Tip off

The 2026-27 college basketball season is underway. 

My two favorite mens teams each won their first game of the season - an excellent way to tip off the season.

During his ball-playing days, my son Paul used to say that basketball season was what connected fall and spring baseball. Indeed, that is how it sets up this year (and many years). 

The World Series ended last week. Hoops started Monday-Tuesday of this week. March Madness ends  April 5. The 2027 MLB season is scheduled to begin March 25.

So, we can ride the hardwood all the way through next year's spring training and up to Opening Day.

Despite my professed love of baseball, I actually played more organized basketball than any other sport. By my count, I played at least five seasons of youth basketball that I can remember and probably more. 

I've always remembered one specific quote one of my coaches said over and over again. And he'd punctuate it with a staccato delivery. 

"You've Got. To Learn. To Think. (pause) To Play Basketball!" (with a pronounced southern accent, the sport wound up sounding like "base-kit-bahl"). 

What he was trying to say, I think, was that the game moves fast and you should always have in mind what you will do if the ball bounces your way. 

In those days, I played the 4 or 5 (if you can imagine). So, if I rebounded the ball on one end of the court, for instance, I was always looking to one of the guards to be racing toward our goal. I could feed them with my rebound for a fast break bucket. 

That's the kind of anticipation, I think, he was asking us to develop.

And as I've told you, growing up in a neighborhood of other sports-minded kids, we were often playing pick-up basketball on someone's driveway - sometimes my own. There weren't those sorts of fast break opportunities in a confined space but, still, developing a mind for the game was helpful. 

On a couple occasions, we held a one-on-one tournament -- kind of an extension of some of the other sports we organized in the neighborhood along with the "snow bowl," the "turkey bowl," the neighborhood olympics and several sandlot baseball games. 

I tried coaching basketball one season and it never really clicked for me. I'm sure I could have done better if I had put the same kind of effort into learning the craft as I did for baseball. But, by that point, we were halfway through our youth sports era and there simply wasn't the time. Leave it to the other guys.

But I've always enjoyed watching the game. In fact, my dad and I probably spent more time watching college basketball together than any other sport. Helped with his "think spring" campaign I told you about on Monday.

Anyway, the season is now officially underway. I *think* I'm going to enjoy it.

JG