Upon Further Review: ‘Showtime’ game was fun for all
Saturday night was the first time in over three years I used muscles I forgot I had — and they reminded me how out of shape I am.
After much debate between my mind and body, my brain — or lack of one — decided to play in the basketball game to help raise money for the Park Theater. Unfortunately, after the first quarter, my body was saying, “I told you so.”
For you that missed the great game, “Shooting For ShowTime” was a basketball game pitting the news media against officials of the city and county. The proceeds from the game went to the restoration of the old Park Theater.
The city and county officials filled a team of about 20 players. The media, the team which I was proud to be a part of, had only nine players.
Right off the bat, common sense would tell you they should be able to keep fresh legs in the game and wear us down. But that was far from the case.
In the first quarter we, “the media team,” made sure we kept the game close as not to discourage our opponents. But it was clear from the get-go, the media team would dominate the game.
The crafty old fox, Bobby Newby, coached the media team. Newby scouted the opposing team during warm-ups and formulated a solid game plan that would break down and disable the city officials’ team. Newby explained his strategy to his team before the opening tip-off.
“Make your shots and keep the other team from scoring.”
Pretty simple instructions.
There was just one thing: We had to play 40 minutes of basketball. Four 10-minute quarters was a pretty simple thing to do 20 years ago — but not so easy now.
We took our pep talk and instructions and executed them to perfection. Fast-breaks, slam-dunks and 3’s raining all over the Charlie Dalton Gym gave us a ( I’ll be generous) 17-point lead by halftime.
OK, maybe there were no dunks produced Saturday night, but there were a few 3’s thrown in the net by both teams.
By the fourth period the media had built a substantial lead. I won’t say by how much (30), but let’s just say by the time the fourth quarter started our city leaders were raising the white flag.
All joking aside, it was a fun night for all. Door prizes were given out in between quarters and at halftime an auction raised several dollars for the renovation of the Park Theater.
I think it’s great so many people are interested in seeing the old theater back in use. I told my 16-year-old daughter what the basketball game was for and she replied “There used to be a movie theater up town?”
I spent many summers in that old theater and hopefully we will be able to enjoy some of our past in the near future.
The ball game was a great way to get people interested in the reconstruction. It really didn’t matter who won the game; OK, maybe it did a little to some people especially for the winning team the “Media.” But everybody who attended or played in the game had fun and a great time Saturday night for a very worthy cause.