Shelter Kid
By: Jon Stewart
(© 2021 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

jstewart@tickiestories.us

Chapter 34

In the fall there was quite a contingent from Hopewell going to State college. Basketball scholarships went to Josh, Jesse, Bobby, Mutt, and Jeff Stewart, who joined the Hopewell team in his senior year. The boys decided they wanted to stay together so when all were offered scholarships the decision was easy. Jenny, Val, and Becky, of course, wanted to be with their boyfriends, and so did Billy.

The boys brought the same winning attitude and chemistry to State that they had at Hopewell High. Jeff was made a small forward, Jesse was a little under sized as a power forward but always seemed to get the job done, Bobby was the point guard and Josh the shooting guard, Josh and Bobby played off each other quite often exchanging positions, the center was a big black kid from New York City who had grown to 6’9”. Josh and Jesse were ecstatic that Derrick was now playing with them and not against them. Mutt was a very valuable backup at center and strong forward. They weren’t the fastest team or the quickest but they were the best shooting and arguably the smartest team that state ever had. They were often challenged by other faster more athletic teams, but with smarts and fundamentals they always won out.

In the close games, when the game hung in the balance, it was always Josh that the team looked to; to score the winning basket. Some would think, that it should have been split up, that they couldn’t rely on one player to always make the winning basket. No one on the team ever questioned because Josh always got it done. He always scored with the game on the line. Every team knew he would get the ball. Through three seasons and two National NCAA titles it worked time and time again.

So, in his Junior year, in the NCAA final, down by one point time running out, again he was given the ball by the State coach. He came off the curl play, past a screener, got the pass, 3 defenders rush him, one bumped him. Through the waving arms, he turned, he jumped, he shot the ball. It was in the air, the horn sounded, end of game. Josh ran back on defense like he always did. The ball hit the rim, bounced back and forth, was half way down, spun like that for what seemed like an eternity. It spun back up around the rim and bounced out. The unthinkable happened, Josh had missed. State had lost.

Josh was back at half court, he looked up, saw he missed and fell to his knees. He was pounding his fists on the floor. He was there curled up like a ball still pounding the floor saying “No, no, I’m a loser. I let everyone down. I’m a loser.” Tears flooded his eyes. While others went about congratulating the winning team, he was still there. Jesse, Bobby, Derrick and the whole team ran over to him. They couldn’t get him up. He was hysterical and kept repeating “I’m so sorry I let you down. I made us losers. I’m sorry, I should have passed, I’m so sorry.” Coach came over, the other team came over and out of respect congratulated him on one hell of a game. It meant nothing to him.

An old man came out of the stands, he walked with a limp now from his arthritis and shuffled his feet. He was plodding along as fast as he could. Pops got to Josh. Bobby and Jesse made the crowd around him separate. Pops leaned down and put his arm around Josh.

He whispered “It’s okay to be human, Josh. Come on now, let me help you up.”

“But I lost us the championship, Pops. I am such a loser.”

Pops said “Josh, since I got you out of that shelter, you have been nothing but the biggest winner I have ever known. It’s just a game, son. In spite of our best efforts sometimes, it’s not enough. It’s okay; don’t tell me, you didn’t do your best. You did. I know and so does everyone else. Come on now, Josh Fitzgerald Calahan, time for you to get up. You have more important things to do.”

Josh struggled to his feet, Pops holding on to him so tight. Josh now taller than Pops with his arm on Pops’ shoulders; leaning on Pops, holding on like he had done so many years ago when he had those damn dreams.

Pops said “Now don’t go running into that locker room; my old legs don’t move too fast.

The team kind of chuckled at that. Josh smiled at Pops and said “Thank you, I love you.”

As Josh and the state team slowly walked off the court; the winning team stopped congratulating themselves and stood silently, kind of at attention and clapped. They respected the effort and heart of the state team and had to show it. They beat a team that was undefeated through 89 games and won by 1 point, but win they did. The crowd in the stands did the same. The valiant state team with Josh walked off the court to a silent, respectful, crowd and a standing ovation.

The state coach, held his post-game interview. “Hey 89 and 1 after 3 seasons, I’ll take that. This was a game that both teams deserved to win. We came up a little short today, but I am immensely proud of my young men today especially, Josh Calahan.”

The press could be a bunch of vultures on a losing coach. One reporter asked “Calahan missed the last shot. How can you be proud of him?”

Coach looked at the reporter with eyes that could kill. It was his job to work with the press but this was a little bit much. He bit his tongue and explained why … “Josh scored on 8 out of 12 shots today, had 26 points and had 9 assists. He has taken the last shot for us in every tight game for the last 3 seasons and except for tonight, he scored the winning basket every time. Tonight, he got bumped and had 3 players rush him on his shot. I understand fouls are not called in the last seconds of a championship game like this. I’m not complaining but if the same sequence happened 5 minutes earlier, you’d have to be blind not to see the foul. Beyond all that, he got a good shot off; it went half way down and back up and out. He was hysterical afterwards saying he let his team down. Now, if I had any player in the world to shoot that shot, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, any NBA player, I would still pick Josh. In all my years in this game I have never seen a player with more desire to win or more heart or more courage. I don’t know how many organized games of basketball he has played. I know in high school his team never lost a game and he always made the last shot in tight games. I think over 4 seasons they have the longest unbeaten streak in the history of high school basketball, in the state. We had him do the same thing here. Think about the pressure of that!!! Think about that gentlemen. In 7 years, that young man has never lost and has always had the job of getting the winning basket in tight games. Now I’m gonna tell you guys something; whoever has a headline that says Josh missed, State loses. That reporter will be banned from my locker room and I will never acknowledge them in an interview because that is not the story of this game. The story of the game is that the basketball gods did not smile on State today. The winning basket was halfway down when it rolled up and out, Josh scored 26, on 8 of 12 shooting. Hell people, that’s 75%, that’s superhuman. And I have to explain why I am proud of his game tonight? Jeeze some people just have no …”

Coach stopped there. The reporter had his head down then put his hand up. “Thanks Coach, I’ll write it just as you said and I agree you should be proud of him and all your team. I apologize, the question was insensitive.”

With their streak broken Josh, Jesse, Bobby, Mutt, and Jeff had extra motivation the following year. Having seen what the pressure of having to take the last shot in every tight game did to Josh, Coach decided to spilt up that role. Josh became a decoy and opened up other very easy to make shots for his team. But when they had a real tough opponent, Josh got the ball.

Their senior year season, they rolled into the finals of the NCAA on a 31-game winning streak. It was the last game they would play together. In the locker room, Bobby got up and shook every one’s hand and thanked each player from Hopewell High. They all did the same. Jesse said “Let’s not let it be close; I don’t want any pressure on Josh tonight.” Josh shoved his good friend a little bit. “I agree let’s not make it close, I’m tired of having to shoot those end-of-game shots.” Their barrage was endless. As a team, the Hopewell High guys shot 80% from the floor and 100% from the foul line. By the middle of the second half the game was decided and Coach substituted for all the players at once. Arm in arm they came off the court smiling and waving to another much louder standing ovation. The game was delayed for almost 5 minutes, as the State fans would not quiet down. For sure they were one of the best college teams ever.

After the game they all were together. “So, who here wants to go pro”, Jesse asked. Derrick said he was thinking of it, if he got a good guarantee contract.

Josh said “You know, we were so good because we really knew each other and we played 100% as a team. Together we are good, really good for college, but I don’t know if any of us are good enough to turn pro. Yeah, in college, we would face one super athletic guy, maybe 2 on a team but in the pros, there are 10 of them on the team. I don’t think I could compete, at least not at the level we’ve been able to do.”

Bobby said “Yeah, I know, I don’t have a shot. If I can’t make lay ups, I kind of stink. Nope, no pros for me.”

Mutt said “All I do is take up space and push people out of the way. I doubt I’ll get drafted.”

Jesse said, “The reason I asked is … I kind of don’t want to ruin it. Most of us have been together since freshman high school. I mean, we lost 1 game in 8 years by 1 point. That is something special, really special. We have to be one of the best teams of all time, if you count high school.”

Jeff said “I agree, I don’t think I’m good enough for the pros. Derrick is the most athletic of all of us and he has his mom to think about. If any of us are good enough, it’s Derrick.”

Josh, Jesse, and all of them agreed. ”Derrick, if you make it, you got to get us tickets every time you’re in town.”

“Deal, I hope I can do it without you guys. I mean this is the best team ever.”

Teams tried to draft Josh, Jesse, and Jeff and were turned down. Bobby and Mutt didn’t get offers from the NBA. Derrick got a guaranteed contract for several million dollars. Everyone was happy for him. They had a party and for dinner they all had chicken a la king.

To be continued...

Posted: 03/11/2022