So Proud!

Austin had a basketball game last night. They have enough kids on the team to have an "A" team and a "B" team. The "A" team kids are those who have more perfected skills at this age. Austin is a starter on the "A" team. The team we played against is a tough team and this game proved that. There was never more than a 2 point lead held by either team throughout the whole game and most of the time it was tied. Talk about a nail biter game!

At the end of the 4th quarter we were tied. One of our kids fouled and they got to shoot 2 free-throws and they ended up making one of them, so now they were ahead by 1 point with 12 seconds left on the clock.

Our point guard runs it up the court and passes it to our best shooter, who is double-teamed (I'm guessing their coach figured that's who we'd go with), so he passes it off to Austin. Austin is normally a pretty good shooter, however during this game he had missed every single shot he had taken. It wasn't one of his better games by far, so when I saw them pass it to Austin with just a couple of seconds left, I was in a panic!

Austin was a the baseline at about 3 point range (although they don't count 3 point shots in junior high). He set his feet and the ball left his hands into a beautiful arch. As it reached the top of the arch the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the game. I am not even kidding that time seemed to move in slow motion as we waited to see if it would go in or not.

"SWISH" nothing but net!

He pumped his fist in the air and his team-mates grabbed him and hugged him and patted him on the back. His coach gave him a high-five. Jay and I stood up cheering! His principal was sitting by me and he said "Man, he was so cool about it, you would've never guessed it was a game winning shot. That kid has ice in his veins!" Austin's team mates told him that his new nickname was "Clutch" LOL.

One of the refs of his game was a teacher of his. I took Austin in to the school early this morning for jazz band practice and that teacher arrived just as we got there. He came over and patted Austin on the back and said "I couldn't say anything last night, but man that was an awesome shot you had." Austin grinned and said a humble "thanks".

That's the one thing that has impressed me the most as he has gotten older. I notice a lot of boys his age starting to get cocky if they show talent in something or just have arrogance for no reason at all. Austin's not that way. At a previous game he was the high scorer for his team - 14points - which is a lot for a junior high game. Many people congratulated him and he got a lot of pats on the back, but all he ever said was a sincere "thank you". He never said "no problem" or "it was a piece of cake" or anything like that. Just "thank you" and I was impressed.

When he was a little boy, he LOVED watching Michael Jordan, as I'm sure most little boys did. He not only liked to watch him, but he wanted to be like him. As he grew, he also started to watch and admire Tiger Woods. Austin's not claiming he'll ever be as talented as they are, but he said he wanted to be like them and not like the Dennis Rodmans or Kobie Bryants.

Whether you liked Michael Jordan or whether you like Tiger Woods, one thing no one can argue with is they exude class and humbleness. They have confidence, but no need for cockiness.

It looks like Austin is following that example and I for one couldn't be happier or more proud.