Recovery after Gus

That's me and the legendary Scott (Gus Macker) McNeal at Saturday morning's opening ceremonies. Gus made his 20th consecutive trip to Quincy this weekend, the longest running Gus Macker tournament in the country to my knowledge, and it was a blast as usual.

Scott got the keys to the city from Mayor John Spring and was genuinely humbled. He is one of the most fascinating, high energy and downright positive men I have ever met. He's like a windup toy that never runs out of the juice, an incredible human being.

You are always going to hear the stories about mad parents, kids who misbehave, etc. I saw very little of it and I was all over the place Sunday afternoon after a great two days on Dream Court. Thanks to Don O'Brien and Bill Shuler for helping with announcing games, and SheyFey for being an awesome Dream Court Rally Monkey.

On Sunday afternoon I jumped right into the fray and officiated the championship game on Red A, the youngest division, and these little guys flinging up jumpers on the 8-foot basket were tremendous. It was chaos and actually the biggest issue was an older brother of one of the players who thought he was Bobby Knight. Bobby and I had a little chat near the end of the game. Bobby sat down and didn't say much after that.

On Dream Court the only issue we had was a Quincy High vs. Quincy Notre Dame matchup of macho freshmen and sophomores. You know, you really don't impress me by talking smack after making a basket, or whacking wildly as your man blows past you for a layup. It's the first time I can remember having to come off the stage while doing play by play to officiate and calm things down.

I know they are good kids, but they watch a little too much And 1.

But after that all I saw was great effort and people having a blast. I went down to a 11-12 boys court near the end of the day and officiated a few games and they were a joy to watch and hang out with.

Gus, you were great, as usual. We go to Traverse City this weekend, first time I've been back there since my Alpena News days, and it will be awesome again.