Basketball

In the next two weeks basketball will wrap up for Jay, and although things can certainly change between now and November (when practice will start) I believe Jay's basketball career has come to an end.  I do not think he will play his senior year.  It saddens me to write that but the truth is it isn't fun for him anymore, and when a sport isn't fun anymore, you shouldn't continue.  Jay has played basketball since fourth grade.  I have enjoyed watching him improve.  There were some years that were really good.  His fourth grade, fifth grade, eighth grade and his freshman year were all positive.  Sadly the last two years have not been enjoyable.  Jay hasn't gotten the playing time I believe he deserves.  Should he be starting?  No, but to see him sit on the bench game after game or to see the coach put him in with 1 minute left in the game with a 30 point game loss was discouraging.  As you can see from these pictures Jay did play.  But his playing time was pretty predictable.  He only played when the team was losing and there was no coming back from that loss.

 The biggest heartbreak of all occurred this week.  Jay had four games.  He played consistently in three of them.  I didn't know what had changed but it was nice to see him play.  The hard part was Mike wasn't there to see it.  Mike had a huge deadline for a client and he literally worked 7 days per week, 14 hour days.  But for the fourth game, Mike was able to attend.  In fact that night my mom came to watch him and so did Mary and John.  As soon as the game started I knew he wouldn't get on the court.  It was going to be a close game but in the end, we lost.  My heart broke for Jay and Mike.

As basketball comes to an end Jay will start looking for a job.  Spring will come which will lead into summer and then fall.  There is a lot of time for him to reflect on what he wants to do.  What I know about me is it's my job to stay quiet in this matter.  Jay has to decide for himself if he will play or not. As his mother, it's been a hard and painful season but I'm certain Jay will make the right decision when it comes time.