早晨6：30起床，悄悄上楼叫醒儿子，去篮球馆取他拉在那里的比赛服。

 

也是最后的时机了，我安慰儿子：“这是tournament，每个队都是奔着冠军去的，都会让最优秀的队员上场，如果我是教练也会这么安排的，所以。。。所以。。。”，所以什么呢？

 

两天前的一场local比赛上，儿子没能上场，全场板凳。之前其它几场他也只有很少的时间，但毕竟是上了。回家路上他一直沉默不语，我几次想cheer up，都失败了。还没收到你的圣诞节WISH LIST呢，说吧，想要什么？一声“I don’t know”之后又是沉默。他右手支着脑袋斜靠在车窗上，一言不发。

 

他对自己在球队的位置是有自知之明的，经常听他说谁谁谁跑得快无人能比，谁谁谁的弹跳高他不能及。每次比赛能多打1分钟就满足，不多不少时也能找到高兴的理由：从最后几分钟提前到中间几分钟啦。看来，满场板凳他实在接受不了了，唉，少年小拖之特别苦恼。12人的队伍，8个老队员，上场的只能5个。还是网球好啊，想不上场都没人能替补。

 

“。。。所以。。。你看啊，平时我们看比赛都是在电视上，你今天可以去现场了，还是最好的位置（bench么，都在第一排），如果上不了场，就当是在最好的位置看了3场比赛，也很好，对吧？对。。。吧？”

 

“not really.”

 

“要不然就。。。不去了？”，我犹豫着试探。

 

“I go. I am the team member.”他很坚定。

 

可是，如果坐一天板凳呢？哪有家里的沙发舒心？我忍住声不再劝了，专心司机。深秋的清晨已经有了冬天的寒意，地上泛着灰白的霜，清冷和无奈顺着突兀的树干向枝梢扩散开去。偶尔有枯叶被风卷上路面，误以为是过路的小动物，我警觉着减速，为他们的莽撞忧心。

 

儿子一向阳光乐观开朗，这是性格也是他的顺利所致。受点儿挫败不是坏事，是对意志的磨练，是通往成功的阶梯。。。理论我懂，但到了联系实际的环节，就恨不能把自己横在锉刀下替儿子挨锉。我只能眼睁睁看着儿子经历这成长的痛。

 

“钱在包内的小口袋里，有零有整，用多少拿多少。”

“en.”

 

“COOLER里东西很多，跟大家一起吃。”

“en.”

 

“Ipad夹在衣服中间，玩过后记着放回去。”

“en.”

 

“和大家在一起，不要单独行动。”

“en.”

 

7：50，出发，120 mile以外的地方。

 

第一场11：00开打。12：11收到儿子从前线发来的战报，“hey we won and I scored 4 points.”儿子懂我，他知道妈妈的惦记。他没看比赛，他打比赛啦。

 

6：03第二轮比赛结束，捷报再次传来，“we won again. I scored 3.”

 

决赛是晚上8：00，再无音讯，看来是被灭了。这就不关我的事啦，我的愿望已经圆圆地满地前滚翻后滚翻了。

 

午夜时分，将士们终于回来了，儿子脖子上挂着他的第一枚篮球奖牌，亚军哦~~~~~~

 

后来了解到，刚开场一名主力就受伤被送去医院，“骨头都stick out了”，不久，又一名被step on受伤，不得不退出比赛，加上一名发烧未能成行的，儿子就升级为主力了，而且不负众望。

 

The cool morning air was crisp as I stepped outside to load my bag into the trunk.

 

……

 

I was on the bench for the first quarter since I wasn't a starter. I watched patiently as our team gradually took a lead over the other team. At the start of the second quarter, I finally got to go in. I played at forward so I was under the basket most of the time. That was when I got my first 2 points of the season. I caught the ball in the corner at the three-point line and then I went baseline and laid it in. The next time I scored was when my teammate Bryce drove the lane and faked the layup and dished it to me. I was under the basket so I put it in easily. I didn't score the rest of the game but I was still happy that I scored for the first time this season.

 

……

 

Our next opponent I scored 3 points. One was from a free throw. The other one was when I got passed the ball on the block and I pivoted away from my defender and hit a turn-around jumper over his outstretched arms. That was the highlight of my day because I could hear my bench yelling ohhhhhhh because I just embarrassed the other team’s player. We eventually won the game (another blowout) and moved on to the championship.