Stay In Your Lane or 7

There are a ton of things running through my mind tonight as I sit in SofaKing Manor watching Memphis and Denver play (Ja Morant has out of this world skills) while the King of the Terriers, Larry Jo, lays on my leg happy that I'm home after a long day of incredible Jacket basketball.

The first thing going through my big brain is the number 7. Believe it or not, I'm a baseball guy first and foremost, although for those of you who are familiar with my government name, it's no surprise, but back to 7. Mickey Mantle, the Commerce Comet, The Mick, 7. When my kids were playing little league and I was able to choose the number they wore it was one of the following- 7, 16, 25, 34- add those last 3 together. Coincidence?? I think not.

For baseball fans, numbers are a huge thing. That and crossword puzzles and goofy superstitions but more on those when we devote more time to baseball here on the SofaKing incredible sports blog.

7 is on my mind tonight because Coach Reese and Co have punched their ticket to State for the 7th time in a row. That's pretty incredible. 7 IN A ROW. Oh, how did they do in those 7 trips?

Pretty well I would say.

How did they do it?

Recruiting? Nope.

Tons of talent? Bijan at OU, Stoney at North Texas, Trey at OBU, Jett at Southeastern. Impressive but not jaw dropping really. We have definitely been blessed with exemplary athletes but not one of those players were ones that teams would say that they had to shut them down.

Here's the secret.

I'll pause a moment so y'all can get a pencil and paper.

Ready?

Stay in your lane.

That's it.

Stay in your lane. Do your job. Don't worry about someone else's job, do your job.

That's it!

It just makes sense, just look at this season. This bunch of Seniors came into the year fresh off a State Championship and lost a key piece in 2022 graduating Senior, Chase Davis.

The questions before the season was who will start? Who will sit? How long will they sit? Will it change throughout the season?

Here's the deal that Reese and Co knew. It didn't matter because the guys he had coming back know what their roles are on the team. Who is starting, who is on the floor doesn't matter. Just do your jobs. And that's what they do.

Need more proof? No problem.

Look at the starting lineups at the beginning of the year. How many were the same 5? By beginning of the year I mean up to the Tournament of Champions. Anyway, very few were the same. Now, leading up to the TOC, how many "learning opportunities" were there? You already know, and their opponents certainly know.

Coincidence Commish, what the heck are you talking about?

Ok. Aces (considering changing his nickname to Guts and Nuts) goes down with an injury. Tell me who stepped up. Go ahead, tell me. I have watched every game this year and know exactly who did.

The TEAM did. They continued to go out and do their job. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Aces not being on the floor didn't affect things, it most certainly did- but the TEAM is made up of such incredible young men who know each other so well (something that teams who have new players year in/year out don't have) that they were able to just shift gears a little bit.

So here we are, the Jackets are fresh off of defeating a strong North Rock Creek team and punching their seventh consecutive ticket to the Big House. All by doing what seems to be a very simple thing, but one that proves to be extremely difficult to accomplish both in athletics and in everyday life...

They stayed in their lane. They did what was asked of them. They got the job done.

What will happen next week? Well, y'all know what I think will happen but that's just me being a Homer and loving these guys.

Truth is, anything can and will happen. It's playoff basketball on the biggest stage that most if not all of them will ever play on. Every team next week is coming hard and won't be backing down. We, as fans, get to sit back and enjoy.

One thing that I noticed tonight while watching the Inola/Ft Gibson girls game was the reactions of the crowd. You could hear them live or die with their teams. A made shot generated cheers, a missed shot you heard "ohhhh" as if they were saying "oh that almost went in".

We are pretty spoiled around here with the success the Jackets have had, and if history has taught us anything it's that times like this don't last forever.

Teams come and go just as players, coaches, and everything else.

So I say to you now, next week during a Jacket game. Sit back. Look up at the ceiling, close your eyes and just listen. Not for the whole game of course, that would just be ridiculous.

But just for about 10 seconds or so, close your eyes and listen to the crowd. Feel the vibrations of the highs and lows of the game and appreciate it. This is the goal of every team in the State at the beginning of the season. You made it. They made it. Seven times in a row, they stayed in their lane and got the job done.