Heart of CIF
Jerome Green
March 7, 2009
It takes heart to play in the CIF and that is what I saw over and over again from the various players over this past weekend. I traveled about 200 miles this weekend covering games at Colony High School, The Galen Center and The Honda Center, and for a person who has a major distain for traffic; it was well worth the drive.
I know we are approaching colleges March Madness and the NBA play offs, but for my money, there is no better value than the CIF playoffs. You get to see kids of all sizes and abilities play the game they luvv to the fullest of their capabilities. As an added bonus you get to see coaches bring their best efforts to the floor and at the same time exemplify the type of behavior that you would want any young person to model. CIF basketball is just plain fun and exciting. The organization of these events by CIF is tremendous. Each game that I attended went off without a hitch.
I witnessed players like Carl Hoffman. Loyola (playing on a bad ankle) give it his best while having to deal with his teams loss and taking responsibility of not coming through as well as he wanted to. When I asked him about his ankle(only the team and his family knew how bad it was). He told me it was hard to move, but it wasn’t the reason he didn’t play well. Carl Hoffman is a class act with heart. I saw Riverside King go into to a game against Mater Dei, where the only people who thought they could win was they and their families and pull out a resounding 14 point win. Bringing their heart to the floor and once again proving that the game is played not in the paper or in the rankings, but on the court. I also witnessed Gary McKnight, coach of Mater Dei, acknowledge that the best player on the floor in his game was Riverside Kings’, Kawhi Leonard who finished with 11 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks to show that San Diego State just stole one.
The CIF playoffs also show that hearts are not measured by physical statue. Michael Williams from Taft and Miles Cartwright from Los Angeles Loyola proved that by each scoring 32 points for their teams in losing efforts.
I also watch for every player, no matter what time in the game, if it’s 12 seconds to play or 1 minute who truly soak in the opportunity to play in a CIF game and I reflect back on my high school and college years with the realization that it’s participating in a sport is one of the most cherished gifts a young person can receive.
Congratulations to all the players, coaches, families and fans. Now it’s on to the State playoffs and more exciting basketball.