Basketball Tournament
25th December 2005
As previously noted, the D.C.V
basketball team made the Magic 6 round for the Tabucan tournament. Most
of the Magic 6games were in the week leading up to Christmas. We won the
first and lost the next five. This meant that we finished in 6th
place. We did have a couple of close finishes though. We had
the ball and the lead with 8 seconds remaining against Team Forest, who
appeared in the final. Somehow we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of
victory and lost the game in overtime.
Team Forest and Tabucan Original contested the final on Christmas
day. The teams were tied after full time and the game went into
overtime. Team Forest had a 2 point lead and had two foul shots to
take with about 5 seconds to go. After the first shot went in, their
fans were going nuts and the players were
dishing out the high fives. The second shot missed though and a guy from Tabucan Original hooned down to the end of the court and
managed to land a long range three point shot. This time it was
Tabucan Original fans going nuts. The game was headed for double
overtime. Unfortunately the rain intervened and the extra overtime had to be
postponed until 31st of December.
The Captain of Tabucan requested that I donate a trophy. It is
to be awarded to the Most Improved Player on the 31st of December.
Pictures of the trophy can be found here.
I'm not very good at basketball. There are no two ways about
it. I ran up and down the basketball court trying in vain to get
hold of the ball. Sometimes, due mainly to the law of averages,
the ball manages to land in my hand and I get a rebound or two. I
average about one basket per game. I've had six free throw shots
and missed them all. I have only missed one game (due to being on
Guimaras) and always try and cheer on the team. I shake hands with
the referees and the other team after the game.
The Captain of Tabucan approached me about a week ago and said that I
was going to receive the "Best Sportsmanship" award due to,
I'm guessing, the aforementioned qualities. I was a little embarrassed
about it all, but said that it would be fine.
Now here's the kicker. The Captain approached me later on and
asked me if was okay if the award was changed to the "Most Improved
Player" and given to someone else. Even before I answered I
knew that there was no way I was going to get the "Best Sportsmanship"
award.
If I had said "It's ok", then the award would of gone to
someone else.
If I had said "It's not okay", then plainly I am not being
a very good sport and am therefore undeserving of the "Best Sportsmanship"
award.
I said "It's ok". Things seem much simpler that
way...
I did, however, receive a "Most Friendly Player" award from
the Captain. Maybe he felt a little guilty about denying me the
"Best Sportsmanship" award. Dunno. Was a nice
gesture nevertheless.
I did think it was an odd sort of award though. "Most Friendly
Player". Now friendly is all well and good, but it this the
type of thing you want on a basketball court? People being
friendly? I think not. You want people playing hard and
scrapping for every little piece of possession that they can get.
Hard to scrap for possession if your being "friendly".
So I don't think its something you want or desire from your teammates.
The award was quite apt though. I was the friendliest
player out there and that was why I wasn't a very good player. I
was too nice. Too polite. I wouldn't scrap for possession
and thus didn't get much possession. I didn't play very rough
either. I was on the recieving end of some rough play. I'm
sure they weren't done on purpose, but selected highlights include:
- A knee to the groin
- Numerous whacks on the nose
An unkind person might say that it is a hard target to miss...
- Elbows to the kidneys
- Someone copping a feel of me meat and two veg
There is a bit of story behind this one. I was playing Pusoy
one night and someone taught me the Hilyganon word for
"Penis". Just for laughs I said (in Hilyganon),
"I have a big penis". I thought it would get a few
chuckles, but I seriously underestimated the amount of laughs it
would get. Some of the guys laughed so hard that they were in
serious danger of falling off their seats.
Now when I walk around town, people always look at me and say (In
Hilyganon) "Malcolm has a big...", expecting me to
complete the sentence for them. The obviously want me to say
"Penis", but I always settle for something like
"Brain" or "Nose" or "Legs".
One guy, who shall remain nameless, always asks me the
question. He was the guy who copped a feel during the
basketball game.
Maybe curiosity got the better of him and he just had to
know. Maybe it was an accident and I reading too much into
it. His hysterical laugh makes me suspect the former...
Anyway (says Malcolm trying to regain his pride), I did appreciate
the medal and have accepted it in the spirit in which it was
given. It will be one of the prized possessions I take back with
me to New Zealand.
Update 1: Tabucan Original won the game in the second overtime
by two points
Update 2: I received a medal for the Best Center of the
Tournament. This is just wrong. If I was picking a team, I'd
pick myself last out of all players there. I say this with no
false humility.
Questions? Comments? Try contacting
me.
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(c)
2005 and 2006 Malcolm Trevena.
All the stuff on this site is written by me, Malcolm Trevena. Feel free to
link to this page. Heck, you can even copy stuff from here if you
want. Just make sure you sight me as a reference.
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