How One Game May Have Inspired A Generation

“Light tomorrow with today.” —Elizabeth Barrett Browning

This past weekend in Olmsted Falls a basketball game was played between two of the top teams not just in the area, but in the state. Unlike many Superbowl’s or Big Fights that fans spent thousands on to attend, only to be let down, this game was worth the billing. It was one of those rare days in sports that a $6 ticket could provide you with $6,000,000 worth of inspiration.

Ironically, less than 24 hours after that buzzer beater went final, the game of basketball lost one of it’s iconic and most inspirational figures with the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant. How do these things tie together you may ask? A girls’ basketball game, a NBA legend and inspiration? Allow me to explain.

In 1988, I was six years old and sitting in a gym at St. Patrick’s church in West Park Cleveland. It was an all day basketball showcase with six different games, five for the boys, and one girls game. It is a day I will never forget because the loudest roars and the closest game all day, was the one played by the girls. It was my first exposure to women’s sports.

In 1988, the only women I ever saw play sports were ice skaters, runners and swimmers in the Olympics. Surely, they didn’t play basketball too? I’ll never forget how loud that gym was, it was rocking and fans hung on every dribble, every shot and every loose ball dove for. It was amazing, it was electric, I was hooked!

32 years went by and I never heard another gym that loud for a girls sporting event again, until Saturday in Olmsted Falls. Which leads me to ask, who did that young group of Bulldogs and Demons inspire in the crowd Saturday?

We don’t know who was watching, maybe the next Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes, Candace Parker or Cheryl Miller. While once again the crowd hung on every point, the emotions were raw and very real. The gym was packed not only because of both teams being remarkably good, but because the game of Basketball continues to inspire and bring those together.

In the early summer of 2003, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs and were eliminated from the playoffs. For the first time in 4 seasons, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers would not be contending for the NBA title. Later that day at the podium, Kobe cried. Again, the emotions were raw, they were real and for a young man like me at the time, they were very inspirational.

When the Westlake Lady Demons hit a buzzer beater to knock off the only team to beat them in regular season play, the emotions were raw, real and inspirational on both sides. Who was watching? Who did it effect? Only time will tell.

For a little kid on the Olmsted Falls side, it may have taught he or she to never let your foot off the gas, even for a split second. Not that the Bulldogs did, but it proved no lead is ever truly safe if there is a second left on the clock to be played.

For a young Westlake Demons fans, perhaps one who has never even picked up a ball, he or she may have went right outside when they got home and started dribbling.

Inspiration comes from everywhere if you look for it. Like Kobe Bryant crying at the podium in 2003, someone saw it, someone was inspired. Both schools, programs and staffs should be proud of the memories and lasting images made this past weekend in that gym.

It wasn’t just the play on the court that was inspiring, but the coaching off the court as well. Like two great chess players, both head coaches battled for strategy all game. Making adjustments, counter moves and never allowing their teams to hold back for a single moment.

I’ll go on the record right now and say it was one of the greatest coached games on both sides I have ever seen, in any sport on any level! It was Jackson vs Riley, Dean Smith vs Coach K, it was brilliance!

The game of High School Girls basketball took a giant step Saturday, and everyone in attendance benefited from it. You will notice I didn’t mention a single name, not a coach, not a player. That is not of importance at this time as it is a team game and everyone had a role in it.

Perhaps this game is the first step in having a pep band and cheerleaders at every game, not just the boys. Time will tell, but in this moment, in this instance, the only thing that matters is the heart that was shown and the inspiration that was had.

Last weekend my young daughter and I boarded an aircraft to attend a basketball game together. A special bond between us that needs no words to be explained. Yesterday, Kobe Bryant did the exact same thing.

It may be cliché, it may be over used but it never stops being true. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is never promised and that is why today is a gift.

Photo credit to PhotoDAC. Visit them here https://www.photodac.com/