Who Knew?

Little did we know...we have a basketball star on our hands! Jacob is playing Upward Basketball this year. For those of you not familiar w/Upward it's a really awesome sports program based out of local churches. It's a non-competitive way to introduce kids to the concept and sport of basketball. No score is kept (I know...this is a difficult concept for those of you like me who tend to be a little competitive when it comes to sports! I like to know who wins and by how much!!) and all team mates have equal playing time. Your child can sign up for the league when they are in Kindergarten so this was the first year Jacob qualified to play. He was excited to give basketball a try! Yesterday was his first game. To be honest....I wasn't expecting much. Jacob was born to play baseball. Yeah, I know...Imagine that! He has been exposed to the sport of baseball his entire life. He can explain every rule and play that goes along with baseball. He was carrying around a baseball and bat for as long as I can remember. He knows football from following the Sooners and watching the games w/Dad and Grandpa and has a pretty good understanding of football. Now basketball, that's another story! We aren't exactly a "basketball watching" family. Even though Mike and I played basketball ourselves and like the game, we don't follow the sport like we do baseball and football. So when it came to Jacob playing basketball, I wasn't even sure he knew what to do. The 2 practices his team had before their first game seemed more like football. The player with the ball was chased down by the others. No dribbling or shooting involved!

So...now to the game. The first "quarter" the team wasn't quite sure what to do. They knew they were supposed to get the ball, but after that it was a free for all! However, as the game went along, they all started getting the concept of the game. It was so fun to watch them and see it "click"! Jacob is quite the little ball-handler if I do say so myself! I was amazed at how well he could dribble the ball and at how quick he was on the court. All of the other kids seem to be twice his size, but he's twice their speed! He makes a perfect point guard! He was making passes right and left, and jumping in making several rebounds. He made several attempts at shooting and actually scored 6 points for his team! (OK, I know...we aren't supposed to keep score, but it's in my blood!!) We were soooo proud of Jacob! After each game, each player on the team receives a special star to attach to their jersey to show their effort in the game. Jacob was given the "Best Offense" star yesterday! In his coaches words, "Man, you were on fire today!" What can I say....it looks like we'll have to start watching a little basketball in the Simpson household!!