Battle of the Blues

Some things don't make sense.

• Me getting rid of my hybrid car and then getting a commute. (Still wouldn't change that!)
• Eating a healthy but gross-tasting snack and having to "wash it down" with some chocolate. (True story.)
• A senior basketball player suffers a fluke eye injury – this after sitting out football season with an ankle injury. (His senior year.)

That last one's a tough one. Feel bad for a young man named Jake who just loves playing sports – and has the ability to match.

So while he recovers from a resistance-band snap to the eyes, his teammates are trying to keep the Royals on top of the South Marawood Conference. Remember I told you last week there were 4 teams tied for first? We beat Stratford to make it 3 teams and tonight, we played the fellow first-place (also Royal Blue) team from Auburndale. With tied 8-2 records, we knew we were in for a good matchup, with or without our usual starting lineup.

Hubby and I were there in plenty of time to see the whole game. Actually 90 minutes early because we didn't know the JV game was canceled. Due to Jake's and other's injuries, we don't have enough Royal manpower at the moment for two full teams and any sort of bench.

There was a VIP crowd on hand tonight with our friends Jon and Audrey – Carter's former sitters – and Mark and Brenda, who live just down the road but we just haven't seen them lately.

It was a tight game from the tip-off. Basically tied the whole first half, with the lead changing by increments of 1 or 2. The second half, well, that was a different story.

Gotta credit Auburndale's defense and their ability to shoot the 3 for their leap to a big lead. As much as 10 points a few times. But our tough boys battled to the end and came up short by only 4 points.

It is heartening to see that when one man is down, the others rally and give 100 percent to keep the great season going. Even with the loss, we are only one game down. Keep your chins up, boys. Soon wounds will heal and you'll be at full strength for when the games really count.

Win or lose, it's just plain fun to watch our Royals, don't you think?

Swing by Friday and join us. There's always room in the VIP section.