A lot happened this weekend. I've been putting off blogging about it because it has been such a busy weekend, because I know this is going to be long, therefore take a long time to write, and the basketball "opinions" I am going to write about, I needed to let them simmer for a bit, so I could write about them more clearly and less emotional.
The first game on Friday was at 6:15. I was taking two of Bradley's teammates. We left town by 3:45. Our GPS said our arrival time would be 5:15, which was nice. At one point I heard a loud sound that I figured was a rock hitting our car from one of the cars in the other lane of oncoming traffic, I couldnt think of anything else it could be because we didnt hit anything. But then our car started going up and down, as if I were hitting those things on the side of the road that wake you up if you drift off the road while falling asleep at the wheel. But I wasn't on those. And the car was making a reaaaaaaly loud sound, so I pulled over and got out. My front left tire was destroyed. Not just flat, but shredded. We immediately called Scott. Then I called two moms who gave me their cell phone numbers just the day before through e mail. The first one said she could fit two players in her car, the other said she could fit one. And they were both behind us on the road, so they arrived very shortly after I called them. Bradley was going to change the tire and put on the spare, but the first teammate's dad began to change it, and Scott finished when he got there. Scott put on the spare and he took the car back to town, I drove his truck to Redding.
The "team mom" person and the "club president" person had both sent us directions to the schools we would be playing at. I read them both, they were different than each other, and they were both different from my GPS directions. I like GPS directions the best because it will do the whole "recalculating" thing if you make a wrong turn or miss an exit. So I didnt print out the e mailed directions. Wellllll, I should have because the way the school was laid out was odd. The gym was at the back of the school, but there was NO way to get to the back of the school from the front of the school in a car. The school was right next to a freeway, so the real way to get to the back of the school was to take the freeway exit PAST the school and come back to it....well, NO GPS would ever tell you that, because they go by addresses and addresses are usually where the front door is, so, the directions the tournament directors sent out were sent out for a reason!
The first game was against the same team Bradley's team played, and beat, last Saturday. It was a really close game last week, though, so this wasnt going to be an easy game. But their best player had a cast on his hand, so, the team was easier to beat this time.
The best team in Chico is Marsh. Marsh lost their first game of the tournament. Bradleys second game was against the team that beat Marsh. So, that alone shows that it was going to be a rough game. It was Not Fun.
BRADLEY PLAYED THE WHOLE THIRD QUARTER and ROCKED IT. He played his heart out, hustled, out muscled and out worked everyone out there....and even though they were losing (they lost 49-27) and Bradley didn't singlehandedly cause a comeback, he didn't show any giving up, and it was cool. Especially cool because when the starting lineup was sent in today, guess who started.....Bradley!!!
So when Friday night's games were over, we had the two extra kids with us, but both of them thought that we were getting a motel in Redding.....we werent. We came back to Chico. But their parents werent expecting them, so we all came over to our house and had a slumber party. I hope the kids had fun. I pretty much just washed all of the uniforms then went to bed. In the morning I made bacon and pancakes. We all went to Bradley's church basketball game at 9:00. After that, Scott tried to get the Yukon a new tire, but all the tire stores were still closed, so I took the truck back to Redding.
On the way there, about 20 miles out of Redding I happened to look through my rear view, then my side view mirror and saw what I thought was a bunch of smoke coming out of the truck. I couldn't see all of the gauges on the dash because of the way the steering wheel was tilted, but after seeing the smoke, I looked at them all and the temperature one was almost to the red zone and the oil light was ON. We pulled over. Scott stayed on the phone and told us everything to do. Bradley did most everything, so he was kind of a hero, the other kids helped to by bringing up water from a nearby canal/ditch/creek thing that was down the hill near where we were pulled over (Truck Weigh Station near Anderson). We got it cooled down, then drove to the nearest gas station and bought motor oil and coolant. We put the oil in then drove onward to Enterprise High. Luckily I knew how to get there because Scott's dashboard doesn't have a GPS charger and my GPS had died and the instructions that the team mom had sent said to take the "Bonnyview" exit, but there was an easier way I remember from all my times going to Enterprise for soccer games. We made it there by 12:35, only 5 minutes late for warm ups, but the game that was going on was only early in the 2nd quarter. We even beat a couple of other players there. We weren't TOO terribly late.
We found out that we were playing that game against Chico Jr. Funny that we drove all the way to Redding to play Chico. Anyway, they had lost their first game of the tournament. We were playing them in the loser bracket, but it was still a big game, just because of all the previous meetings. Their best player was back. He had missed the past two games against Bidwell because he had gotten an "F", I guess he brought his grade up.
Bradley's team is very mental....meaning, their minds can be fragile or messed with easily....for example, if they think they are going to lose, they do...they get psyched out...their body language, the way they look, you can tell when they are down....they were kinda afraid, I could tell. But, Bradley started. He was KEY. He played the first quarter and the score at the end of the first quarter was 10-11. Close. But it went down hill from there. He only played .50 sec in the second quarter. Only a few minutes at the start of the 3rd quarter. And then not till the very end of the game, when it was already out of reach. I'm not saying playing Bradley only could have made the team win....because Bidwell was just NOT making their shots....and Chico was, so Chico won the game 53-35.
So, after two losses, it was time to go home, we drove home, no over heating, no oil light. I am tired!
Look what Bradley wore to school today. Yes, it's William's jersey! William is seriously not going to have ANYTHING to wear when he gets home. 
Bradley's team won their 3rd game in 3 days. This game was another "easy" game in which the "subs" played the bulk of the minutes. Bradley, for the first 3 quarters, kinda got ripped off, because he didn't start with the starters, but when the starters sat, for the non starters to get minutes, Bradley "sat" with them (there are 11 kids on the team). So, when there was a huge 4th quarter lead, I was thinking, does the coach realize that Bradley was out when the starters were in and then out when the starters were out, too. But he played the whole 4th quarter, so I think the coach realized it....although, Bradley says he thinks he played because the other guy who plays his position fouled out, so I'm not sure what happened! 
When Bradley got into his bad bike wreck back in November, he broke his front tooth and that and a few others were knocked loose. He has been walking around for over two months with a half of a front tooth and a bent wire on his braces, to hold the tooth without pressure because we were hoping the root hadn't died and it would tighten up. Well, the dentist said the x-rays looked good and it was time to get that tooth fixed, but first we'd have to get the brace/wire off of it. So here is Bradley after the dentist fixed his tooth, but before the Orthodontist put his braces back on---MUCH better! 
Bradley's team had their second out of town game today...this time we had to drive to Redding, let me tell you, Red Bluff is a lot closer than Redding! 
Andrew "practicing". He had fun!
