Christmas Tournament Time – let the fun begin

With the arrival of the holiday season this week, that means it’s time to indulge in too much food, a couple of days off of work, some well deserved time with family and friends and of course – plenty of time inside the gymnasium watching high school basketball.

While I’ve never made it a secret that I’m not a huge fan of the holiday tournament run, I will admit that in recent years, I’ve softened somewhat on that issue . . . and for good cause.

Since Clinton County began hosting its own two holiday tournaments, at least we get to stay home to enjoy some good basketball action without spending the entire holiday stretch on the road.

And besides that, no one does a holiday tournament as classy as those in charge of our own two – the boys’ Twin Lakes Holiday Classic, and the girls’ Best of the Lakes Classic.

While parents will spend a week watching home games and a week on the road watching games at another holiday tournament (flip flop style – boys at home first, then girls), I get to stay here for both local events, working the official table as the public address announcer at both of our tournaments.

Through the years, I’ve heard a lot of good comments from our visitors who come here with the visiting teams that have hailed from every corner of the state.

They like our hospitality, they like the class we show when we present them and they like the fact that the competition at both of our tournaments is real – in other words we don’t invite a bunch of Cinderella teams to come to our house so we can beat up on them and put another trophy in the case.

It’s good, hard nosed competition on both accounts and the players, coaches and fans appreciate that.

We have brought a host of visitors into our area for these tournaments through the years and they have all pretty much spoken with appreciation of the hospitality that not only our schools have shown them, but our entire community has afforded them as well.

So, beginning this Friday afternoon, December 20, through Sunday afternoon, come out to The Castle and take in some, or all of the 10 games on tap for the boys’ Twin Lakes Holiday Classic.

Then next week, Thursday, December 26 through Saturday, get out to the girls’ Best of the Lakes Classic for those 12 games on tap.

And if you get the chance – enjoy some of the holiday break – with family and friends.

A good coach always listens to advice

It’s no secret that our boys’ basketball coach, Todd Messer, has earned the reputation across the state and especially amongst his 4th Region counterparts, of being a good, highly successful coach.

One reason he has reached that level of success is because he is always eager and willing to listen to ideas and hear advice from any of us armchair coaches. That doesn’t mean he’ll always act on that advice, but it does mean he’s smart enough to know there could certainly be some good ideas or observations from fans in the stands.

I caught this meeting of the basketball minds last week before the Monroe County matchup when Messer sat down to hear from former Bulldog standout Jack Sewell (Class of 1962).

Sewell was a member of the 1960 Bulldog team that won a regional championship and competed in the Sweet 16 State Tournament. He was inducted onto the CCHS Basketball Wall of Fame in 2002. He’s been a fixture on the front row at home games for many years.

Jack sits just behind my spot at the official table, and while I do know he coaches a little from time to time, being within earshot I can witness that he does a lot more officiating than he does coaching.

In the meantime-I’m in the gym until March,

and Merry Christmas!