when even a basketball goal tells a good story

You guys have been my friends – both virtual and in real life – through a whole lotta years and a whole mess of life.  (We’re talking toddlers and vomit and divorce and death.)

All the dark, but plenty of light too.

This is a story more about the light than the dark.  More about the good shining through, than the dark closing in.

It’s nice when it stacks up that way.

I guess technically this is an affiliate post of sorts.  But, it’s also an honest post – as I truly hope and intend for every word I write to be.

It’s a post about a basketball goal.  But nothing is ever so straightforward, is it?  Not in life and not in hoops either.

Remember how I looked for more than two years for the right house?

How the house I bought and moved into wasn’t the house I thought I wanted but turned out to be entirely and precisely the house I needed?

Every home we’ve ever lived in as a family – every home I  have ever lived in as a kid – was a rural country home.  Neighbors out of viewing distance.  Driveways usually dirt or gravel.

Growing up I think I actually thought only fancy people had paved driveways or concrete pads to park their cars.  (True confessions of a country kid, I guess.)

So it was indeed a novelty to move to a home with a concrete driveway and the absolute perfect basketball court area.

Believe it or not (and I see why you would not) I actually played on my high school’s basketball team. In fact, I was the captain during my senior year.  (Fine.  It was a small private school.  I graduated in a class of nine.  Yes, if you tried out for the team you were given a jersey and a high five.  Whatever.)

But my kids have never had a basketball goal at any of our other homes.  

And I had no idea how valuable one could be.

We have a wide range of ages in our house – currently 9 to 15.  And a 24 year old daughter who visits frequently with her two toddler sons. 

You know what’s hard?  Getting your 15 year old daughter to play a game with her nine year old brother.  Convincing your other fifteen year old daughter to put down the book (occasionally!) and step outside into the sunlight.  Finding an outdoor activity that every age can play – and various skill levels can work together.

Enter the magic of basketball.

I underestimated its power.

We have this perfect spot crying out for a game of PIG or Around the World and now we have this incredible basketball goal to make it happen.

Last week we put in the best basketball goal I’ve ever seen on the concrete pad on our driveway.

Goalrilla.

It’s ridiculous, how well made this basketball goal is.

Probably my favorite part of the goal is the fact that you can lower the height so Otto can slam dunk, or raise the height to be regulation, impossibly high for any of us to dunk.

And – it’s SO easy to raise and lower that my nine year old does it without any problem.

There’s a fantastic pad that goes around the base and the pole.  You know I’m all about that since my sons can’t seem to walk and jump like normal boys and instead are constantly jumping and wrestling and falling into things.  Things like metal basketball poles.  

Plus, as they play with their friends, it takes me feel a little extra secure about the ball stealing and shoving that happens under the goal.

You can find out all of the specific details on the Goalrilla website – specifics like the amazing stabilizer technology that keeps the rim from shaking.  You can find out that this company started making goals the same year I graduated from high school.  In fact, you can find out SO much information about basketball goals that you might be able to write your own blog post.

You can buy a Goalrilla goal at Dick’s Sporting Goods or directly from their website.

I like buying from their website because then the gigantic goal is delivered to your door and you don’t have to figure out how to wrangle that into your car.

I won’t pretend the set up was speedy, but my two friends put it together one evening and the directions are really clear and guide you the entire way.  I don’t think either of them would declare it difficult to do, just that it takes a little time.  It is heavy, so you need some strength there to assemble this guy.  Using my friend’s pick up truck was really helpful at the end actually when they were attaching the backboard and the rim.

I’d love to say I put it together, but the truth is – I carried cider and homemade peppermint patties and hot chocolate out to the guys at intervals and praised their work.  That was the role I played.  (Probably similar to the role I played on my high school team, minus the beverages – that would have been weird to drink hot cocoa on the court.)

Seriously, our home feels complete with this goal in the driveway.  The Burrow is a house that needs a basketball goal.  If ever a driveway needed a basketball goal, our driveway did.

It’s been the best motivation and distraction for a long day at school.  “Hey, buddy.  Finish five more math problems, then go make five baskets, then come right back.”  Works like a charm on fourth graders.  And ninth graders too.  And some days on teachers as well.

Having a difficult conversation with a kid is made easier when you’ve got a basketball in your hand.  You can take turns, make shots, have pauses in between the hard questions.  For some heart to hearts, direct eye contact is too hard.  I’ve found the sweetest and most open conversations have started when I invite one of my kids to play a little basketball alone with me.

I know there are a lot of basketball companies out there.  I looked at a ton of options standing in Dick’s Sporting Goods and trying to make a decision.

When I wrote an email to Goalrilla, I told them this:

“Turns out, you just have the best product on the market.”  

And I meant it.

It’s strong.  Like – crazy strong.  

It’s durable.  As in – my house might fall down before this goal does.

It has options.  That adjusting the height with zero effort is the coolest thing.

It’s good looking.  I know it’s new, but it holds up over time (I’ve seen older ones) and it retains its value.

It’s secure.  Man, that thing is solid.  It is not going anywhere.

It attracts kids.  We play.  Friends play.  Grown ups play.  Girls. Boys. Young. Old.  It’s just an easy draw that asks so little of you.

I want to still be shooting hoops with Otto when he comes home from college for the holidays.  (Maybe I’ll be able to perfect my corner shot in Around the World by then.  He beats me every time on that stinking shot.)

__________________________________