At the introductory meeting for the local kids rec-league basketball season, we
coaches of fifth-graders received a four-word message that would make Gregg
Popovich cringe, let alone a bunch of volunteer moms and dads:Three-point shot:
YES.
Cheap
Nike Free Run Shoes .For the past five seasons, we had avoided this
most awkward of youth-sports topics -- Can I shoot a 3? The answer was always a
reasonable No. The league doesnt have them.Now, all that work wed done over the
past half-decade to encourage high-efficiency shots -- unguarded, balanced feet
and above all in your range ... the quintessential Good Shot -- was threatened
to be undermined by the gravitational pull of long-range mind-bogglers from the
likes of Steph Curry, along with the kids confidence that the 3-point line was
closer to derring-do than the universal plaintive wail of the youth coach:
Dont!As coaches of 10-year-olds, how could we mitigate the siren song of the
silly-long 3? The solution came in the form of what might be the only real
competition with Curry-esque 3-jacking in a kids imagination:Chuck E.
Cheese.Parents know the birthday party haven that ensures your kid will come out
wired on pizza, attention-revving punch and fistfuls of tickets theyll flash
your way when you come to pick them up, steering you toward a wall of prizes
that probably cost 1/100th of the spending that went into earning those
tickets.Its brilliant, really. The kids are obsessed with the acquisition of
tickets and then trading them in for stuff that likely wont make it through the
rest of the day without being broken or lost.And so taking a page from the
restaurant, I designed a youth-sports motivational system that can only be known
as ... wait for it ...Chuck E. Threes.Heres how it works:For every play a kid
makes that is actually one we as coaches want them to make -- a good shot, a
solid screen, hustling after a loose ball, making a deflection, picking a
teammate up off the floor -- they earn a point. Its just like a Chuck E. Cheese
ticket, I told them.Amass enough points and you get the green light to take a
3.It is simple and it is something the kids innately understand because they all
have Ph.D.s in Chuck E. Cheese Economics: Ive seen them master supply, demand,
arbitrage, hedging -- all in the context of Skee Ball, Whack-a-Mole and the claw
game.And so Im using the cacophony of Chuck E. Cheese to manage -- OK, thwart --
their compulsion to jack up 3-pointers in a game just because they now can, and
replacing it with a familiar reward system that at least ensures that the team
will see 20 smart hustle plays first.Hopefully by that point, the hustle plays
translate into just enough winning basketball to offset the 3-point shots that
no 10-year-old should be taking.But this is 3s?were talking about. There is no
greater currency for a grade-school basketball player. Except maybe Chuck E.
Cheese tickets.Dan Shanoff writes about parenting for espnW.
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Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major
basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that
ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which
lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005.
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Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while
incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20
regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had
already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks
to play that day. CLEVELAND -- The confetti has been cleaned up. The party hasnt
stopped. Always rocking, Clevelands rolling like never before.Since superstar
LeBron James and the Cavaliers clinched the NBA championship with a historic
comeback to quench the citys 52-year major title drought, Cleveland has been
celebrating -- and winning -- at a startling rate.Picking up where the Cavs left
off, the Indians have reeled off 12 straight victories and are threatening to
run away with the AL Central. Theyve also motivated some skeptical fans to buy
tickets so they dont miss out on the summer fun.Suddenly, a city accustomed to
losing cant lose.Between the Cavs, the Indians and the Arena League Gladiators,
Cleveland teams are a combined 17-0 since June 15. Toss in the AHLs Lake Erie
Monsters winning the Calder Cup and Clevelands Stipe Miocic recently becoming
the UFC heavyweight champion and its easy to see why everyones in a good
mood.Take a walk around downtown, where things continue to be spruced up for the
upcoming Republican National Convention, and everything looks and feels
different.Clevelanders are holding their heads high and puffing out their chests
in a way they never could. Theres been a noticeable attitude adjustment for fans
no longer wondering if theyll ever witness one of their teams win it all.Its
happened, and now they believe it can happen again.Its kind of like the weight
of the world has been taken off everybodys shoulders, Andrew Rivera of Cleveland
said as he hustled back to his office following a lunch break. They are a lot
more relaxed, relieved.This hangover isnt hurting anyones head.Last weeks parade
for the Cavaliers drew nearly one million spectators, who joyfully swallowed
James and his teammates during a procession through the streets of a city whose
downtrodden image is undergoing a massive makeover.But beyond superficial
changes to roads, buildings and parks, a much deeper transformation is
happening.In northeast Ohio, where cynics and fatalists have shared church pews,
bar rails and work rooms for generations, theres a feeling that anything is
possible.The Akron-born James and the Cavaliers not only overcame a 3-1 deficit
to defeat the Golden State Warriors in seven games, theyve sparked a change in
the collective mindset of fans who felt their teams were cursed or incapable of
winning.Now, one championship wont suffice.Were starving for more, John Sopczyk
of Streetsboro, Ohio, said after he and his wife bought Indians tickets.Weve
been staarving for 52 years, and now the Indians are on their way, he said.
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crazy. But after seeing cities such as Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and
others quickly stack up trophies, Cleveland wants more.If everyone else can do
it, Marge Sopczyk said. Why cant we?The Indians are on deck for a title
push.They extended their longest winning streak since 1922 -- and one shy of
matching the team record -- on Wednesday night with a 3-0 shutout over Atlanta.
Although they havent won the World Series since 1948, these Indians, boasting
one of baseballs best starting staffs and a roster blossoming with young stars
such as shortstop Francisco Lindor, just might have enough to make Octobers
interesting again on the shores of Lake Erie.The Indians have the lowest average
attendance in the major leagues so far this season, but are now seeing a surge
in ticket sales since Clevelands fairytale ending to the title drought. They
drew nearly 90,000 fans -- many of them chanting Lets Go Cavs! -- during the
last weekend of the NBA Finals, and team officials expect crowds in excess of
30,000 at Progressive Field for several games next week leading into the
All-Star break.As a lifelong Clevelander, I think the woe-is-me attitude has
finally been lifted, said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians vice president of public
affairs. That mentality is gone and people are ready to invest themselves into
things they didnt want to fully commit to before. Were getting some of that Cavs
energy.Indians manager Terry Francona has seen this domino effect before. In
2004, he guided the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series title in 86
years, and three years later, they did it again.Im thrilled for the city,
Francona said this week while the club was in Atlanta. Im not from there, but
Ive been there long enough to care and I know what it meant to some of the
businesses. I guess the hope is that people want to come now to watch us.Count
the Sopczyks in.Before heading to the Cavs team shop inside Quicken Loans Arena,
where there continues to be long lines of customers stocking up on championship
gear, they scored tickets to the Indians-Tigers game on July 4. They had one
more stop.Were going to the casino, John said.Roll on, Cleveland.---AP
freelancer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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