Bowling Green 64 - Christian Brothers (TN) 59

Auxillary Gym, Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

I'm getting too old to sit on bleachers for consecutive games. My back is aching tonight. I had another tough decision in the night cap at the Citizens First Bank Classic. Franklin-Simpson took on Mason County in the big gym while Bowling Green took on Christian Brothers High School from Memphis, Tennessee.

Everybody made some really bad assumptions about this team from Memphis. Because they are named Christian Brothers, everyone assumed that they were a religious academy with a weak team. Nothing could be farther from the truth. These guys had some good size and several good basketball players, and they gave the Purples everything they had.

Christian Brothers took an early lead on Bowling Green, and finished the first quarter with an 11-9 lead. The Purples fought back and had a 30-24 lead at halftime.

These two teams were a lot of fun to watch tonight because both like to push the ball up the court and attack the basket. A kid named Booher for Christian Brothers really caught my eye. I apologize for not having his first name because I never bought a program, and I couldn't hear his name when he went to the foul stripe. The kid is a good player and is unafraid to take the ball to the hoop. He had an impressive driving dunk in the second half with a couple of Purples in hot pursuit.

Bowling Green played sloppy during long stretches of the game. I find it amazing how some teams that press a lot hate to face pressure. You'd think they'd be used to it from practice, but sometimes it doesn't translate. The Purples don't like to be pressed, and they start playing frantically to get the ball up the court. They make bad passes compounded by bad decisions. I think they spend too much time looking for Behanan, and they need to relax and push the ball up the court and not worry where their star is.

DJ Ray does a good job with this, and he handles the ball well for a lanky guy. Ray has a quick move to the basket and has learned to take advantage of defenses sagging on Behanan. He's a good, smart ballplayer. Plus, Bowling Green is a young team this year. Ray along with Tommy Boyce and Joey "Gotta Getta" Gorman are the only seniors. They lost seven from last year's team.

I don't have the stats, but Chane Behanan was effective tonight. I understand he had a miserable game against Franklin-Simpson last week. What impressed me is that Behanan had a lot of blocked shots against Christian Brothers tonight. That's good defense.

Bowling Green grew a 13 point lead in the second half, but Christian Brothers came back and made it a game late, led by the Booher kid. He's a tough ballplayer, and I think he caught everyone's attention tonight. Late in the game, Brothers' point guard let DJ Ray get around him, which resulted in them picking up a foul in the paint. Booher didn't hesitate to let the point guard know that it was his job to keep players from slashing into the paint. That's good stuff.

Bowling Green hung on to win 64-59. The Purples are now 5-1 with a loss to Franklin-Simpson.

OBSERVATIONS

Fant-ing Spell: I saw George Fant at the Bowling Green game. He sat with the Kindred brothers from Metcalfe County. That's a lot of big fellows sitting in the bleachers. I can't wait for him and Behanan to go head-to-head this season...and next season.

Royals and Wildcats: I missed a good game between Mason County and Franklin-Simpson. The final was 52-50 with Mason County prevailing. That's a tough loss for the Wildcats. I think it's great that Bowling Green has two gyms and can have simultaneous games, but I always sense that I'm missing something big in whatever gym I'm not in. I was hoping for a Fourth Region sweep tonight.

Metcalfe County 50 - Adair County 47

Auxillary Gym, Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

The Citizens First Bank Classic at the Purple Palace in Bowling Green always leaves me having to make tough decisions. When I got there tonight Greenwood was taking on Louisville DeSales in the main gym while Metcalfe and Adair tangled in the purple and gold box that is known as the auxillary gym.

I figured that I'll have many opportunities to see Greenwood, who is playing better than any team in the Fourth Region at the time, so I opted to see the Hornets and the Indians play. Plus, I wanted to see Grant and Russell Kindred play for Metcalfe.

I was a little shocked when I went into the gym because the Hornets were tricked out in blue and white uniforms. I've always seen them wear the maroon ones, and for a second I thought I had stumbled into the wrong game.

There's no love lost between these two programs. Although they are in different regions, they are geographic neighbors, and in Kentucky basketball proximity usually results in animosity. It's a good matchup to see in December.

I got to the game a little late because I couldn't pull away from watching Greenwood. When I got there Adair County had a three point lead and Metcalfe picked up their game a bit and wrestled the lead away from the Indians. The two teams sort of swapped baskets throughout the first half.

I really like the Kindred brothers. These two juniors have beefed up a little and have learned well from Coach Tim McMurtrey how to patrol the paint and how to open themselves up for passes to the lane. They know how to use their bodies and both have good hands and good sense on the court. They run the high-low post real well, and Adair County had no one who could keep them from getting the ball on either post. They keep the ball high and throw the ball high. It's really fun to watch them.

The Fourth Region is loaded with a lot of good players this season, and most of them are big fellows, too. There's exceptions like Cameron Hall at Glasgow and Dee Anderson at Greenwood, but Chane Behanan, George Fant, and Kindred brothers. There's too many good teams to catch this season, and I expect whatever team prevails in the Fourth to do some damage in Lexington in March. Everyone in the Fourth needs to watch out for the Hornets this season. They are well coached, have good interior size and play, and guards who can handle the ball well.

Metcalfe County pushed their lead out to nine points a couple of different times in the second half but couldn't hold the Indians off. Adair closed late in the game, and Metcalfe gave them every opportunity to win it. Adair couldn't hit their shots as time ran out and lost 50-47. Their record drops to 3-4, while Metcalfe moves to 5-2 on the season.

OBSERVATIONS

Tim McMurtrey Flexibility Excercises: I don't know how old Coach McMurtrey is, but he is good at crouching down as low to the court as anyone could expect to. I don't know how he does it. If I crouched down as low as he does, my knees would snap. It's impessive.

Twin Towers?: Is it still o.k. to reference the Twin Towers when talking about two tall players on the same team? I thought about that tonight watching the Kindreds play ball. I started thinking about the World Trade Center and that awful day and became reluctant to refer to the two players by that nickname. I finally decided that the term would honor both the World Trade Center and the Kindreds. I think we can be proud of both...or is that all four?

Fudge at Christmas: Considering what an effective coach Mark Fudge is, opponents don't want that Fudge at the Holidays.

Bowling Green 72 - Glasgow 67

Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

If it wasn't so cold outside tonight, I'd swear it was March. The game at the Purple Palace in Bowling Green had a post season feel to it because two of the best teams and two of the best players in the Fourth Region went head-to-head. After the ballgame I went home and watched the Hilltoppers down the 24th ranked Vanderbilt Commodores, a game that also had a March Madness air to it.

I love it. It's like Christmas in December. Wait. Christmas IS in December. My co-hort, Chris Gregory, and I always say that the Sweet Sixteen is like our Christmas.

Glasgow is good. I just want to get that out of the way because everybody keeps talking about Warren Central and Bowling Green and Russellville and Franklin-Simpson being the best teams in the region, but a good discussion has to include the Scotties. They have a lot of tools at their disposal, including Cameron Hall, who is one of the best dead-eye shooters I've seen in awhile. The Purples learned early that token defense on this kid is not going to get the job done. A hand in his face is not enough to distract him from sending the ball straight through the net. I'm not sure any defense can stop him. He can shoot square to the basket, and he can shoot off balance. I believe that Hall could shoot the ball while he was strapped to the floor and blind-folded.

Glasgow also has Dean Glass, who is a deadly outside shooter, and Kerrington and Michael Bradley. Kerrington has a good soft mid-range baseline jump shot that is difficult to defend.

The Scotties jumped out to an early lead on Bowling Green, but never led by more than six or eight points at any point in the ballgame. They made it through the first quarter with a 16-15 lead on the Purples, but D.G. Sherrill's squad was making a run at them late in the quarter.

These two teams like to push the ball up the court. Bowling Green uses a cast of characters to push the ball, led by Tommy Boyce, Darius Clement, and D.J. Ray. Glasgow depends heavily on Hall, who has great skill at moving the basketball against any amount of pressure. He's a heady ballplayer, a trait he has inherited or absorbed from his father Jeff Hall, who was a crowd favorite during his days playing for Denny Crum at UofL. Jeff Hall is also the Scotties' coach, and he has Glasgow playing championship contender quality basketball.

Bowling Green has Chane Behanan. He's a 6'7" 225 pound junior who is blessed with multiple skills on the basketball court. The term gets useda lot, so I'm reluctant to write it, but Behanan is a man among boys on the high school court. He's big and quick and strong and smart and is going to be a major force in the Fourth Region. He's got good moves around the basket, and when he learns how to use his strength to his advantage, there's not many players in the region or the state, for that matter, who will be able to stop him.

I apologize for not having any stats on the game, and I'd hate to guess how many points Behanan had in the first half, but he got into the flow of the game and made a lot of big baskets in the second quarter.

Bowling Green took a 36-35 lead to the break.

It was a real treat to watch this game because both teams are good and have good players. Hall and Behanan are going to get a lot of press, but these are complete teams in many ways. Bowling Green is a little thin on experience, with only three seniors this season.

Both teams played a fantastic third quarter. They had big plays and big shots, and the Purples still clung to a one point lead, 56-55 at the end of the quarter.

I don't usually complain about officiating, but the officiating crew at Bowling Green tonight needs to learn that teams like Bowling Green and Glasgow are going to get physical. They're going to play in a big danged hurry, too. At the start of the third quarter, one official started calling a foul on every bit of contact he saw between the players. It was awful. In three minutes, he whistled five fouls. That's one referee. He should've been escorted off the court for committing such an abomination in such a intense, wonderful basketball game.

I don't pay money to see referees.

In the fourth quarter, the Scotties looked like they were running out of gas. Heck, both teams looked a little spent. These two teams seemed capable of mixing a fast paced game with a physical one. Play got a little sloppy, but D.G. Sherrill can go deep down his bench and still get good minutes out of reserves.

Bowling Green outlasted the Scotties, 72-67. It was a hard fought game for early December. I believe it was a preview for a March matchup at Diddle Arena.

I get giddy thinking about how good the Fourth Region is this season.

OBSERVATIONS

Fourth Region Banner: Before the game the Purples hoisted a new banner proclaiming their 2009 Fourth Region Championship. It was good to see some of the players from last year's team on the court because those guys played hard every game last season. It's too bad the officials screwed them out of beating Lex. Cath in the first round. Tevin had his feet planted...

Do Not Taunt: This should be a warning to Fourth Region basketball fans -- do not taunt Chane Behanan. It doesn't do any good. The Glasgow students chanted "OVERRATED" as Behanan shot free throws in the first quarter. He missed them, but then he went on a tear and made several baskets while grabbing some huge rebounds. He's not "OVERRATED." Trust me. Guys like Behanan don't even hear that stuff. If they do, they find a way to make the other team pay for it.

Big Doins at the Dragon Den: Warren Central hosts a big shootout on Saturday December 12th. Lots a of good teams. Hopefully, Christmas shopping won't get in the way and I can catch a couple of games.

Glad to be Back

I survived the partial destruction of my house and an "exile" that lasted for nearly two and a half months last winter and spring. It's been a tough year, but my wife and I have put our house and our lives back together in time for basketball season.

I kicked the basketball season off (is that a mixed metaphor?) by going to a scrimmage between Bowling Green and Apollo. What does one write about a scrimmage? A basketball scrimmage is the equivalent of watching a stock car racer take a handful of laps on the track and then pulling into the garage and tweaking various components of the car. Coaches are tinkering with lineups and plays and finding the tolerances of their teams. I don't try to read a lot into the games or the play.

Right now, I don't even know the names of a lot of the players, which is really the case for Apollo.

Fourth Region newcomer, Chane Behanan, will be a man among boys this season. Chane's family moved to Bowling Green from Cincinnati, and he is a highly sought blue chip basketball players with courters coming from all points of the map to sell their college program to him. I can't wait to see Behanan and George Fant go head-to-head during the season. Like most season, fans will get to see them play one another three or four times in the next few months. It will be one of the great match-ups in the state.

Behanan is well muscled and has superb moves around the basket. Coach D.G. Sherrill can't slow his game down for this kid, though, because the Purps love to run-and-gun, which is the kind of basketball I love to watch. Again, it was a scrimmage, but I'd like to see the big guy hoofing it up-and-down the hardwood. I felt like Bowling Green let up on the full court game to accommodate Behanan.

I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing the kid because he is a great basketball player. I apologize to the readers, as always, because I harken back to my Male High days, too often. Behanan reminds me of Winston Bennett, who played at Male before heading to UK. Many of the descriptions I apply to Behanan applied to Bennett: big, well muscled, good hands, good moves inside, etc. Bennett, however, was an absolute warrior on the court every minute of the game. He was even intense playing "21" with friends. I know. He smashed my nose one afternoon with his elbow.

Maybe it's because it was a scrimmage. I'm anxious to see this guy in action in a real game. I know this. He'll be a major force in the region this year.

It's an easy summary from a scrimmage: Bowling Green is a contender and has a good shot at winning back-to-back regional championships. Also, the 14th District will be tough, as always.

For Apollo, I liked a kid named Trey Ewing. I hope I have that right. He wore #32 last night, and I told my friend Eddie "Frost Free" Dillard that of all the kids on the court he'd be the first I'd choose for a pick-up game. He was everywhere with never being out of position. At one point, the kid blocked a shot, fell to the court, got up and sped down the court to take a pass and hit a lay-up. Beautiful! He's a good defender and played full throttle for the entire scrimmage.

Yep. I'd take him over Behanan, and I don't mean that as an insult.

I like watching Tommy Royce run the point for Bowling Green. He can push the ball up the court, and Coach Sherrill needs to give him the green light more often.

I'm anxious to see all the Fourth Region teams play this season. I can't wait.

OBSERVATIONS

Take It Easy: My wife started jawing the referees last night. I reminded her that it was a scrimmage. That's O.K. We all have fever for some hoops. She needs to mellow out to The Eagles for the next contest.

D.G.'s Deflection: Coach Sherrill tapped the ball while it was in play last night. He apologized to Apollo's coach and their players. That's Sherrill's first defensive deflection since he finished his career at Caldwell County High School. I wonder if he played defense that tight at CCHS.

New Paint Job: Bowling Green put a new paint scheme on the hardwood at the Purple Palace. It looks good. I still wonder why they Male High's letter on their court? The Bulldogs will feel like they have a home game when they play there on January 30th, a game derailed by the Great Ice Storm of '09.

Greenwood 54 - Bowling Green 49

Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

Someone once told me that Coach Blane Embry could suit up an Upward team in Greenwood uniforms and the Bowling Green Purples would freeze at the sight of them. That's nice hyperbole, but sometime I wonder if it is true. I do know this: Greenwood has got Bowling Green's number. Greenwood's Tommy Tutone and Bowling Green is Jenny.

The other thing I know about Greenwood is that Coach Embry gets the most out of his players, possibly more than can be reasonably expected. The Gators always play hard. Will Clayton, J.J. Smith, and Dee Anderson leave it all on the court almost every time I see them play. In the first quarter of Friday night's game a kid named Cody Stumbo, who should not be confused with current Kentucky Speaker of the House of Representatives Greg Stumbo, stepped up and peppered the Purples with layups and short jumpers that pushed the Gators to a 19-8 second quarter lead.

It's good strategy to hit Bowling Green early. The best way to beat Bowling Green is to hit them right out of the gate and knock out their confidence. I'd say that Stumbo nearly did that single-handedly.

Bowling Green surged in the second frame, though, outscoring their reptilian visitors 18-9 and cutting the lead to two at the end of the first half. At one point Greenwood was stuck at 21, and Jeb Richardson made some key plays. He hit a big three pointer and then followed up a Greenwood turnover with a layup to give the purples a 22-21 lead. It's the old trey and lay play.

I fogot to mention that J.J. Smith hurt his ankle early in the first half and, I think, he even left the bench for the locker room.

Greenwood came back and got the lead late in teh second quarter and tooka a 28-26 lead to the break.

Dee Anderson is among the best press breakers in the region. If a team presses Greenwood, they've got to keep the ball out of Anderson's hands. He handles the ball pretty good, but his feet are two rockets. Anderson has a sense for getting to the rim, too. He cut through the middle of the Purple press like a hot knife, freezing Purple defenders in their shoes. He missed several layups in the game, but I knew he wouldn't miss many more as the game continued. He figured out how to take something off his layups long before Bowling Green ever figured out how to stop him.

I don't understand. When the Purples played and won at Greenwood, they did a fantastic job of containing Anderson. Friday night, it seemed they forgot he was on the court until he was flying past them. I know that Coach D.G. Sherrill told Vic Smith to pack up his locker this week (justifiably so), but Smith is a good defender on the press and near the basket. Greenwood had far too many easy shots against the Bowling Green press. I'm not chastising Coach Sherrill. Instead, I hope Vic Smith realizes what it means to be part of a team.

J.J. Smith returned to Greenwood's lineup in the fourth quarter. I'm sure his ankle was sore, but he brought his team a fresh set of legs down the stretch. He made some important baskets down in the paint. I still can't figure out how this guy takes players down low and scores against them. He's a good player, I know that, but I think defenders in this region need to stand their ground on him and see how many charges they can draw on him.

Greenwood controlled the fourth quarter, and they did what they always do against Bowling Green. They frustrated them. The Purples played desperate and launched more scuds than Saddam Hussein on a drinking binge. The two teams actually played even -- each scoring 13 points -- in the fourth quarter. It gave the Gators a 54-49 victory.

OBSERVATIONS

Post Season Implications: Friday's loss will most likely knock Bowling Green out of any chance of getting the top seed in the 14th District. It's important because the district tournament is played at Greenwood this season, and if the Purps are the two seed, they'll play the Gators in The Swamp later this month. It could mean an early ouster for one of the better teams in the region. Remember Bowling Green is Jenny and Greenwood is Tommy Tutone. "Jenny, I got your number..."

School Spirit: Is it school spirit to chant and sing on an opponent's home court after a victory? I don't know. I'm just asking. Some people might call it "poor sportsmanship."


What the Heck?: Why don't people go to basketball games. Last week, I figured people would be in the rafters at the Purple Palace for Warren Central. This week, I figured the same thing for the Greenwood game. I'm afraid the cancer of television is now killing high school basketball crowds.

Restoration of Pick and Roll Headquarters: I hope my family will be back in our home by the end of the regular season, but it's not looking hopeful. It's hard to do my usual Pick and Roll stuff from a hotel room because I'm not using my "big computer," which is full of links and bookmarks that allows me to come up with information. Plus, most of my time is consumed with issues surrounding the reconstruction of my house.

Bowling Green 61 - Warren Central 54

Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

"The Ice Bowl"

Yeah, yeah, I know "Bowl" is a football term, but I had to come up with some sort of label for this big game. Bowling Green -- the city and not the school -- wasn't heavily effected by the recent ice storm that has laid ruin to the rest of this great Commonwealth. We are one of the few islands of electricity, fuel, and food in an otherwise battered landscape. So, we're able to tip-up a high school basketball game while many other people are just hoping to get some electricity back in their house or while others stand in long lines waiting for kerosene.

It was a sort of odd night. My house is destroyed. I had to rescue my parents from a Red Cross shelter in Mayfield, Kentucky, so I've dealt with a lot of issues this week. Folks outside of the disaster area cannot imagine what kind of destruction has been done to the western end of the state unless they've seen the destruction from a hurricane. A lot of people might think that a high school basketball game was too trivial or unnecessary in such a desperate time. All day I wondered if they would play the game on Friday night. I hoped they would. Every minute of every day since that tree fell on my house I've had to deal with a hundred different issues coming at me in a hundred different ways. I needed a good night of basketball to wash away some of my worries, at least for a couple of hours.

The game did not disappoint.

I didn't take a lot of notes during this game because I was worn out, and I wanted to sit back and watch a game that promised to set the hardwood at Bowling Green's Purple Palace on fire. I knew that if they burned up the court, there's about 1,000 board feet of tree laying in my yard (some in the house) that they could use to replace the hardwood.

Warren Central and Bowling Green are good basketball teams. They play great defense, and both have a potent offense. They play physical. I sense that there's bad blood between the players. I know there's some bad blood between some of the fans. Disclaimer: Readers must remember that I don't have a dog in this fight. I like both teams, and I'm an outsider to this rivalry. I love the rivalry, though.

In a hard fought first half, Bowling Green took a 31-25 lead to the break. The Purples attacked the basket, led largely by some heady play from Charlie Williams, Tevin Barksdale, and Eric Smith.

A six point lead in a Central-Bowling Green game is nothing. It can be erased in seconds, especially when a team like Warren Central finds their afterburners and starts hitting baskets. Central's sticky defense held the Purple's to just nine points in the third quarter while the Dragons put up 18 in the third frame.

Bowling Green is a good rebounding team, but they never have an answer for George Fant. He knows how to rebound, and there's times when he looks like he's playing volleyball with the Purples. Purples fans get frustrated with their players, but I want to tell you: George Fant is good. He knows how to rebound. He's bigger and stronger than your players. Forget Fant and keep Scooter Lightfoot, Pete Winn, Brett Jackson, and the other host of Dragon rebounders off the boards.

If I had to pick a player I most wanted on my team, I wold pick Pete Winn. The Central students call him "Pistol Pete." That's probably a pretty good nickname for him, but I know none of them ever saw Pete Maravich play basketball. There's only one "Pistol Pete," but because I like Winn so much I'll let him borrow the "nom de hardwood" (if I wasn't writing this in a hotel room and with my office in order I would find the French translation for "hardwood").

I always think that Winn is who makes the Central squad. I'm not taking anything away from any of the others because teams that play like Warren Central have to have contributions from everyone. Winn makes them better. That's why when he fouled out of Friday's game I thought the Purples would win.

I don't know if you could call the way Bowling Green won the game dramatic, but I think it was dramatic. The Purples are a bad free throw shooting team. So, when they got a lead late in the fourth quarter, Central started fouling in an attempt to get the ball back and to capitalize on BG's misery at the charity stripe.

Enter the "King of the Ice Bowl." How would one be the king of such a big bowl of "chilly"? He would have to have ice in his veins. Friday night, Tommy "Rolls" Boyce filled his several pints of ice water into his bloodstream because he hit six critical free throws in the waning seconds of this game to give his Purples squad a big 14th district win over a huge rival. The Purps defend their home turf with a 61-54 victory.

These teams probably have two more encounters this season. They won't disappoint.

OBSERVATIONS

Rail Birds: The crush of exuberant Warren Central students broke the front rail of Bowling Green's bleachers. They fell out into the floor a few minutes before the start of the game. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I'm wondering what's up with the Joker faces, though. Honestly, it's a little bit weird.

Gone Fishin': At halftime, National City Bank sponsored a dance contest between three students from each high school. Central sent three boys out there. Bowling Green sent a boy and two really cute girls out onto the court. Warren Central needs to learn a thing or two about contests -- always go for the eye candy. The Central students started some sort of frenetic dance, but the Bowling Green students did a quick impromptu of the guy reeling the girls in with an imaginary fishing pole. That's funny. The crowd loved it, and Warren Central lost the contest at that moment.

Bureaucratic Stupidity: The City of Louisville, like most of the state, has massive power outages and tons of other problems. Male High's basketball team was supposed to play in the State Farm Shootout on Saturday at Bowling Green High School. The coach and administrators at Male High thought this was a good opportunity to get their players out of cold, dark houses for a nice stay at the Plaza Hotel in Bowling Green, the one city in the state that isn't in jeopardy. Some administrative wonk in the Metro School System pulled the plug on Male's trip, actually made the bus turn around on I-65 to head back into the city. The roads are clear. They weren't in any danger heading down the interstate. The administrator also pulled the plug on Eastern High School coming to the tournament. Fans will notice that Louisville Trinity will be here.

So, the Pick and Roll will give its first "Pinhead Award" to the anonymous dipstick in some Board of Education cubical farm that kept the teams from coming down here because it's always better to keep kids in houses without electricity than to let them mooch some rooms and some meals off State Farm's dime. Wait, I found the guys name. It's spelled S-T-U-P-I-D.

Pennyrile Pick and Roll Headquarters Partially Destroyed

I had planned to see Warren Central at Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday night. I assume that the game was canceled, but I don't know for certain.

At 8:30 Tuesday morning a massive oak tree fell and destroyed a substantial portion of my house. It did serious structural damage, and as the day went on we figured out that more and more of my home was uninhabitable. My insurance company dispatched a contractor that cut the tree off and out of the house and secured the structure so that it will not suffer any additional water damage. A large portion of the house will have to be rebuilt, and I had to abandon my home office, which is where I also work my regular job when I'm not on the road.

We've landed at a Drury Inn in Bowling Green, and it may end up being our home for a couple of months.

I'm still going to try to blog some games, but I don't know how consistent I'll be. I might do more. I figure I'll get real bored sitting around a hotel room. I may become the official blogger of the Greenwood Gators since I'm practically within walking distance of the school.

I'm hoping all this crappy weather clears out of here so I can go to more basketball games. I'll be at the Warren Central-Bowling Green game on Friday night and at the State Farm Shootout at Bowling Green High on Saturday.

I might post some of the photos I took of the damage to Pick and Roll HQ.

Last year we bought my little boy a real basketball goal. He loves it. His sister loves it. My kids and the neighborhood kids play basketball throughout the spring and summer on it. Last spring as I worked in my office with the windows open I could hear my little boy pretending he was Ty Rogers and hitting last second shots to win NCAA ballgames. It was a touching moment because I remember pretending to be certain basketball players and winning big ballgames. I guess the torch is passed.

When I surveyed the damage to my house I walked around to where the basketball goal is. It was unharmed by the massive branches that seemed to embrace it. I quietly said, "Thank God!" Yeah, that's what I did. I thought about how upset my kids would be if their basketball goal was mangled or destroyed. Sure, it could be replaced. Sure, I was standing in the midst of destruction. I guess that basketball goal was just a small victory in what was quickly becoming a major set-back. I don't sweat the material things. My house can be repaired. We lost none of our heirlooms or irreplaceable belongings. None of us were hurt (it could've been fatal if it happened a few minutes earlier).

I nearly cried thinking about those warm days in the spring when Bowling Green was washed in the euphoria of Ty Rogers' heroics in Tampa and my little boy pretending to be a hero and winning game after game on his very own basketball goal.

Thank God.