Poetic Justice

I played Special Olympics Basketball this year. The team I played on got to play in the state tournament. Because you have to win a sectional tournament to qualify for the state tournament, I knew the teams we would play in the state tournament would be tough and they were.

The thing about any sporting competition is that because it is competitive, there are going to be differences of opinion about what should and should not be called as a foul. As an athlete, you just have to live with the calls and keep your head in the game.

Special Olympics takes three or four teams and puts them in a bracket based on skill. At least it is supposed to be based on skill, it's not an exact science. There is always a chance you will end up having to play a team that is a lot better than you are and you pretty much have zero chance of winning. I am happy to say that didn't happen to us.

We won our first game without much trouble and that sent us to the Gold Medal game. I knew the team in the Gold Medal game would be really tough and I was not disappointed.

After a hard fought 2 quarters, we managed to gain a meager 2-point lead. Anyone who has even casually watched basketball, knows that is not a good lead. Furthermore, the referees were not calling fouls, even when one of our players got poked in the eye!

We dug in for the third quarter and by the end of the third quarter we had extended our lead to 4 points! With just 2 minutes remaining and with possession of the ball, we were holding on to measly 3-point lead. Remember when I mentioned that the referees had not called any fouls on our opponents. With two minutes remaining, that turned into a HUGE advantage for us. We decided to play keep away for two minutes and run out the clock, thus securing our victory. To even have a chance of getting the ball back, our opponents would have to commit 5 fouls and send one of our players to the line for some free throws.

After about 30 seconds, the opposing coach finally realized what we were doing and yelled at their players to foul, which they did. Since that was their first foul, we just got to keep the ball. They committed three more intentional fouls. The penalty for those fouls is that we got to keep the ball. If the referee's had called any fouls before the last two minutes on our opponent, our opponent would not have had to commit 5 fouls, and we would not have been able to take as much time off the clock.

When our opponent committed the fourth foul, there was only 9 seconds left on the clock. We got the ball in and easily ran the last 9 seconds off the clock before they could foul us for that fifth time. After pulling within three, they never got to touch the ball again! We won the game and a Gold Medal!

The fans of the other team were not happy about us running the clock out. They called us cowards and accused us of cheating. I understand their frustration, but they shouldn't be mad at us for winning the game, they should be mad at the referee's for not calling any fouls on their team before that, which ALLOWED us to run out the clock and win the game.

Because the referees did not do their job, at the end of the game they pretty much handed us our victory. So, I could complain about the job the referees did, but I'm not because it all worked out to our benefit in the end, when it mattered.