Happy Groundhog's Day and other random thoughts

 Happy Groundhog's Day.  

I woke up this morning, thinking about Bill Murray's weatherman character in "Groundhog Day" who hates his assignment to the celebrations in Punxutawney, Pennsylvania, and wakes repeatedly to find out it is still February 2nd and he is still in Punxutawney.  He tests this endless cycle, from punching people to killing himself by a variety of means, until he finally figures out a way to end this purgatory by being nice.

Do you ever have days like Murray's Groundhog Day experience?  Do you think this day is just a repeat of the "same-old" that happened yesterday or the day before?

When I get up, I usually take a quick look at Twitter activity and I usually find that I have been part of a post by a team that had a big win the night before.  They brag on their win and how they beat a higher-ranked team, ie. the #5 team in the state.  The only problem is that these posters are quoting the MBCA coaches poll, not Gramps Braggin' Rights ratings.  It happened again with unranked Staley's win four-point win over #4 North Kansas City.

My problem with that particular post was that I had Staley rated two points better than #6 North KC and had Staley rated higher at #4 in Gramp's ratings.  It wasn't an upset in my view but the Twitter poster used the MBCA poll which made it an "upset".  I have started posting (LOL) a response that you don't need to copy me on the post if you are going to quote the MBCA poll.  

I guess people like to bash the MBCA poll AND quote it too.  

It happens all the time, or so it seems. 

Like Groundhog Day for Bill Murray.

I sat with Andrew Sitton and his lovely wife during the Eureka vs. Marquette JV game last night.  Andrew had an eclectic group of kids playing up to the eighth-grade level four years ago, including my grandson, Will Sergel a senior on the Eureka squad, his sophomore son Blake who is the starting PG for the JV, Eureka junior Jackson Vardemann (now a 6'6", 360-pound tackle on the football team) and a kid named Mouse, a skinny little city kid with dreadlocks.  Mouse's real name is Christian Williams, now a six-foot junior starting point guard for Vashon.  Andrew's team did not practice.  He just let them play and they were fun to watch.  

Watching Blake play reminded me of the countless games I watched these kids play for Andrew Sitton.

It was something of a reunion for my daughter and husband last night too.  Many of the Marquette and Eureka players played for the Knights's feeder teams and they caught up with parents they had not seen in a year or so.  Parents that sat together for countless game after game.  Another Groundhog's Day experience.

It must have seemed like Groundhog's Day for Eureka Coach Austin Kirby, too.  

Before the season, I thought Kirby would have one of his best shooting teams this year.  The team always plays solid defense but the offense has sputtered, yo-yo-ing from 20% to 50% field goal percentage from one game to another.  

After a one-point win against Parkway North, I told him that this team would give him gray hairs but maybe one of these days the team would click.  He was thinking the same thing after that game.

Would he wake up today wondering about that horrible shooting percentage again?  Or would he and the team break out of it like Bill Murray finally did?

Well, it must have been the pre-game meal that made the difference.  My daughter prepared hot turkey and cheese sandwiches and the kids gobbled it up and then they went out and gobbled up Marquette.  Marquette came out fired up and had an early lead but Eureka started hitting threes and did not stop.  By the end, they had 13 out of 26 threes and a 66-37 win.  Not the same old, same old shooting woes that Kirby has awoken to after recent games.  

Maybe the Groundhog Day cycle has been broken?  Maybe Eureka has turned the corner?  

Maybe my daughter will have to make all the pre-game meals for the rest of the season?

I don't know.  

Maybe I will wake up to find folks are quoting Gramp's ratings instead of the coaches' poll?

I don't know.

Happy Groundhog's Day.  I hope you woke up to something good this morning. 

And tomorrow too.