The Road to Reno Chapter II

Chapter II: Twas The Night Before

The night before a tournament, everyone is anxious.  The players are excited  The coaches are psyched.  The families are nervous.  What's it like for an event as large as Jam On It in Reno?  Are emotions more mixed or maybe by now, everyone is ambivalent.  I don't think so.  I think the bag of emotions the UH Family is dragging by a thin drawstring sack is ready to explode.  It's packed to the rim with excitement, nervousness and anticipation.  Mixed in there is a certain amount of fear and trepidation.  But it's all good.  It's this type of mixed bag emotions our players...all of us need.  We have to center the emotions and turn them into strength. 

We've arrived safely in Reno, most families have by now.  Reno and much of the way to Reno was filled with bumper to bumper holiday traffic and unsettled weather.  Getting out of the bay was bad enough not to mention the Sacramento traffic and the traffic through the hills near Tahoe.  That was greatly due to the weather.  I stayed in touch with a group of UH'ers who texted the traffic status and weather, where they were along their journey.  I received texts about snow falls and flurries and rain and yes, even sunshine.  Could this be a sign of the tournaments to come?  Some up and some down, but all end with sunshine?  OK, maybe that was a little corny.  But to stay on the positive, we are all going to do our best and win or lose, it will be fun. 

We exit Virginia street because our GPS is slowly "recalculating" at a painstaking rate and atleast I know Virginia street.  Driving down a less than crowded area, the kids look up gazing at the neon signs.  Slowly we move with the traffic excited to see the "RENO:  The Biggest Little City In The World" sign.  Yay, we made it.  Not we, just us in the car, but Uptempo Hoops.  We made it.  

The La Quinta is brimming with excitement in the air.  We are not the only players staying here.  There is obviously a girls sports team of some sort staying.  They run giggling from room to room clutching their bag of chips or what not junk food splurge for the weekend. 

We check in and thanks to Coach Irwin, much of the staff has their passes for the tournaments and all the teams are checked in.  We are ready to go.  The rain starts to pour down about 9:30 at night.  People are running through the rain to their warm and comfortable homes for the weekend.  Rooms are illuminated like candles in the dark.  Walking up the wet stairs as our footsteps resonate, you hear laughter in rooms and muffled chatter.  Players peer out steamy windows every time they hear footsteps.  They are anxious to find their teammates, however, tomorrow is game one and it's getting late.  The rain turns into a drizzle, but it's cold.  There's a chill in the air that's common to Nevada.  The sort of desert chill you see on those nature shows when they show all the nocturnal animals on the prowl in the sand.  Yeah, that cold.  The cold doesn't effect UH people though.  We bundle up, but again, the excitement warms up our bodies like hot chocolate.  It's a comforting feeling. 

Five minutes to midnight and I sit here and blog about the night before UH's largest tournament so far.  The kids are all washed and in bed.  The 4th grade coach, Coach Otico is still texting me.  He's working late too.  Or maybe he's just a bit nervous.  He's been working hard on the women's spirit wear, hauling them all the way to Reno with a car full of kids.  If it was like my car "are we there yet" wasn't just a repeated question, it became their mantra.  So, I know he's just as tired and exhausted as I am.  I'm sure all the coaches and UH staff are.  We are tying up last minute things for tomorrow...like blogging.  Yes, I'm tired, my back hurts and I have a bit of a headache.  But, it's worth it for these kids.  What begins tomorrow, to the whole UH staff is worth all the efforts.  Tomorrow is a new day and an exciting day.  All our aches and pains endured this late night will dissipate in the morning air.  It's tournament time people and let's get it on!!!