Six Things That Shaped PCTI: #3

To kick off PCTI IIIIII, I've decided to take a look back at the 6 moment that shaped PCTI into what it is today.

6. Dismissal of the PWSNBN. (PCTI IIIII)

5. Arrival of Smo, Chase, and Donley. (PCTI II)

4. Sabin Turns Heel. (PCTI III)

3. Cramp Game (PCTI I)

In the 1997 comedy classic, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, there is a scene where an evil henchman is “stuck” in dire straits. Austin hijacks an asphalt roller and starts driving it towards Dr. Evil’s main lair. Initially, two of Dr. Evil’s henchmen try to halt him. After two seconds and the asphalt roller slowly moving towards the henchmen, one moves out of the way, while the other freaks out and screams, “STOP!”  The henchman knowing what is coming towards him, has plenty of time to move out of the way. The viewer can ascertain that the henchman needs to move out of the way, or he dies a terrible and preventable death. However, he continues to scream and eventually meets his demise.

The Cramp Game was a result of collective ignorance in putting on a basketball weekend. PCTI scheduled two Friday night games, followed by two Saturday morning games, a Saturday night game (originally game 6 was scheduled for Saturday night), and two games on Sunday. The fourth game in the grueling 14-hour Friday/Saturday stretch proved to be too much for the majority of PCTI. Additionally, the humidity inside (and outside) the gym combined with the fact that we played in a converted barn (translation: no insulation), spelled disaster for all of PCTI.

The game was a grind and terribly played on both sides. Much like the henchman wanted Austin to stop the slow asphalt roller that would result in his death, everyone in PCTI wanted to stop the slow cramps that we saw coming. By the end of the game, no one went full speed and everyone tried to protect themselves from the ominous blue tile that turned into a de facto ice skating rink. It seemed after Ben Wilson cramped up for the 30^th time that everyone wanted to “STOP!”

The Inglorious Ballers proved to have 1-2 more crampless players, which allowed them to secure the win. The only memories from this game come from everybody cramping sans a few players and everyone ice-skating on the blue layer just off the edge of the court behind the baskets. From recollection, it seemed both sides were hoping one team would take the initiative and just win it from the start of the 2^nd half yet nobody wanted to win.

Why is this important? It turned a weekend into a long weekend. It forced PCTI to become a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday excursion. We expected growing pains in the inaugural year. This game made PCTI space out games to prevent this from happening again. Since this game, two games have been played during the day on Friday (now Thursday) and gave PCTI players ample time to recover.

Most importantly, it helped usher in the social aspect of the weekend. The first PCTI had a few guys going out to booze for a bit mostly on Saturday night. Everyone was tired and/or worried about cramping for the next day. With the games spaced out and everyone recovering properly, PCTI II had everyone going out more and making this a great weekend all-around.