Everyone's a star

Good morning,

The worst of my flu is behind me...I'm down to a lingering wimpy cough and a constant yearning for palm trees. That may have something to do with winter, although it hasn't been that bad. Sunday night's predictions for 70 feet of snow somehow turned into oh, 4 flakes, and that was just dandy with me. (Nancy in Boston, thanks for taking that load for us. No, really.)

The Aldridge clan is keeping busy, doing some very cool things. I've got an update from Shannon below. But here's an inside tip: someone (and it's not the bald man!) is having a birthday tomorrow. Let's give her a giant blogload of birthday kisses.

What’s up, everyone? I haven’t talked to you all in a while, but I thought I’d let you know how things are going. Some days are good, some days I cry off and on all day long. The weird thing about this is when you get up in the morning you don’t know what kind of day you will have.

Today was a good day. We just got home from basketball practice, and any day involving basketball is better. When I last spoke to you about basketball, I wasn’t sure I could do this any longer. I was wrong.

One afternoon in WalMart, a little girl came up to me, and said “Coach Aldridge, I really hope I get on your team this year. My sister played two years for you and had a blast.” Now I’m coaching the Lady Comets again, and I’m commissioner of a girls’ basketball league.

About two years ago, Sahara and I began discussing different ways to run defense and offense. We called this "the tooth and nail,” which my team is running this year - and it’s working. We have jumped out of the gate 2-0, averaging 47.5 points a game, and giving up only 13 points a game.

We have seven girls on our team, five who have played for me in the past, along with two rookies. This team is special. They have dedicated their season to Sahara. They told me they would make me proud - and I told them they already have. I’m proud to have the opportunity to maybe make a difference in the lives of these great girls. God and basketball are a pretty good combination, don’t you think?

We have a very important game this Saturday. We’re playing the Storm, another very talented team. We’d better bring our A-game. More fan support would be awesome! We will be at the SEMO Rec Center on Court B at 8:45 am. Come on out and enjoy some great basketball with a great bunch of kids.

See you on the court!

Coach Shannon