Ethan's basketball greatness

the face of a champion

the best record in the league (even if they didn't win the championship)

a little prequarter visiting

looks to me like this "teammate" is stealing the ball from Ethan

Claire's an Ethan fan

Elliot is ever so patient

the semifinals in the tourney -- Ethan's team vs the Pituitary Cases - we lost 19:20

Public Enemy #1: the kid wearing black jersey in the front is bending his knees and he's still 1/2 foot taller than everyone else

Ethan's teacher presenting the coaches with a gift -- the BEST coaches ever

Ethan being presented with Most Improved Player Award -- he really excelled at the tournament!

I think being a sports-supportive parent is an incredibly hard task -- because you get so involved and so passionate and competitive. I tried to restrain myself at times, but it's hard!! Ethan's coaches were the best. These are the things Ethan said he learned from basketball.

1) to play by the rules
2) be respectful
3) work hard
4) practice
5) to have fun
6) to be aggressive
7) it's awesome to have your family screaming for you

These are the things Ethan, Cort, Elliot, Claire and I learned together:

1) It doesn't matter who wins, as long as you played hard (but it also feels really good to win)
2) Twice a week practice is really hard, but pays off during the game
3) It's our family rule to support each other even if you can list all the other things you might rather be doing
4) It's great to be working toward being better at something (and we all have things we're working on)

Elliot wants to point out that "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing." His favorite person John Henson said that during Wipeout, and he repeated it after every game to Ethan.

Ethan's team went to a pizza place for their end of the season celebration and it was great. His teammates are his best friends, and we hope to join up with a few of them for next season's game. And the coach (one of the dads) was spectacular. He was so focused that they work together -- it really didn't matter to him how they were doing -- and as a result, they did great -- their record was 9:2 including the tournament.