Hope you had an enjoyable holiday. I had a great weekend of basketball. From Thursday through today, I caught the action at six high school basketball games, including Saturday night's matchup between Nazareth and Dieruff. My only regret is that I failed to see them all. I would have loved to see what Ben Childs has been able to do with Easton, which has turned its program around quite a bit. Allen is still playing tough despite the loss of the dunkmaster. Parkland has Jake Bartholomew and 6,000 kids. So an off year there might mean three losses. With the possible exception of Becahi, I think any East Penn Conference team can beat any other league team on a given night.
My main reason for being at these games is to watch and support my grandson. But there are fans who come to these games even though their own children have graduated long ago. There are some who have been coming to these games for decades even though they went to different high schools. One of them is a gentleman named Dennis who knows the game inside out, and catches everything. I've learned a lot over the years just from sitting near him.
Another fellow who is at most of these games is former Parkland and Muhlenberg College stand-out Toomey Anderson, who is associated with all the major area tournaments and works with children at Carbon Lehigh Intermediate. He's the man behind LV Basketball Rankings.
I first ran into him one summer about 11 or 12 years ago, when he was part of a group that ran a league on Allentown's south side with Chuck Rockmore and others for little kids who were just starting out. Parents would watch their kids play and have cookouts while old-timers played chess.
Toomey was always positive and encouraged kids like my grandson, who really knew only that they loved the game. I asked Toomey what motivates him.
"I do it for the love," he answered.
He still does.
After Friday night's game, Dat came out of the locker room with a championship belt. This is awarded whenever a player commits a charging foul. That's an offensive foul committed by a player with the ball who makes contact with a defender who is already set. It usually happens during a layup
As the "winner," Dat had to bring the belt home for the night. Toomey, who had never seen a charging belt before, loved it. As it happens, he once got a belt from the Million Dollar Man.
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