for next week and share my reffing experiences with them to help them out. I know how tough it is to ref so I'll do what I can to help them along the way. On top of that, there's nothing wrong with talking to the refs...it's the game within the game. My motives are always to improve the league and keep the games going smoothly. You can always get the refs to listen to you if you speak to them RESPECTFULLY!
I've really had enough of all the bitching & complaining. The real reward is the game of basketball itself. You guys need to understand there's always a polite way to ask or question things...all this screaming, yelling & swearing is childish. I barely tolerate my 2 year old son throwing hissy fits, why should anyone in this league tolerate it from any of ya'll?
Hopefully this will give you guys a better understanding of where I'm coming from, my thought process and why this league exists. Part of playing basketball with officials is adjusting to the way they call the game, playing through it and applying a little bit of "reffing psychology".
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