Confessions of a Slow, Uncoordinated, Out of Shape White Guy

Way back when I first started writing I had made mention of how I played sports in school for a while, including basketball through my sophomore year at Aurora Christian. Since then I have not kept as active as I probably should have, playing basketball and the like only so often since then. That's why one of my favorite days the past few years has been the night of the WONC Alumni Basketball Game.

I don't know how long this tradition has gone on for; presumably it started long before my beginnings in broadcasting back in 2007. But every year near the end of the school year, the station staff book Gregory Arena for an evening so the current staff can take on a group of alumni in a friendly game of basketball. Despite my having had some ties to WONC for 5 years, this is only the third year I've played in the game.

There were supposed to be a fair number of alumni tonight, but I was one of only 4 alums that made it, all of whom finished at NCC within a term of me, including Geoffy, Marc Dahlquist (currently of Naperville Community Television) and Will Landingham (currently coaching at CICS-Longwood in Chicago). We ended up borrowing a few current staffers to round out our team, including Trevor Magnotti (junior, one of the top guys in the sports department), Jonny Kaufmann (senior), and a freshman whose name escapes me. Apparently he was their "best player", which may have helped. Hard to say.

This was a great game, but at the end, the alums (with help), wound up winning 61-50 in a game where we all were reminded about how out of shape we are, but ultimately had a lot of fun. The current students had a good all around game with several guys hitting some big shots (most notably Kevin Jackman and Jeremy Rushing), with some great help all around. Unfortunately they seemed to have the Indiana Pacers complex in that I think they relied too much on shooting 3's. But they played good defense overall.

I was reminded how out of shape I was throughout the game, needing to sit a few times. I ended up finishing probably about 2-8 or so from the field for 5 points, plus I think 3 or 4 rebounds and a couple of nice assists. I was able to drive past a defender for an open layup early, and had a couple later attempts swatted away nicely. Then with about a minute to go they left me alone from about 24 feet, and I drained an open 3... something I have no business hitting, as the final nail in the coffin.

Clearly I wasn't the reason we won. The borrowed folks were key contributors, with Jonny driving and scoring throughout while playing great defense, Trevor hitting some big shots in the post, and our borrowed freshman playing a good point guard game, scoring well. Geoffy only had 2 points, but played well. Marc only lasted one half, but was aggressive. The biggest factor I think though, was Big Will, who looked like Bill Russell tonight. He probably scored around 20 points and had to have had at least 20 rebounds (Trevor said he thought it was at least 40), including a ton on the offensive glass.

Most importantly, everyone had fun tonight I think. I know I was gassed, but I had a blast. I love WONC, and I love these staffers both past and present. This is always a fun get together for the young guys to get to know some alums, and it's a good way to try and stay in shape. For those of you WONC staffers who happen to read this, thank you guys for continuing to be awesome.