Moneyball

I knew it was probably a mistake as it came spurting out my mouth last weekend, but I was quite frustrated at Jacob's lack of intensity on the basketball court. I have given him many visualizations to demonstrate what I wanted out of him, but all were unsuccessful.

"Run your legs off and hustle, hustle, hustle!"

"Think about the ball being like your DS and a bully is taking it!"

"Pretend the other guy is Josh and the ball is your favorite Star Wars ship!"

All falling on deaf ears... But last week, oh, last week, I came across the motivating factor of all factors. Shouldn't surprise me, but I was desperate... Money.

I know, definitely a contradiction considering that he's playing in a Christian-based basketball organization, but I didn't know how to get through to this kid that was all daggers at the dinner table, but fluffy sheep and butterflies on the court... So, the gauntlet was thrown down. For every rebound you get, I'll give you $1. Ha ha ha ha ha ha... The only stipulation I had was that he could not take it from a teammate to make a quick buck. Considering last week he was watching the ball sail out of bounds like a spectator watching a pro tee off at a golf tournament, I thought I'd only give up a buck or two... Oooooh! Ahhhhh! There it goes!

Nope. My boy likes a challenge and proving his mom wrong. In only three periods (yes, I said periods again), he got seven rebounds. He was intense! He moved his feet! He went after missed shots like there was no tomorrow. So, there he was. Confidence in his eyes and the oven mitts removed from his hands... Oh, the team also won 20-9. And Jacob scored a beauty of a bucket... From dowwwwn towwwwn...

After the game, I had to do some quick thinking for next week. So I told him I'm reducing the bounty per rebound. "Just so you work harder," I told him...

And so Mom doesn't go broke. :)