Violation Of Team Rules

I have to bench my own son. What? Yep, that is the position I'm in after an ugly afternoon at the gym whereby my 10-year old's behavior merited a first-quarter sit-down for Saturday's game. The punishment has been threatened during this season, and today I had to pull the trigger.

The transgressions will remain confidential. I can trot out the 'We're handling the matter internally' when the media asks about the benching. And Tyler has good behavior far more often than not, so don't start thinking we have a Ron Artest on our hands. But a lesson has to be enforced, and we'll see if it makes an impact.

Tyler's squad sits at 0-3 right now after three close losses, and he is one of the better players we have. All eight teams in our league are very balanced, so we're due for a win or two in the next few weeks. Of course, kids being kids, whenever I do get a few of them over there to the gym for some extra practice, a series of one-handed three-pointers are the shot of choice. Practicing these hasn't seemed to pay off on Saturdays.

Will, on the other hand, took his session this afternoon seriously, working on lay-ups, rebounds and dribbling. Our wild man, who's life motto seems to be 'How can I make this more fun?', really wanted to work on his game. Maturity? Perhaps. Will's team, which I also coach, sports a 2-1 record, and again Will is one of our better players. The 2nd-3rd grade league is really a free-for-all, since the game is held on a halfcourt, with 10 bodies crammed into a very small area. It is part rugby-in-a-closet, part dodge-ball, but if you have a player or two that likes to charge through the chaos to the hoop, you're in good shape. Will is one of those players.

So tomorrow, it will be Will's game at 12:30, a lunch break back home, and Tyler's at 4 before heading back to the office for the night shift. Five more Saturday doubleheaders for the season, and I'm looking forward to all of them.