High School Basketball Begins!

Omaha Central opened its season by playing Omaha South, the defending Class A state champion.

Not too many weeks after the football season came to a close, high school basketball got underway tonight with Omaha Central hosting defending Class A state boys basketball champion Omaha South.
This was also the debut of our Striv.TV regular season basketball broadcasts. Omaha South's girls beat the Eagles in the opener and the Central boys took the Packers to overtime and missed a potential game-winner in the final seconds.

I did myself a favor by buying a small, dry erase board. It worked well in passing along details to the announcers. And it will save on paper, sticky notes and index cards, many of which blew off the top of the press box during football season.

The new shirts for the broadcast crew, by the way, come via Dr. Keith Bigsby. Central's principal emeritus got the Central High Foundation to foot the bill for them. They are nice! And my new threads also gave some students a scare. I was using the restroom at halftime when a bunch of students came in with something not-so-good in mind. But before anything could go down, I heard one of them say to the others, "Guys, there's a teacher in here!"

From left: Julia (camera), Olivia (producer), Isaac (color) and Alec (play-by-play).

I am officially an Eagle now.

And The Winner Is...

Julia helped tally the NCAA brackets (about two weeks after the title game).

It seemed a "dumpster fire" had broken out on everyone's NCAA Tournament brackets due to a host of first round upsets.

But, as you can see from our scoring system, it is the games near the end that really matter and help you pile up the points:

First round win: 1 point
Second round win: 2 points
Sweet 16 win: 4 points
Elite Eight win: 8 points
Final Four win: 16 points
Correctly picking the champion: 32 points

Julia helped tally up the points today and it was pretty close between Cole, Julia and me. In the end, I won with 165 points, with Julia in second (152), followed by Cole (140. Julia said I only won because, "Dad cheated. He copied off of me!"

Anyway, enjoy these final photos – and this year's "One Shining Moment" video.

Here's the final point totals from each round.

There were more brackets to tally this year.

The winning bracket.

Basketball Begins

Julia got some help getting started from former Central High principal, Dr. Keith Bigsby.

Julia continued her help behind the scenes with the Central High athletic teams tonight, assisting on the striv.tv broadcast of the girls basketball game.

She is a bit busier with this sport. In volleyball, she got the broadcast to commercial during timeouts. In basketball, she is still doing this, plus keeping the score and running the clock. It's a lot of work for a freshman, but she is a master multi-tasker and pulled it off with flying colors.

I pitched in to help the broadcast team on the stats. It was a bit of a shock to the system, but after awhile, it all came back to me. I was only wishing I still had my stat forms. (They are probably tucked away in a box somewhere or on a floppy disk!)

Watching Laura Cook

There was a huge crowd for this crosstown showdown with Papillion-LaVista South.

The best laid plans...

Remember my recent trip to Mercy High School to watch one of my former St. Mary's of Bellevue basketball players, Emma Duman?

Posing with Laura outside the lockerroom.

Tonight, Julia and Olivia and me (just like last time) drove up 84th street to Papillion-LaVista High School to watch the only other player still active, Laura Cook.

We arrived early enough to look for Laura in warm-ups. While I was searching for her uniform number (22), Julia had no problem spotting her. "She's the one in the black T-shirt, Dad," Julia told me.

Um, yeah. She was in a black T-shirt. And black pants. Not warm-up gear. It was immediately – and painfully – obvious she was not suited up to play.

We would later learn Laura suffered her fourth(!) concussion recently at the Westside game. (One that we almost went to last weekend.) So she's out for now. In speaking with her after the game, I learned she will be going to Iowa Western to play soccer. I told her parents that this marked the first time I had been to a game where she hadn't played. She was our best player and helped us win quite a few games.

Here Come The Monarchs!

Mercy High School has a nice gymnasium, sunk into the side of the school building.

One of my goals for 2015 has been to seek out any of my former St. Mary's of Bellevue basketball players I coached in fifth, sixth and seventh grade to watch them play their final season of high school ball.

After scouring the rosters, I found two players: Laura Cook and Emma Duman. Laura plays for Papillion-LaVista while Emma is at Mercy. With Mercy virtually "right up the street" and the Monarchs playing a home game Tuesday, I asked the girls if anyone wanted to go with me.

Only Olivia wanted to be a part of this photo.

Julia and Olivia were anxious to see what things were all about, so they joined me. Julia remarked that she wouldn't want to be a "Mercy Monarch" by pointing out that a butterfly can easily be swatted away or crushed. Olivia helped me check the program and figure out what other girls we knew (Nina Theiler, who played with Emily at St. Thomas More, was one of them).

Adding to the fun was the fact that school had already been called off for Wednesday (due to extremely cold conditions) and it was snowing when we drove up to Mercy and parked in the Holy Cross School parking lot. Knowing the girls wouldn't have to be up early the next day made for a nice, relaxed atmosphere.

Elkhorn was the opponent and from the get-go, it was apparent Mercy was going to have a tough time. But Emma got into the game in the first half and got about four minutes of playing time. We wouldn't see her again until the final 30 seconds or so. And though she didn't score, it was nice to see her out there hustling around. Her parents told me at halftime that she's played volleyball and basketball and run track every year. That's impressive considering I would not have forecast her to be one of my team's major athletes in high school.

Afterwards, Emma was surprised to learn I had come out to watch her. (Her parents were also startled and thought I had brought Julia and Olivia along to show them Mercy as a potential high school.) She said she didn't remember anything about her playing days for me but appreciated me coming out to watch her.

Emma stood on a bleacher step for this photo. She's listed at 5-foot-3.

Another Game At Midland U.

Veronica and I went to another Midland University men's basketball game,
only this time none of her sisters tagged along.

Tonight's The Night

This stand in the Atlanta airport was selling Final Four gear this afternoon.

From 64 teams (really 68) to two tonight, I am glad to be back in the United States for the NCAA men's basketball championship. The game is in Atlanta and I happened to fly through the city this afternoon after my original flight was changed. (I was supposed to go through Minneapolis.)

So how are everyone's brackets doing with everything on the line?

Veronica
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas

Olivia
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas

Julia
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas 
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota

Emily
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown

Dad
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas 
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas

It looks like Julia and I are the only two with a chance to win it all, since Louisville is playing Michigan for the championship (at 8:23 p.m. CDT). But we can't leave out Jon – who has Michigan winning over Louisville. (Bridget had Ohio State playing Kansas for the title). Julia told me to "make it sound like he's going down." But that's hard when he picked the two finalists correctly, Julia!

Don't forget to stay tuned in after the post-game ceremony for this year's "One Shining Moment" video. And if you can't stay awake until after 11 o'clock, check out Deadspin's "Dumb Shining Moment" video.

How Is Your Bracket Doing?

None of us had Wichita State in the Final Four.

So, we are two games away from knowing which teams are headed to Atlanta for the Final Four.

Veronica, who has won our "March Madness" contest in two of the past four years, will not be winning for a third time. Olivia, Lauren and "Zahn" also have their championship pics out of the tournament. Julia and I are pinning our hopes on Louisville, while Emily has gone with Duke.

Here is how things shook out through Saturday's games:

Veronica
Elite Eight: Louisville, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Harvard, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Butler
Final Four: Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Butler
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Olivia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Davidson
Final Four: Memphis, Ole Miss, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas
Winner: Ole Miss

Julia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Elite Eight: Colorado St., Duke, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota, Syracuse, Butler
Final Four: Duke, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Syracuse
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota
Winner: Minnesota

Emily
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami
Final Four: Duke, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Miami
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown
Winner: Duke

Dad
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Elite Eight: Colorado St., St. Louis, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, Syracuse, Miami.
Final Four: St. Louis, Gonzaga, Kansas, Miami
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

March Madness Is Back!

Bridget helped Veronica fill out her bracket. Julia seems to think hers is all correct.

Emily looks frazzled. She really wasn't.

It's that time of year again. Our annual tradition of filling out brackets for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It's an annual rite of spring that has brought about many surprises over the years.

It all started back in 2008. On March 20, 2008, to be precise. Veronica, as a two-year-old, took home top honors that year. Bracket time in 2009 was equally as fun, as I could barely get the defending champion's attention. 

And here's an entry from 2010. I don't seem to know who won that year, but judging by the Final Four picks, I had three teams still in the hunt.

So this time around, there was plenty of discussion and Olivia even filled out two brackets (the other one under the name "Zahn"). So we'll see how things work out in the end. So you can follow along, here are the summary picks for everyone. (Jon and Bridget also filled out brackets but I didn't know if they wanted their picks shared on here.)

Veronica
Elite Eight: Louisville, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Harvard, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Butler
Final Four: Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Kansas, Butler
Championship: Gonzaga vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Olivia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Memphis, Ole Miss, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, Indiana, Davidson
Final Four: Memphis, Ole Miss, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Ole Miss vs. Kansas
Winner: Ole Miss

Julia
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

Lauren
Elite Eight: Colorado St., Duke, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Minnesota, Syracuse, Butler
Final Four: Duke, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Syracuse
Championship: Duke vs. Minnesota
Winner: Minnesota

Emily
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Kansas, Georgetown, Syracuse, Miami
Final Four: Duke, Gonzaga, Georgetown, Miami
Championship: Duke vs. Georgetown
Winner: Duke

Dad
Elite Eight: Louisville, Duke, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Kansas, Georgetown, Indiana, Miami
Final Four: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas, Indiana
Championship: Louisville vs. Kansas
Winner: Louisville

"Zahn"
Elite Eight: Colorado St., St. Louis, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, Syracuse, Miami.
Final Four: St. Louis, Gonzaga, Kansas, Miami
Championship: St. Louis vs. Kansas
Winner: Kansas

Julia didn't like me peeking at her picks.

Olivia was doing some research of her own.

Trip To Mount Michael

The championship banners are a nice touch in "The Palace."

  The girls and I ventured west to Mount Michael tonight to take in a Knights basketball game. It was the first time I've been out there for a basketball game in many, many years and it was quite a different experience than I remember.

First, we arrived very early, thinking it would be hard to get a seat. That didn't prove to be the case. Secondly, the Knights are not very good. They had won one game coming into the night and they didn't beat South Sioux City in this game.

But what was memorable was the wicked ping-pong game between the girls during third quarter action. And the post-game stop at Arby's was fun, too. Here's a little gallery to recap it all.

Julia (right) and Olivia were ready to receive.

A more relaxed moment of the action.

Veronica was on Emily's side.

There were plenty of paddles.

The stop at Arby's was quite a blast.

Veronica asked if there was something stuck in her teeth.

And then Julia (left) seemed to have the same problem with her lava cake.

District Free Throw Contest

Julia shows off her certificate.
Julia made nine of 15 free throws last month at the Knights of Columbus free throw shooting to earn a trip to the District contest. I was really impressed with her performance because Emily (the basketball player in the family) made two of 15. Two.

So after Emily won her game this morning and we celebrated with pizza at Lansky's, we headed over to the decrepit dungeon that is the gymnasium at St. Agnes and watched Julia compete. She did really well in warm-ups, but had trouble hitting her stride during her 25 attempts. She made nine – yes, the same number that she made in 10 fewer attempts in the school contest. Still, it was enough to earn her third place. The winner earned the right to drive all the way to Hastings to compete in the state free throw shooting contest. Good luck with that.

Latest Standings

Heading into a tough game today against Sacred Heart.

Where Things Stand

How Emily's basketball team is doing (BSM) in the standings.

'Celebratory Dinner'

Emily (left) and Julia got goofy over the malts.

The girls asked me all day what we were going to do after Emily's basketball game. I told them, "eat a celebratory dinner."

"What's a celebratory dinner," Julia asked.

Well, the girls found out tonight after our 25-23 win over St. Philip Neri. We feasted at Petrow's, a family-owned restaurant not far from my apartment. Emily, Julia and I each ordered cheeseburgers (which were huge) while Olivia, Veronica and Lauren had pancakes. Of course there were malts, too – chocolate and cookies and cream.

After St. Mary's beats St. Peter & Paul to end the regular season next month, I think we should do this again.

Speaking of goofy, check out Olivia.

Veronica had a plate full of pancakes.

Veronica (left) and Olivia (who still is being goofy.)

Lauren can't hide her satisfaction with her chocolate malt.

Swish For The Win

Drawing things up during a timeout. Not everyone is listening.
The smallest player on the court hit the biggest shot of the night.

That would be the lead on my story if I had to write one about tonight's basketball game. The expected mega showdown with St. Philip Neri was as good as advertised. St. Mary's of Bellevue got out of the gate fast – just like I wanted – and was ahead 8-0 at one point. But the Spartans went two quarters without a field goal and trailed 13-8 and then 23-19 heading into the final minutes.

Free throw shooting kept it close (thanks, Laura!) before Natalie took a pass from Laura and launched a shot from just inside the three-point line on the left wing that swished through with less than 40 seconds to go. Final score: 25-23.

Bridget took some nice photos, too.

From Sean YD Cafe

I love this shot. Look at the intensity on Emily's face (in blue T-shirt).

From Sean YD Cafe

Laura didn't make a basket, but she hit a ton of free throws.

Basketball Stats Check

Click to enlarge the first stats report
for Sean's 7th/8th grade girls basketball team.

Julia In Action

Julia (No. 26) shows off her (defensive) basketball skills.

Brackets And Basketball

The girls are having a "ball" with their brackets this year.
The YD tradition of filling out NCAA Tournament brackets began March 20, 2008. Since then, it has blossomed into a heated (but fun) competition that has the girls watching a lot of hoops and checking their picks.

On opening weekend, the girls huddled several times to go through the winners and losers. Correct picks (Sean would say, "If you picked Northern Iowa, circle Northern Iowa.") were cheered loudly. Losses ("If you picked Kansas, cross out Kansas.") were greeted with groans and boos

Before we get to the standings heading into Sweet 16 games, here's how things shook out in the end last year. And here is how the brackets shaped up last year after first-round games. If you don't want to follow the links, here's all you need to know: Veronica won last year – at the age of three-and-a-half. Oh, and did we mention she also won the first year, too?

So who's leading after the first and second-round games? Veronica, of course. A year older, a year wiser. She picked upsets such as St. Mary's, Cornell and Old Dominion on the way to a family best 25-of-32 correct choices in the first round.

Here's a look at how everyone did in first-round games:

Veronica: 25/32
Julia: 22/32
Lauren: 21/32
Sean: 20/32
Olivia: 18/32
Emily: 18/32

So, by using the point system we put into place last year, here are the standings heading into this week's Sweet 16 contests:

Veronica: 43
Sean: 38
Julia: 36
Lauren: 33
Olivia: 32
Emily: 30

How does it look for Veronica in the long term? Well, two of her Final Four teams are already out. Here are everyone's picks for the Final Four:

Veronica: Tennessee, Brigham Young, Wisconsin, Baylor.
Sean: Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Duke.
Julia: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Duke.
Lauren: U.C. Santa Barbara, Minnesota, Temple, St. Mary's.
Olivia: Michigan State, Vermont, Kentucky, Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Emily: Kansas, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Duke.

Coaching Basketball

The St. Mary's 3rd/4th grade girls basketball team, 2009-10.
This photo about sums up the season for my stint (with Neil) as assistant coach of the third and fourth grade girls basketball team. You can see just how serious some girls took the sport. We gracefully bowed out of the tournament in the first round.

After scoring two baskets in her first game of the year, Julia wasn't quite the scoring machine in the second half of the season. But there's always next year...

Emily and Julia Tip It Off

It's that time of year – and for the second straight season, I will not be coaching basketball. But unlike last year (when I wasn't involved at all), I will be helping out as an assistant coach for Julia's 3rd/4th grade team.

Both Emily and Julia are playing this year. Emily is a seventh grader on a team playing in the 8th grade league and Julia is a third grader playing in the 4th grade league.

Julia's team won its first game Saturday, 19-12, and Julia scored a pair of baskets. I reminded her that I scored a total of two baskets in two years of playing basketball in 7th and 8th grade.

Emily also scored two baskets in her team's 29-19 loss Sunday. Here are a few photos (courtesy of Lauren):


Uniforms didn't arrive in time, so numbers were taped on.

Emily seems to be listening intently to her coaches.

Julia takes the ball out at St. Bridget's gymnasium.
My brother-in-law, Terry (left), was one of the officials.

A nice shot of me watching the center jump of Julia's game.