The Penalty Box
March 9, 2021 at 11:26 p.m.
The Penalty Box
By Roger Grossman-
There is no more sure sign of spring than the thought that the National Christian College Athletic Association’s Division I national basketball championships returning to Grace College.
Nope, it’s not March Madness, but it’s high-quality basketball from kids who are good enough to play college basketball but were overlooked by the higher-profile college recruiters.
At least, that’s what it used to be.
The Crossroads League rosters are laced with young men and young women who, for one reason or another, could be playing D-1 but are not. Some of them were wrongfully rejected for being too short, too slow or for some other reason.
Some players made a personal choice not to jump into the deep end of the pool of the Big Ten or MAC, also for many reasons. Some want to play more games closer to home so their parents and family can see them play more in person. Some find a school that has a course offering that best matches up to their career path.
And some of those players were in D-1 programs, realized that it wasn’t for them, and wanted to keep playing basketball at a smaller college.
All of those are legit.
A lot of those kids end up in the CL.
Even more will be playing at Grace next week.
I am honored to lend my voice to the live video streaming of the women’s tournament this year. After a long winter of traveling and getting home late at night and missing out on movie nights and game nights and birthday parties with my wife and kids, adding another week of games is not really a great idea.
But it’s important that we support this events and others like them, or they disappear and don’t generally come back.
My way of helping show my support is by doing what I do—by call games.
Your way of helping will be different.
Maybe your business could sponsor a team or the tournament as a whole.
Fans will be allowed to a certain capacity, so maybe you could just come and watch the games. You may not know any of the teams—you may not have ever heard of the schools before. It doesn’t matter. You are going to see quality basketball, in person, and kids playing for a national championship. You may scoff at that, but don’t tell the men and women playing or coaching in these games than their games aren’t as important as some others.
There is another reason to support the tournaments next week.
We talk a lot in this space about how to be positive, and how not to be negative. There will be 16 teams here next week, and there are roughly 15 players on each of those rosters.
Those are good kids who work hard in class and work hard on the court and they have earned the right to be in that spotlight. We should want to show our support for good people doing good things. We have a responsibility to encourage people like these.
This year, of course, will be a little different. There won’t be a pre-tournament banquet. There won’t be players doing community service projects like reading to our kids in their classrooms or cleaning up around retirement homes.
But there will be basketball, and some of the best small college teams in America will be right here in our back yard to play for a title and to entertain us.
Remember, the NCCAA Finals at Grace were one of the first events to have their plug pulled because of the pandemic last year.
We should embrace their return as we would a friend that we haven’t see for a long time—with a long, meaningful hug that feels like it go on forever.
There is no more sure sign of spring than the thought that the National Christian College Athletic Association’s Division I national basketball championships returning to Grace College.
Nope, it’s not March Madness, but it’s high-quality basketball from kids who are good enough to play college basketball but were overlooked by the higher-profile college recruiters.
At least, that’s what it used to be.
The Crossroads League rosters are laced with young men and young women who, for one reason or another, could be playing D-1 but are not. Some of them were wrongfully rejected for being too short, too slow or for some other reason.
Some players made a personal choice not to jump into the deep end of the pool of the Big Ten or MAC, also for many reasons. Some want to play more games closer to home so their parents and family can see them play more in person. Some find a school that has a course offering that best matches up to their career path.
And some of those players were in D-1 programs, realized that it wasn’t for them, and wanted to keep playing basketball at a smaller college.
All of those are legit.
A lot of those kids end up in the CL.
Even more will be playing at Grace next week.
I am honored to lend my voice to the live video streaming of the women’s tournament this year. After a long winter of traveling and getting home late at night and missing out on movie nights and game nights and birthday parties with my wife and kids, adding another week of games is not really a great idea.
But it’s important that we support this events and others like them, or they disappear and don’t generally come back.
My way of helping show my support is by doing what I do—by call games.
Your way of helping will be different.
Maybe your business could sponsor a team or the tournament as a whole.
Fans will be allowed to a certain capacity, so maybe you could just come and watch the games. You may not know any of the teams—you may not have ever heard of the schools before. It doesn’t matter. You are going to see quality basketball, in person, and kids playing for a national championship. You may scoff at that, but don’t tell the men and women playing or coaching in these games than their games aren’t as important as some others.
There is another reason to support the tournaments next week.
We talk a lot in this space about how to be positive, and how not to be negative. There will be 16 teams here next week, and there are roughly 15 players on each of those rosters.
Those are good kids who work hard in class and work hard on the court and they have earned the right to be in that spotlight. We should want to show our support for good people doing good things. We have a responsibility to encourage people like these.
This year, of course, will be a little different. There won’t be a pre-tournament banquet. There won’t be players doing community service projects like reading to our kids in their classrooms or cleaning up around retirement homes.
But there will be basketball, and some of the best small college teams in America will be right here in our back yard to play for a title and to entertain us.
Remember, the NCCAA Finals at Grace were one of the first events to have their plug pulled because of the pandemic last year.
We should embrace their return as we would a friend that we haven’t see for a long time—with a long, meaningful hug that feels like it go on forever.
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