Basketball

Caution:  the following post will contain a lot of talk about college basketball but little about the Bronco Babies.  You see, the Pauley family (well mostly Glenn and me) just spent a crazy weekend immersed in the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament.  No, we weren't there in person to cheer on the Wyoming Cowboys (see the last post) but we yelled as loudly as we could from the den, paced, stressed, wore the same shirt for all three games without washing it (okay, that was just me) and even shed a few tears when our team won the championship game on Sunday. 

On Thursday, I was home with both kids in the afternoon and the Cowboys played at 3:30 p.m.  Will was starting to feel better but Reina was pretty sick still. I was desperate for her to take a nap so I had to abandon my usual basketball strategy (tv on mute, radio in the kitchen on so that I can hear the local sports announcers and their take on the game) and let Reina doze on the couch while I hunkered down in the basement with the small tv and no radio.  I also had to keep my cheering and clapping down to a very muted level so that I didn't wake Reina.  Glenn was still at work so Will and I watched most of the game together.  Glenn got home in time to watch the last five minutes with me and the Cowboys won!  The team hadn't won a first-round tournament game in recent memory so that was fun!  The conference tournament is single elimination so winners advance to play the next day.  Bring on Friday!

On Friday, Will went back to school, Reina was feeling worse and the basketball game was at 7:00 p.m.  The Cowboys played a team (Boise State) that they beat in January but BSU went on a tear after that and finished as the #1 seed in the conference.  Wyoming was #4.  It was a great game - back and forth score, Wyoming climbing out of a 12-point deficit, overtime, a banked-in three-pointer that put the Cowboys up by two scores and a Cowboy win!  I can't just sit  and watch the games anymore - I'm too nervous.  So Friday night, I baked Will's birthday cake, sorted and recycled a bunch of stuff on the dining room table, put away some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen.  At one point, I realized it was 8:40 and both kids were still up, no teeth brushed, no jammies, no snack.  I pointed this out to Glenn and without taking his eyes off of the game, he barked back, "Just tell the kids to brush their teeth and go to bed!"  Now the Pauley bedtime routine is pretty well established with lots of book reading and teeth brushing overseeing and tucking in - but not on this Friday night!  (For the record, we hustled during the break between regulation and overtime and got everybody tucked away without missing too much of the game.  We had very cooperative children that night.)

In some future blog post, I'll document how Glenn has gone from casual sports observer to obsessed Super Fan. (Spoiler alert - I almost told Glenn during Friday's game that he just need to enjoy it because after all, it was just a game, which is something that has been said to me many times in my life and I've rarely believed it.) Stay tuned. 

Saturday we woke up to a beautiful sunny sky and great weather.  Both kids were feeling much better so there was a lot of time outside getting some fresh air.  The Cowboys played at 4:00 p.m. against conference power house San Diego State University.  SDSU has been to the NCAA tournament several times in the past few years and more importantly, they beat the Cowboys twice during the regular season.  Surprisingly, I wasn't too nervous about the game.  I'm usually worst-case-scenario girl when it comes to my sports team but I was calmly optimistic.  We got our errands down in time for the 4:00 tip-off.  Glenn watched the tv while I buzzed between the guest room, the kitchen and the upstairs. I had radios tuned in on each floor so I wasn't too far from the action.  The Cowboys jumped out to a healthy lead in the first half but were only up by 3 at halftime.  By halftime, I'd cleaned the guest room, the kids' play room, put away some laundry and filled out a little monopoly game sponsored by the grocery store.  I kept Reina busy with play-doh while Will fought bad guys outside.  During the second half, the game got pretty close and I gave up my cleaning to watch.  I sat at the top of the stairs so I could hear the radio which was about 10 seconds ahead of the tv. I figured I had to know what was about to happen.  After a very exciting ending which featured another three pointer and 2 free throws made by a guy who normally shoots about 50%, the Cowboys won!  Free throws matter, kids!  When the final buzzer sounded, Glenn and I were jumping around like a bunch of college kids, the phone was ringing off the hook and Reina kept asking, "Mom, why are you crying, are you okay?" 

So now the Cowboys play in the NCAA tournament on Friday.  I have big plans to sit at the top of the stairs with both the radio and the tv on and cheer on the team.  Who knows, I may even get some more cleaning done.  Go Pokes!