Trying your best

I played in a three on three basketball tournament a few weeks ago that was part of the "Blues Heritage" festival that Jackson has every year. I've never played in a three on three tournament before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I played in a couple of five on five tournaments this year and our team finished right in the middle of the pack both times. These were pretty competitive teams in the five on five tournaments, so middle of the pack wasn't that bad.

When I got to the 3 on 3 tournament, I found out that our team was in the over 30 bracket with only two other teams. Two other teams??!!! Are you serious? How can you have a tournament with three teams? And I'm only twenty-six...granted two other players on my team were thirty or older. There's something about the human body when it starts getting older. A lot of mass is added and you get "grown man strong" for lack of a better term. I'm not there yet. I work out and exercise, but I don't have a lot of mass (and don't care for any) and barely weigh 200 pounds. I saw some of these guys we were going to play and they outweighed me by 20 pounds. Now that would be no problem in a full court game, but 3 on 3 is half court, so it's not like I could run them to death. I was getting prepared to get knocked around a lot.

And I did get knocked around...I was actually fouled twelve straight times in one game by this guy who was either doing it on purpose or was the worst basketball player I've ever played against. It was probably a little of both. We ended up winning three straight games to win the tournament and won them fairly easily, but that was after I had to sit out for bad sportsmanship and throwing an elbow. In my defense, it's hard to keep your cool when you're getting hit every single play. The only thing I kept saying was, "This is not basketball." They had to make a rule before the championship game that each player could only foul five times. Makes sense.

A lot of people think they can play basketball and a lot of those people can't. I'm not saying I'm great. I can't jump that high, I'm not that quick and I'm an average shooter at best. I have decent post moves, I can rebound well and I like to play physical, but for the most part, I know how to play the game. I know where to be in situations, where to pass, where to dribble on fast breaks, when to cut, etc. I understand the right way to play the game. I don't foul everytime because I know how to play decent defense. After I had been fouled for the 8th straight time and said a few words to this guy, his teammate said, "Hey, he's trying his best." I think that phrase is used as a cop out too many times in our society. I could try my best at flying a plane, but I could never get a job as a pilot. I could try my best at computer programming, but a computer would never get programmed. Trying your best is a great start, but there has to be knowledge of what you're trying your best at. It's a combination of effort and intelligence and ability. I don't ever want to just try my best. I want to know what I'm trying my best at, and hopefully, I'll be successful at whatever that is...not just because I'm trying my best, but because I have a desire to be excellent.