The shot, the derby, and bad glue

Ok dude….. the race was this weekend. An lemme tell ya……. it was a barn burner. My bloggy girls hearts are all in the right place …big smile……..and there were lessons all around for me and my son this weekend. So I gotsta tell ya …..NOTHING happened the way ANY of us thought. I like it when bad luck really turns out to be a glass of lemonade. Albeit a small one. This one though was CLOSE………real close. Now I can’t take credit here.

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.

The weekend started out with basketball practice for ma boy and……it’s NOT going all that well. I won’t get into the details…… lets just leave it at that. We get to the pinewood derby with 15 minutes to spare and I have a bright idea. I’ll put some glue on the axles to make sure they’re secure.

Lemme say that again.

I’ll put some glue on the axles to make sure they're secure. I am a SOOOOPER genius.
We go to weigh in the car. 5.0 Oz. ……..perfect!!!!!!
I go to spin a wheel in satisfaction ….one last time.
It’s glued to the car. THEYRE ALL …..GLUED TO THE CAR!.

...O……GODOGODOGODOGOD……….
My head…………….is swimming…… and I can hear people talking "Gorfa toob a fishna te kooble"
NONONONONONONO…..this CANNOT be happening. OH MY LORD NO……
I look up to see the satisfied smirks of the dads who are now congregating to see why this guy is suddenly freaking out. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s worse than a nightmare.
10 minutes to race.
My eyes in shear panic….. I grab my son…. “FINDSOMESPAREWHEELSANDAXLES LIKEYOURLIFEDEPENDSONIT!!!!!!!!GO GO GO!!!!”
I race outside to the car for tools and he shows up with some spares.
I realize at this point…… IF……IF we can get the wheels on……..he’ll be the slowest car there because the wheels and axles are right out of the box. Fatherhood ? FAIL. It’s a repeat of last year…last place. It’s hard to conceal the look on my face. Im thinking lets just withdraw and Ill apologize. I deserve it……
My son however does not…..
I put the thing together
5 minutes to race.
We RUN in to weigh……don’t ……breathe……my heart sinks…..we’re overweight by 3 ounces! OMANOMANOMAN… the wheels are stock and haven’t been milled out like the other ones. Everything is in slow motion. THINK TREY YOU MORON…….
We RUN back to the car. I grab a knife and BUTHCER the car……B U T C H E R. Taking out huge chunks of it to get the weight down. The top…..the sides…..the back. it look like someone ran over the thing with a train. I AM FREAKING OUT!!!!!!
We run back inside with frankencar and weigh. The car is BARELY together. I am truly afraid a wheel will fall off in mid race. Ahm gunna be sick…..I’m serious. It’s a disaster. Complete with ex wife in attendance to add to the pain. And then my son says.
“We’ve done our best dad……..”
I look at him …..and realize.
We have hustled, father and son over the last 15 minutes to make the car our own. Under pressure. By the seat of our pants, together. I smile …….and the hug is worth a billion car wins.
He doesn’t go far…….. but he doesn’t come in last place!! So all in all it was more successful than last year and we celebrate even though the outcome isn’t adorned with trophies or fan fare. It’s a failure on the track but the reward is far more important. His smile was enough to put me on the moon.
We sleep on the boat that night and rest up for his basketball game on Sunday.
He has NEVER scored a point. N E V E R. Even all of last year too.
In the last quarter he gets 2 free throws after he gets fowled trying for a shot.
Im ……holding my breath.
He misses.
The second one……… goes in! Yeah dude. Success! Ma boy is an NBA star!!!!.....
We’re still losing the game but ......who cares??? Finally.....
The game is tied with about a minute left and my son……..is all alone under the basket. No one guards him because he …..isn’t a threat. He waves his arms and pleads all game long because he’s WIDE open……. and I am DYING in the stands. Unable to help.
They throw him the ball.
He shoots…… and the ball…….rolls round the rim….…and …..rolls some more …….and then
Drops in.
The Crowd goes NUTS, NUTS I say!!!!!!! and I am dancing, beaming with pride. The game winning point was HIS and they’re undefeated season is STILL intact.

You see, ya can't please everyone,
So ya got to please yourself

Bring it……...bring a lesson worth living for. He will remember all this. When he is grown and life is not so kind. It will be fresh in my memory for some time I know. Nothing better than a good juicy humbling lesson to make me realize what is important and…....what is just…….....Not. We got to throw some football sunday. He says he wants to play football like his old man. One thing at a time ma boy. One thing at a time.