Senior Year HS Basketball

            About a month and a half before my senior year in high school started, my oldest brother came home to visit. He was currently enrolled in classes at SUNY IT and living in Utica. But when he came he didn’t come alone; he had brought his friend Matt along with him. I had never met him before, but he seemed pretty cool at first. My brother used to play on the basketball team there but he ended up quitting because he didn’t like the coach. Anyways, most of his friends at school were players on the basketball team. Matt was no exception, he happened to be the starting shooting guard for the team. As soon as we got to talking I realized that he was very cocky. He boasted about being a 4-year starter and the teams leading scorer and what not. I was not impressed; I told him that I would take him down to floral park right now and whoop up on him. He was a real arrogant guy so he immediately took offense to it and laughed at me.

            Now, at the time I was only 16, so I hadn’t really grew into my body yet. He took one look at me and said; “Your feet are way too big for your body, you could never keep up with me”. I took this as a major insult. My whole life, all I had done was play basketball, especially at Floral Park. I didn’t care who this guy thought he was, there was no way he was going to be able to compete with me, especially at my park.

            Anyways, the trash talking escalated very quickly and we ended up on our way down to the park. He told me that I would be lucky if I even got the ball once. We were about the same height but he was a lot thicker than me. It was evident that he lifted weights quite a bit and that I didn’t.

            As soon as the game began he immediately utilized his physical advantage. He used his sheer power to get me down into the post a few times and got a couple easy lay-ups. On the next possession he missed a foul line jumper. That was the last time that he would have possession for the rest of the game. I massacred him 16-2 and it enraged him. If I didn’t have my brother there with me, he probably would have wanted to fight me.

            However, even after getting beat so badly, his trash-talking only intensified. He chalked it up to luck and challenged me to a rematch. This time I think he might have scored 4-5 points. The guy wanted to kill me. He couldn’t believe that a 16 year-old was just handling him like that.

            The third game he just powered his way down low time after time. And any time he would miss a shot, he would call a bogus foul. The game was getting really physical and I was sure we were going to end up fighting. So I just laid off and let him win the game. After that game I left and told him I was done, I could tell he was still disgruntled by the results. He was still pissed off and felt like he had a lot more to prove to me. Matt was one of those really intense, competitive guys who hated to lose. Anyways, they left a few days later and I never seen Matt again.

            Then, around the time that basketball season was beginning I got a call from my older brother. He said that Matt had told his dad about me and that he wanted to coach me for my senior year. Apparently, Matt’s dad had coached for a lot of years and had an amazing resume. He said that matt’s dad was a phenomenal coach and that he would build the team around me.

            I told him that sounds cool and all, but our JV coach Chilson was beloved by all the players, including me. And I also told him that coach Chilson had already gotten the job anyways. I had assumed that this was the case anyways, the old varsity coach had quit and he was next in line.

            I told my brother that I appreciated the gesture and all, but I was really looking forward to having coach Chilson. He had coached me in JV and he was just an awesome guy to be around.

            Anyways, a few days before basketball season started, we found out that coach Chilson had not gotten the job. Apparently, Matt’s dad had already applied for the job, and with his stellar resume, he named head varsity coach.

            A few days before try-outs began; we had a meeting in the gym with all of the prospected players. Matt’s dad introduced himself to the team, but the team was not very accepting because we all loved coach Chilson. At one point during the meeting he said; “who is Dan Reynolds”? I raised my hand and he looked at me and said; “I know your brother”. The meeting only lasted about 20 minutes or so, and after it ended he asked me to stay and talk to him.

           I explained to him that the team was not very receptive of him because we were all counting on having coach Chilson. Coach Chilson had been involved in the program for a few years already and he had a bond with most of the players.

            A day or two later, Matt’s dad resigned. And by the time tryouts had begun, coach Chilson was named head coach. Everybody was really happy and things seemed to go back to normal.

            I never bothered to tell anybody about my little affiliation with Matt’s dad. I didn’t want anybody to get mad at me, like it was my fault that coach Chilson had not gotten the job. Besides, it was never my idea for it to happen in the first place, and I never approved the situation.

            A couple years ago I found coach Chilson on facebook and I told him about it. It was pretty evident to me that he didn’t believe me, which I didn’t mind. Shoot, he probably doesn’t even remember that Matt’s dad had gotten the job over him. I mean, it only lasted about a week or so and it was a long time ago.

            Anyways, our team ended up having a pretty crappy season. It wasn’t because of our coach; it was because we didn’t have a ton of kids in our school who were serious about basketball. Most of them were mainly into other sports. Plus, some of the teams that we played against had some talented kids on their teams at the time.

            Right near the end of the basketball season I was going through a really tough time in my personal life. My mom and step-dad were getting divorced and it was really affecting me. I ended up acting up in class and quitting the team. I think coach Chilson thought I had a problem with him for some reason, but I didn’t at all. He was always a great coach, and we were lucky to have him.