Michael plays for our ward's men's basketball team, whose season has just started. He looks forward to it every year - I think it's the highlight of his social life. We've never lived anywhere where there is a stake men's league. They usually only reserve organized games for the young men. So it's pretty exciting for Michael to play on a team against other teams that isn't just a bunch of 30-somethings getting together on a Wednesday night to show they've still got game. And last season our ward's team won the "stake championship", so now they have something to prove.
I attended all of Michael's first season games. Shaelyn was only a few weeks old when the season started, and slept through half the games. It was easy to just lug her along, although there were games I spent half the time in the mother's lounge. But it was fun and I know Michael looked forward to when Shaelyn was old enough to really watch and cheer for him. Last season, Shaelyn had just turned 1 when the season started, and I excitedly brought her along with me to the first game, thinking she would love watching Daddy run up and down the court and get excited about the all the action.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
For some reason, even though it's church ball with a bunch of over-weight, out-of-shape, middle-aged men playing on a 3/4 court in a stake center, they feel the need to have a fully operational scoreboard, complete with a buzzer - a buzzer loud enough for a professional sports arena. Shaelyn screamed in terror the first time it went off and never really recovered. And it doesn't help that the guys operating the scoreboard always feel it necessary to hold down the buzzer, or buzz it two or three times when a sub comes in. Seriously guys, 1/2 a second is all it takes to announce to the 15 guys that came out to play and the 8 fans sitting in the overflow of the chapel watching that there's a sub coming in. Or that "halftime" is over. Or whatever other superfluous need you feel you need to buzz the buzzer for. As a result of her very-justified fear of the buzzer, I kept her home the next few games and tried again later in the season. Same reaction. I spent the entire hour out in the hall, calming her down when she could still hear the buzzer through the doors.
So this season I was very nervous as I took her to Michael's first game. But I kept telling myself that she's a year older and not as scared of loud noises anymore. I mean, I can actually vacuum the house or blow dry my hair without her throwing a conniption fit. So we told her she was going to go watch Daddy play basketball. Having just received a basketball hoop for Christmas and loving shooting and dunking with Daddy, this really got her excited. I told her there would be a loud noise, but that she didn't need to be afraid. We practiced making loud buzzer sounds before the game started, and saying "bye bye" to them. And then the game started, with the buzzer sounding to announce the clock had started running. Shaelyn did cry on the first buzzer, but quickly got over it and soon was making the buzzer sound right along with it, saying "bye bye noise" each time the buzzer ended.
She was so into the game! Much more than I thought she would be. She stood up on her chair so she could see better, and kept yelling "Go Daddy!" She would follow him up and down the court and clap when he made a basket. I tried to get her to yell "Go number 9," since that was Michael's jersey number, but she was content to stick with "Go Daddy." She cheered for him the entire first half, and then patiently watched from under my chair (not sure why that was the location of choice) for the second half. After the game, Michael told her he could hear her cheering for him from the "stands."
But I didn't realize how much fun she had at the game until she wouldn't stop talking about it. And even though she would never yell out "number 9" at the game, she remembered all on her own that that's what I was cheering. And now every day since that game (which was 2 weeks ago), she will tell me "Go Daddy! Number 9! Clap your hands. Eeeehhh! (making a buzzer sound) Bye bye noise! Sit down with Mommy." Since that game, Michael has had a 9:30 game and a bye. He has a bye again this week. His next game that Shaelyn can attend is on the 30th - but I might be having a new little baby then! So hopefully she'll be able to go to a game or two later this season, you know, when I feel like braving it out into the world with a toddler and a newborn. Ha!
I've been trying to capture on video Shaelyn's little rant about the basketball game. She's so enthusiastic about it, until the camera comes out. This is the best I could get. Next game we go to, I'm bringing the camera so I can catch it all as it's happening. And Michael promises to keep wearing number 9, just for Shaelyn.
