What basketball lockout?

As I see it basketball is alive and well.

Drive by any schoolyard, park, rec center or telephone pole with a cut out milk crate as a hoop and you’ll see that it’s game on.

Last Saturday the 11 y/o and under Florida Fire took a grueling and productive 2 1/2 hour workout an an undisclosed location (pics at bottom). And Friday night at Virrick Park in Coconut Grove, FL, 22 players in the 5th and 7th grade brackets lit up the gym at tryouts for the elite Miami City Ballers AAU  team. The crowd went wild when a 7th grader jammed one, but not as loud as when his shot was rejected into the bleachers on the next play. I’m also happy to report that soon to be 10 year old Diego LaMonica had a great tryout.

There happened to be two ex Miami Heat players there, but they were hardly the focus. The focus was where it should have been.

Honestly, I haven’t done thorough homework on what might keep a 2011/12 basketball season from happening. From an economic standpoint, we need this lockout in South Florida just about as much as we need an atomic wedgie.  Without getting all Ben Bernanke on you, the potential fallout just can’t be good. Thousands of livelihoods of all types depend on pro hoops here, right down to the scalpers. And I want to take my son to see his Miami Heat play.

I hope they can figure this all out. But for now, I’m just one father with one kid who is constantly losing pieces of his uniform and not turning his socks right side out before he puts them in the hamper.

~Mike