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CHAPTER 1
"Hey, Jeff! Take 'um down tonight!"
"You're the man!"
"We're counting on you tonight!"
"Get 'um good!"
"Show them Gators who's the boss!"
In his classes and hallways, Jeff's classmates are letting him know their expectations for a big victory tonight! As the point guard on the Junior Varsity Basketball Team, Jeff knows that he carries his classmates' hopes and dreams for a long-awaited win over their biggest basketball rival, the Central High Gators. Jeff is supremely confident in his ability to take the Gators down hard!
"Keep your BIG EAR," says Coach Robinson to his team. Looking directly at Jeff, he adds, "Lose the BIG Head!"
Keeping the BIG EAR is how Coach Robinson reminds the team of the importance of LISTENING and FOLLOWING his plays. Jeff knows that Coach Robinson always looks his way when warning against the BIG Head. Jeff believes it's because he receives more praise than his teammates that causes Coach Robinson to view him as overly prideful.
"Jeff, you are a talented player," says Coach Robinson, "but that BIG HEAD is going to get in your way one day, Son."
Jeff, on the other hand, sees himself as having swagger and possessing a relaxed, confident manner. "A generational difference" is how Jeff dismisses Coach Robinson's concerns.
"I'm lucky to be 6'5," athletic, and ... you know ... not hard on the eyes, Coach. These qualities will take me to the top in life!"
Coach Robinson often reminds Jeff also that as the point guard, his job is to bring the team together.
"Jeff, you need to remember that there is no "I" in basketball. "WE" win as a TEAM! When you forget this, you lose your focus."
"Coach, stop worrying so much. I got this!" Jeff replies.
It's the night of the big game. Jeff is pumped and ready to beat the Gators. Fans are swelling the gym to standing-room capacity. Whoops, cheers and jeers are blowing a hole in the ceiling as the nail-biting game finds Jeff's Hornets leading by only two points, with 30 seconds remaining on the clock.
Coach Robinson signals for Jeff to re-enter the game.
"Jeff, just dribble the ball. Run the clock to zero."
"Sure thing, Coach!"
Jeff sees himself as the most thrilling attraction for the crowds. As he reenters the game, however, the crowd is urging their superstar to end the game with a spectacular shot. Suddenly, Jeff is the target of loud voices taunting him with trash talk and reckless demands.
"What wrong with you?"
"Shoot that ball, Jeff!"
"Are you scared? Take the shot!"
Like a shark gulping a minnow, Jeff's pride devours his BIG EAR. Under the shouting demands from fans, Jeff buckles, abandoning Coach Robinson's play. He goes for a glory shot.
An uneasy silence washes over the jam-packed crowd. A thousand laser eyes follow the ball. Breathing stops. Suspenseful seconds flirt with defeat and victory. The ball circles and teeters the rim; then falls ... outside the net! Gator defense explodes with a steal. He sprints down the court ... Hurls the ball from half court. With one second on the clock ... BAM! Gators win on a three-pointer, Buzzer Beater!
During the ride home with his family, Jeff struggles to hold back the watery disappointment and embarrassment stinging his eyes and toppling his pride. A turning point is a moment when the course of events causes a change in a person's life. Instinctively, Jeff knows that this night is his turning point.
After a few days, Jeff finds that the ridicule from classmates ceases as he and his teammates defeat other rivals. To everyone's joy, the Hornets finish its regular season 19-2 and sports a 28-2 overall record. Playing better than ever, Jeff ends the season as one of the Top 25 Players in the State!
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Jeff's Greatest Victory"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Dr. Beverly Boone.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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