Darren Cole is a sports writer for St. George News and is participating in the Huntsman World Senior Games for the first time. He is compiling this diary to document his experience.
The first two games of my Huntsman World Senior Games are in the books. Game one was over before we even realized it. The team we were supposed to play from Colorado failed to show up. Since we had the court our six guys played three on three. I stacked my side to get the minivictory within my team. (I have to have some reason to pound my chest.)
I think it is fair to say that I made history today in the second game. Prior to the games, several people told me, “We have never seen the officials call an offensive foul in the senior games. Ever.”
I got called for charging twice. In the same game.
So not quite exactly how I wanted to put my mark on the game, but I will take it. Our team got a lot of fouls actually. Three times more than our opponents (15-4). Don’t get me wrong. Our foul calls were probably deserved. I am just wondering how the other team was able to disguise theirs so cleverly.
If I learned anything from the play — it is physical. My first shot the opposing player clobbered my arms and the ball went flying out of bounds. Whistle. Out of bounds to the opposing team. That was only the beginning. I felt like a pinball every time I drove the lane. The sad thing is I had been forewarned repeatedly by past participants. The senior games are very physical!
Tomorrow my screams of agony will match those of the opposing team. Hopefully that will draw our fouls more evenly.
My team’s general lack of experience also showed. The other team got several easy baskets with fast breaks on quick passes, many times catching us off guard. It is an adjustment. We lost by 20. We hopefully learned from the experience.
Two more games tomorrow, then we are seeded for bracket play on Saturday.
In addition to playing today, I helped out with the scorekeeping and running the clock for several other games. Again, the games were very physical. But even with the physical play, the participants helped their opponents up, patted them on the back, apologized from time to time and showed due respect to their opponents and the officials. It truly is fun to not only watch, but to participate.
Now I get to go to bed and rest my bruised and battered body.
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Twitter: @oldschoolag
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