Lots of hoops

We continued a holiday tradition by attending games in the Proviso West tournament the week after Christmas. Only a 15-minute drive from our house, the tournament attracts many of the area's best teams. John and I, along with one of his friends went on consecutive nights. Clare and Chris joined us for the semifinals games. If you've seen the documentary film Hoop Dreams, you might recall Gene Pingatore of St. Joe's, who recruits the two boys who are the focus of the movie. We sat behind his bench and saw his animated style close-up. St. Joe's won the tournament for a "three-peat," the first in tournament history.

Last night, Clare, Chris, and I saw the DePaul University women's team play Marquette. DePaul lost in a close game. DePaul's coach, Doug Bruno, runs the basketball camp Clare attended last year. The local rivalry attracted a large and energetic crowd. We could see that Bruno, a big advocate for women's basketball, was having a lot of fun. While there, I bought tickets for the DePaul men's game Wednesday against #4 Pittsburgh. John's Christmas gift to me was funding a ticket for a college basketball game. I was able to get a good price for him.

To round out the weekend with more hoops, Clare played two basketball games, the first of her league season. The team won them both, which was a good boost of confidence. They had played in two tournaments in November and were overmatched against nearly every team they played. (Although they did beat a team coached by Uncle Joe's friend and coaching partner with past teams of Charlie's. Joe has enjoyed the bragging rights.)