Homobasketballicus -- 2008 edition

I've worked as a basketball coach on and off since the summer of 1978.  Anyone who knows me, will learn quickly that I am actually sort of crazy about the sport.  I watch literally thousands of games a year ranging from middle school to three levels of high school to college at every level (DIII, DII, DI and NAIA and even JUCO) and of course professional basketball from the D-League to Euro League to the NBA (though I really only watch the NBA during the pre-season and first month of the season and then follow lightly through the season and pick up intensely watching only after the NCAA championship is over).

I often use basketball analogies in my lectures to highlight the importance of the rules of the game on the strategies that players will use in deciding how to play the game --- whether that game be basketball or the game of economic life.

One of the real joys in my life has been my ability to share this love of the game of basketball with my family, friends and my wife and kids.  And as for any person who coaches the opportunity to coach their own son is a real thrill.  This is my last year coaching my son during the AAU season.  Stephen has played AAU basketball since he was 12, and organized basketball since he was 9.

Anyway, a lot of my students and even colleagues have found my obsession with the sport of basketball strange to say the least, and of course wonder why my attentions are often drawn away from economic research to a game that seems so far removed from the concerns of economics and political economy.

Well, here is the weblink to the 2008 U17 Fairfax Stars and the player profiles.  I have been coaching most of these boys since 9th grade, and we have traveled throughout the US playing against some amazing athletes --- many of whom you will see on TV in the coming years.  It has been an honor for me to work with them and I am just thrilled to be doing so again this spring/summer for one last time.  I encourage you to take a quick look at the accomplishments of these young men both on and off the court.  Perhaps some of these kids will be playing at your institution of higher learning starting in 2009.  They are great kids, some are extremely academically gifted (one boy actually scored a perfect score on his SATs and has a 4.0 GPA, and did I mention he is 6'9" and was an All-District performer last season for his HS team), and they can all contribute to a college basketball program. Let me know if your school's team could use some help!  I cannot promise that they will major in economics, but I can promise that they are the sort of student/athletes that will make any institution proud to have them compete for their teams.