I am hoping 2022 will be a better year for you and me than 2021. Besides trying to stay safe from all the variants of covid (which we did), I still managed to undergo eight procedures requiring anesthesia and spend seven days in the hospital over the full year.  Fusion of three toes in my right foot, a pacemaker, an ablation and a staph infection in the post-operative foot, all made 2021 a year to forget.  If anything, the summer and winter basketball ratings was about the only thing that kept me going.  I have to give a Shout-Out to my wonderful wife who nursed me through all of these traumas and the healing process. For some guys, this might have seemed like heaven.  When I would try to get out of my chair to get something, she would say "Sit tight!  What do you need?  I will get it for you!"  It has only been the last two months that I have been coddling her again.  She deserved a couple of months of my cooking and washing up dishes after seven months of nursing me back to

 I know I just posted All-Metro St. Louis ratings a few days ago, but there have been some significant scores in the past few days and I thought it was important to put my ratings in perspective.   JUST BECAUSE TEAM B BEATS TEAM A, DOES NOT MEAN THAT TEAM B WILL BE RANKED HIGHER. Many of you will look at my ratings and say, "my team beat so-and-so" but they are not rated ahead of them!  When I re-examine those game results, I either re-adjust the ratings (because I have not captured every game in the state, at least not yet) or I let them know my ratings stand, as is.  Why? The ratings are calculated based on the entire season unless there are some extenuating circumstances like a key player was lost to injury for a significant time period.  I might weigh the games he or she has played more than the games where they were absent.  If a team upsets another team, I need to look at how close the ratings were before the game.  Here's a few examples: SLUH 66, Chaminade 57 Lafay

 I wanted to put out an expanded Metro St. Louis All School rankings to go with the top 25 but I had some thoughts about the letter B this morning. Basketball is the first word I think of for the letter B.  It is a complex game and it has a lot of elements.  There so many ways to contribute on a BB team but I think most players, and definitely their parents, often measure their sons and daughters on how many points they scored.  When the Baskets don't fall, the players get down and the parents start questioning.  It seems to me, it all starts and ends with the letter B. So here are my thoughts on the letter B: BEEF - Shooting form can get out of whack, even when you practice every day.  When a player struggles, I think about BEEF which is an acronym for Balance, Elbow, Elevate and Follow-through.  If a player is struggling with their shot, it is usually the elbow that throws off their shot.  Elbow in, boom.  Elbow out, bust.  Get in the gym and take some shots.  Start at five feet.

 The Gateway Athletic Conference and Suburban St. Louis teams square off at Lindenwood University, starting tonight and going through next Saturday.  There are a bunch of great match-ups and there will be some nail-biters, as the teams have been matched up to provide competitive games. Both conferences have some great teams and this challenge should have some exciting games.  If you get a chance, head out to Lindenwood and see some great basketball. Here are my picks for the Challenge: