age and treachery
There is an old saying that age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill. I didn't used to believe that (when I was 20), but now that I'm over 40, I hope it is true. Today I had an example firsthand. I try to play basketball every weekend to get some exercise. I play at the local playground on the outdoor courts, and the pickup games range from spirited to...ummm....*spirited*. There are plenty of people out there who's ego is wrapped up in the score of the game. But I've yet to see a full on fight, so I have to say it could be worse.
At any rate, I was on a team with mostly older (30-40) guys, and we had just won our second game on court. So on comes a new team to challenge us...5 young kids who obviously play together regularly (they started out running a zone....NOBODY does that in pickup games), and they were all between 17 and 22. And fast. REALLY FAST. Our team had distilled down to only 30 and 40 something players, so it was kindof a joke amongst us. And sure enough, the kids started out quick, going up 4-1 before we blinked, stealing passes, picking off dribbles, etc. But then something started to happen. We continued to make jokes about how old we were, and they got a little cocky. One of our guys started talking, and upped his game. There there were the calls, the arguments about the score, out of bounds, etc. The thing is that all these little items help to take a good (or young) player out of his game. And gives us old timers a chance to catch our breath.
So we catch up, and the kids start getting pissed. They start pressing. and play better for a bit, but then they press too hard, and start making mistakes. One too many passes, or going for the "Kobe" drive instead of kicking out to the open guy. And we keep slogging away, getting a rebound here, a tip there, a little talking here. When all is said and done, we kick it out to one of the graybeards open off a pic, he squares up and sinks the winning shot. Sit down kids...age and treachery just beat youth and skill.