“Damn, those two weeks couldn’t have passed any slower!” yelled Marcus as he was putting on his elite socks that matched with his red Falcons uniform. “Today is the day, the first tournament of the season, time to see what we are made of.” Marcus ran out his front door and headed for his basketball hoop to put some shots up before going to the game. He figured his dad, Jermaine, was going to take at least five minutes to get ready so it was just enough time to shoot around. Marcus was right; Jermaine took about five minutes to get ready and sprang out the door. He walked over to the car slowing his steps with each pace so he could watch his son get a few more shots up.


“Alright let’s go Marcus; you got a game to play.”


The ride felt like an eternity for the father and son trying to make it to warm ups before the start of the first game. Jermaine listened to his soft jazz music the whole ride there, while Marcus got psyched for his game by listening to his I-Pod. Marcus knew he was ready, bobbing his head up and down with the beat of the music. His dad tapped him on the shoulder and said they were almost there.


When they pulled up to the high school gym, they parked the car and walked in together. There was a sea of people funneling through the gym doors forcing each pair of people to walk in separately. All people were walking in, from the players to the grandparents of the players, all people wanted to be a part of the first tournament of the AAU season. Marcus had arrived at just the right time. There were 30 seconds on the clock in the game before him which gave him just enough time to stretch.

Looking around, Marcus saw his team. “Dad, that’s them over there, I have to get ready.” Marcus shot off and hurried over to his team to create some small talk and give high fives before it was their time to shine on the court. Jermaine took a seat on the old wooden bleachers next to the parents of the Falcon players.

“I think our boys are gonna look good out there today Jermaine” said a familiar face behind him.

“Yeah, I hope so” responded Jermaine.


Jermaine had never been one to talk the whole game with the fans in the stands. He was concerned with the team and how well they were playing; more specifically, he was concerned with Marcus. Jermaine wanted nothing but the best for his son and when he saw something that could give his son an edge, he would give the occasional shout on what to do.


The buzzer went off and the other team was finally finished and started to pack their stuff up on the bench. The Falcons were now officially in the building. Jermaine watched the team take the court and start their lay up lines. Each boy ran fluently from one line to the next giving making a close shot off the glass of the backboard. High fives and exchanges of encouraging words were being given to each player as they passed through the lines. Marcus looked over to the other side to check out the competition. Some of the boys on the other side looked big, but nothing to scare the Falcons away.

Coach Mike looked at the buzzer and said “Alright boys bring it in!” After the team got a sip of their water bottles, they crowded around Coach Mike. He let them know who was starting and the opening play. He ended with, “Just go out there and have fun.” This brought a smile to all the boys’ faces as some departed for the court and the remaining boys went to the bench.

Marcus brought the team in one last time before the tip off of their AAU season. “Let’s get it today!” he said to his teammates confidently. Each player took their positions and the ref aligned the ball in-between the two players. He threw the ball up and the game started, with the Falcons winning the tip. The game was moving at a fast pace and Marcus was controlling it while running the point guard position.

A rebound was caught by a big man in the second quarter and Jermaine got up and yelled out to his son, “Run it.” Right after he yelled this, he quickly fell back into his seat holding the middle to lower part of his back.

“Are you alright?” a curious man asked in the stands next to Jermaine.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Jermaine said back to the man


This pain scared Jermaine, it was the same thing he felt during his cancer two years ago. Being in remission for this long, he hadn’t felt any of the symptoms that could be a sign of pancreatic cancer. The light headed feeling now ran to Jermaine’s head. Everything in his eyes were spinning, he was on the verge of passing out. Only a couple minutes were left on the clock in the fourth quarter and Jermaine tried to stick it out as best as he could. Trying to keep his head held high, his body couldn’t take any more of it. Jermaine passed out and hit his head on the bleaches from the excruciating pain in his back and the nauseating headache that came as a result.


The loud thump startled the gym and temporarily stopped the game. Marcus looked up into the bleachers and saw his dad, passed out laying there like a limp body would if it were dead. Marcus called time out and ran up to the stands to help his dad out, but before he could get there, the paramedics were already picking him up and bringing him down to a stretcher. Marcus gave a loud weep and cried out, “Dad!” Tears were now streaming down Marcus’ face as Coach Mike held him in his arms.

“Go!” said Coach Mike pointing in the direction of his dad being exited out of the gym.


Marcus ran after his dad and told one of the paramedics that he wanted to ride in the ambulance with his dad. He left the building in bawling his eyes out, hoping his dad would be okay.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Marcus was awoken from his afternoon nap with a constant ring from his cell phone. Still tired and sleepy, he got up from the couch and reached his phone on the kitchen table before his uncle. With Jermaine in the hospital Marcus needed some supervision, so Jermaine hoped that his uncle could do the trick. Picking up the phone and looking at the caller, Marcus didn’t recognize the number. All sorts of thoughts were flying through his head. Did my dad die? Did I get in trouble for doing something? Finally he took the call.

“Hey, Marcus, it’s Coach Mike! How’s it going?” he asked Marcus with a delightful tone.

“Everything’s good Coach. My dad is doing well in the hospital so I’m hoping he will be home in the next couple of weeks.”

“You’re going to have to let him know about Florida.” Coach Mike said with excitement in his voice.

“Florida? What are you talking about?” Marcus asked confusedly.

“The Falcons are going to Florida baby! Since we have been playing so well, we got a bid to nationals. I already talked to your father and he trusts me to take you down with me. So pack your bags because we are going to leave tomorrow afternoon.”

“No way! We are going to tear it up down there! Thanks for letting me know, I’ll have my stuff packed and ready for you to get me by tomorrow afternoon.”


Marcus and Coach Mike ended their conversation on that high note. Marcus was so excited, he picked up the phone five seconds later and dialed the hospital’s number where his dad was staying. When he finally got a hold of his dad, they talked for about 45 minutes about what Marcus needed to do. Marcus had to be ready, he was about to play the best competition from around the country. Jermaine’s pep talk to his son definitely did the job. Marcus was so fired up, his voice tone rose with each word till he was screaming through out the whole house. The conversation came to an end with Marcus saying that he wished his dad could be there to watch him, to which his dad responded, “I’ll be there son—I’ll be there in your heart.” Hearing these words meant the world to Marcus and made him feel like he had something to play for. After he hung up, Marcus ran through the house and found everything he was going to need to be packed for tomorrow when Coach Mike would pick him up.


Marcus finally landed on his bed that night and thought about the dream of winning a national championship. Closing his eyes, he could see himself getting lifted up by his teammates with the trophy in his hand—gripping it tightly he held it over his head. Marcus couldn’t sleep that night, too much was racing through his head about the exciting day he had just experienced.


Coach Mike’s arrival came fast once Marcus had woken up and gotten a jump start to his day. Beeeeeep! Coach Mike laid on the horn to let Marcus know he was there to pick him up. Marcus ran out the door with a duffle bag in each hand, got to the car and threw them in. Jumping in the front seat, Marcus buckled his seat belt and they were off, headed to Florida. The whole ride down, both Coach Mike and Marcus talked strategy, what they would do in every possible situation. The 16 hour car ride felt short for the two of them, as they approached the one hour mark on Coach Mike’s GPS.

“Marcus, I have a good idea that will probably make you very happy.” Said Coach Mike

“Oh yeah, what’s that coach?” Marcus asked expecting another grand surprise like the phone call yesterday.

“I brought a video camera to record the games so your dad can watch them when we get home.” Coach Mike had a huge smile on his face after he finished his sentence. Marcus returned the smile and sat there quietly as a tear streamed down his face. He wiped it off and wished his dad could have been with him to experience the next two days.


Everything from that point on went fast. Marcus and Coach Mike checked into their hotel and before they knew it, they were at the most elite gym in the area with thousands of basketball players and fans. All the Falcons players met up before their first game and exchanged handshakes—at this point they were brothers. All the players on the Falcons were loyal and hard working, that is how they got this far. The Falcons found their way onto the polished hardwood floor and made their way out on the court to start their first game. They did the math before the game. In order to be a national champion, you would have to win three games today and two games tomorrow. Not getting ahead of themselves, they went out and played game one. With no intimidation from the other team, the Falcons steamed rolled them and won 56-38. Confidence was building and their next game was at 3 o’clock.


In their down time, the team sat together in the stands and checked out all of the teams they could possibly play. One team stood out in particular, the Bears. This team consisted of a starting line up of five players over six feet tall. Coach Mike realized that the only chance of his team playing the Bears would be in the championship, so he forgot about that team and focused on his own.


3 o’clock rolled around and the players once again laced up their shoes and took the court. The team they now had to play looked a lot better than the other team. In warm-ups, the players on the other team were dunking with ease and had off-the-chart ball handling skills. This game was much more fast paced. With Marcus running the point he controlled the tempo. Sealing the deal, Marcus hit a three with a minute left to put the Falcons up by 7. They held on to win the game and got their next playing time at 6:30.


The next game was once again not a close game. The Falcons were on a roll and were going to sleep feeling good that night. Everyone was contributing to their wins and helped get them to their 3-0 record in the national tournament. Waking up and arriving in the gym once more, the Falcons did not even realize that they were playing in the semi final game of the national 8th grade basketball tournament. Arriving at the same time as the Bears, both teams gave staredowns knowing that they were going to see each other in the championship game at 1 o’clock. Sure enough they did. The Falcons had a close competitive game with their opponent while the Bears blew their opponent out of the water with an astonishing win by 30.


The announcer came out on the court and introduced both the Falcons and Bears players to let the fans know who was playing in the national championship game. Marcus was hyped. Everything was playing out just as he wanted, now all he needed to do was win the trophy and be held up by his teammates in front of the thousands of people in the crowd. The jumpball went up, in the beginning of the game and the Bears won it. They sealed the first possession of the game and scored a layup off of a fundamental play. The game went on. Slam dunks from the Bears were being answered by all players on the Falcons. Both teams were evenly matched and made it a good battle to watch for the fans. The game was now coming down to the wire though.


With 10 seconds left, the Falcons had the ball and were down 61-60. Marcus dribbled up the court and passed it off to a teammate and ran off of a flare screen so he could get open for the final shot. This was all Marcus wanted, the pressure of making the final shot in the championship game. He wanted to redeem himself and his team for losing in the championship of his school season. Marcus saw the ball floating through the air, as he set up for his jumpshot. He knew he was going to have no time to dribble or anything so he set up with his shoulders square to the rim. He caught the ball and let it go. Watching the basketball spin each rotation, it seemed as if the gym just went in slow motion. The basketball raddled around the rim and fell in, giving the Falcons a one point lead and a national championship. Marcus ran over to the scorers table and got the trophy, it was just like he imagined on his bed. His teammates raised him up. They were national champions.



The voyage home was made by Coach Mike and Marcus about an hour after the game because Marcus wanted to get home to see his dad and tell him what happened in Florida. Coach Mike told Jermaine that he was going to pick him up on the way home and bring him home assuming he felt alright to leave. When the two showed up to the hospital and walked in, Marcus ran up to his dad and leaned over his bed and hugged him.“I’m assuming something good happened.” Jermaine said as he looked at Marcus’ huge smile.

“We won Dad and the best part is, is you get to see all the games we played because we got it on video!”


Hearing this from Marcus, Jermaine called a nurse and told her he was ready to go home. He had missed his son so much and needed some bonding time with some basketball talk at home. He got up and left his bed with Marcus’ and Coach Mike’s help out the hospital doors. When they got back to their house, Marcus stepped out of the car and thanked Coach Mike for everything and how grateful he was that his Coach would do that for him. Coach mike told Marcus and Jermaine that it was his pleasure. Watching the two walk up the walkway to their front door, Coach Mike pulled out of the driveway and left.

Marcus opened the door and hugged his dad.

These past few days couldn’t have gone any better.