Cram the Stands

[Juulie Downs]

I haven't been in a gym all season, since I took the season off, and have been too busy to be a "fan-girl". My son was diagnosed with cancer in June, and was in radiation at the beginning of the season, so I have just been taking care of business.

But tonight, he was the "ambassador" from the local children's hospital where he received all his cancer treatment, to a fund-raising event at a high school here in town. They get t-shirts printed with some fancy design, and sell them. Then everyone wears their t-shirts to the game, and all the money from the game, the shirts, the snack bar, the raffles, and so on all goes to the hospital. Tonight it was well over $10,000, possibly as high as $11,000.

Of course, Mason was a huge star, since he's very cute and engaging, and everyone LOVED having him there. One of the black players had even "carved" Mason's name into his hair. The players all came and slapped hands with him whenever they came out of the game, and he was out on the floor with them for warm-ups, and in the locker room before the game and at half-time.

But the real reason I wrote this was just to comment how HARD it was to sit in the stands and care about who won the game. I really wanted Sunset (the high school) to win, and it was just awful sitting there and watching. I think I developed an ulcer. The refs were fine, and the kids played great, but it just wasn't enough, and they ended up losing by 2. Ugh. I don't know if I can ever do that again.