They Are Becoming Men

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I attended Jake's basketball game on Saturday morning. On the way to the game he mentioned that he was about to dominate the action and that my head would most likely be spinning with how great he has become.

I simply wanted to get through the game without getting pissed off at any over-bearing parents, or grandparents, for that matter.

Jake took the court early in the game. My first reaction was how big and hairy he looked to me. When you see your kid from the moment he takes his first breath and every day thereafter, sometimes the mere size of them can throw you off.

A minute in, he was in on a steal. That was one thing I did very little of as a player: defense.

Then he did something even more disconcerting.

He passed the ball to a teammate who streaked to the hoop and scored. Jake glanced my way.

In my eyes, he was dominating.

A few minutes later he got his first shot. It was a mid-range bank shot that rolled out. I had offered 5 bucks a point.

Another rebound, another assist, another missed long range bomb. His team was well ahead. The crowd was behaving. There was one mother who hooted and hollered on every single play, and yelled out for her son to dominate, but she wasn't offensive so I could basically ignore her.

Jake inbounded the ball on a set play for an easy layup for one of his buddies. They slapped hands on their way back to defense where they trapped the point guard and got another turnover.

What the hell is up with the defense and passing? When did that become a part of the game?

Finally, Jake scored from just inside the foul line. A nice, little jumper that tickled the twine.

"That's it Jake!" I yelled out.

The woman with the big mouth gave me a sideways glance. Her kid was on the same team. "Good shot, Jacob!" she yelled too.

A dominating performance. My head was spinning with how great he is.

It seemed like ten minutes ago when I heard the doctor say, "Meet your son."

I thought of that all the way out to the car as Jake replayed his dominance for me.

Pretty cool.

Even if I still can't grasp the concept of a pass.

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