Weekend in Omaha

I spent this past weekend in Omaha, Nebraska at Creighton University. We (that is, the head coach, the other assistant coach, and I) took our Bishop Kelley varsity basketball team to team camp. We left at 4 am on Friday (yes, that is EARLY) and drove the school's big bus north to Omaha. It took about 8 hours, but we stopped numerous times for breakfast, lunch, and bathroom breaks. Really it wasn't a bad drive, and we got to the campus in plenty of time for our first game.

The fun started as soon as we arrived on campus! The first eventful situation occurred when our bus stalled out while we were going uphill towards our dorm. It just stopped and wouldn't go forward. Every time our coach took his foot off the brake, we just slid backwards! Not a good situation! If we kept going backwards we would eventually slide into a busy intersection. We had no idea what to do. So our coach did the only thing possible: he turned off the bus and restarted it and wouldn't you know it, as soon as he pushed the accelerator, we made it up the hill! Thank God!!

We played 3 games on Friday afternoon/evening and played fairly well, especially since we have only had 3 short practices with the girls since taking over the program. On Saturday, we played 6 games, including a game against one of the top teams in Nebraska and one of the top teams in Iowa. We lost both those games, but only by a little. We also found out that the bus had an electrical short or something and had reverted to "limp" mode, which is why it stopped working! The repair shop would not be able to repair it over the weekend, so we had to find alternate return plans. Oh the joys of traveling on a school bus!

Finally, Saturday afternoon brought about one of the scariest incidents that has occurred in all the years I have been a lifeguard. I received a voicemail from the lifeguard I had left in charge while I was gone. All she said was, "Jamie, please call me as soon as possible," and I could definitely tell she was crying. After getting a hold of her and talking to both her and my boss at the country club, I learned that a 2-year old boy had slipped into the pool unnoticed by his parents and my lifeguards. They (the boy's father and my lifeguards) pulled him out approximately 20 seconds later, and he was not breathing. One of my lifeguards grabbed the breathing mask and was going to start rescue breathing, but his mother started in first. After his mother (a nurse) tried to give him 3 breaths, he started coughing, and began breathing on his own. In the meantime, my other lifeguard called 9-1-1 and alerted the general manager. I don't know the details of what happened next, but I do know that the boy ended up being fine. Of course my lifeguards were very shaken (especially the one I left in charge because she reacts to bad situations much in the same way I do - blaming herself and constantly thinking how it could have been prevented), and I felt bad that I wasn't there to at least offer comfort and counseling. I did have several conversations with both lifeguards throughout the evening to make sure they were okay, to assure them that they did what they were supposed to do, and that regardless of what happened before, they DID save a life. Wow, the things I have learned to do on this job! I'm glad God was watching over this situation!

So, back to basketball... we played 2 more games on Sunday morning and the girls were exhausted! We rented a 15-passenger van and a Chrysler Pacifica to drive back to Tulsa. I got to drive the Pacifica all the way home! Wahoo! I love driving long distances, but I found out that driving is way more fun when you're actually with other people (that's a rarity for me). We ended up with a record of 8-3 during the weekend and all of our losses were close. We came from behind to win one of the Sunday games, which showed me that the girls have a never-say-die attitude. I also got to know the girls and the other assistant coach a lot better. We assigned the girls' roommates and told them to interview each other and learn 10 new facts about the other person. On the way home we stopped at Chili's for "linner" (lunch-dinner), and all of the girls shared what they had learned about their roommate. I also got to spend a great deal of time listening to the girls in my car talk (we had 2 different groups of 3) and learned some more things about those girls and the school. We finally got back to Tulsa at 8:15 Sunday night.

Overall, it was a fast-paced and super-fun weekend (except for the pool incident)! I had been looking forward to this weekend for several weeks, and it was as much fun as I expected it would be! Now, it is back to the real world (i.e. swim lessons, pool managing, and no basketball :( ) for a few weeks. Now more than ever I can't wait for the pool season to be over, but alas, it doesn't close for over a month yet.

Thanks for reading about my long and eventful weekend! I'll try to keep it shorter next time...