Yesterday I had the pleasure of calling some games in a wonderful tournament...the Special Olympics. Aside from the fact that it felt really good to run up and down the floor again, it was truly heart-warming to see players get excited at the success of someone on another team and play the game for the enjoyment of playing. Sure, they wanted to win and got frustrated at themselves when the messed up, but those times were offset by seeing a young girl jump up and down, cheering at the top of the key with her teammate who just made her first basket in twenty attempts...didn't matter that the other team was had a 5 on 3 fast break going...that was simply not important to them at the time.

One of the most appropriate comments I have ever heard came in my second game. One of the players was getting up after having being tripped by the same teammate stepping on his foot for the third consecutive time down the floor. After he got on his feet, he yelled "Hey, use your own feet!".

If you ever have the opportunity to work one of these tournaments...I highly recommend it.

I do these every year. We usually have them in late Feb or early March. Used to do Special Olympic soccer also before I gave it up. Enjoyed both of the tremendously.