Basketball has never really been my sport. As a kid I had very little opportunity to learn the game. The Queen of the Holy Rosary parish did not have a gym,¹ and there were no baskets on any of the houses in my neighborhood on Maple Street. There were two basketball goals in the asphalt parking lot at school, but by the time that I reached the sixth grade, we spent our recess periods on the field in back of the school.

When I was in the eighth grade an announcement was made over the intercom that QHRS would have a basketball team in the CYO league. I don’t think that the school even had a team the previous year, but I could be wrong. I do know that, unlike in football, only the eighth graders were allowed to play.

In grade school I participated in absolutely every activity that the school offered. So, despite the fact that I had only played a few times and only even watched a very few games on television, I tried out for the team. Everyone made the team, which consisted of ten or twelve guys. I was not a starter, but I was also not the worst player on the team.

We had uniforms, but I am not sure whether we had numbers. Maybe we just had tee shirts. I think that I would remember my number if we had them. We had to supply our own sneakers, socks, and, in my case, glasses guard.

Our coach was Pat Wise’s father. The school must have rented some space at a nearby public school that had a gymnasium. We practiced there a few times, but I cannot recall actually learning how to play. We ran layup drills and scrimmaged. I am pretty sure that we had no actual plays.

Going into our penultimate game we had zero victories. In fact, we had never come close. I had been inserted a few times in garbage time, but I never scored any points. So, we all knew that we had only two more chances for glory.

I am not sure whom we were scheduled to face in that epic game, maybe Blessed Sacrament. We assembled at QHRS and then went to the game in two cars. For some reason all of the starters rode together.

I was in the other car with the rest of the scrubs. We arrived at the gym and started to warm up. Quite a bit of time went by, and there was no sign of the other car. We did not have cell phones or beepers in those days. So, the five of us who were there had to start. I am not sure that we even had a coach or that anyone had assigned positions. Basically we just freelanced.

The first half ended before the other car arrived. The starters were pleasantly surprised to learn that we were actually in the lead at the half. I think that I made one basket from two or three feet away and one free throw.

Despite the assurance from our starters that they would be able to “take it from here,” we ended up losing a rather close game. We also lost the last game. So, in my three seasons of competition in grade school football and basketball, my teams had zero wins and one tie.

We built a lot of character.

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1. When the new church was built after we moved to Leawood, the old church was converted into a gymnasium.