Todd Ridgaway Memorial Tournament a Success

This last weekend was a special one, as basketball players from everywhere came to play in the Todd Ridgaway Memorial Tournament, which was a tourney that players paid to play in, and that money was donated to charity. I attended this tournament with my brother (Zak Holmes) and his team, the Gruden Grinders. The tournament hosted 22 teams, was double elimination, and the games were played in halves. It was very interesting, as teams were allowed to name themselves whatever they wanted, and teams from “You Goin’ Learn Today” to “The Flint Tropics” were included. This is my opinion on how this tournament turned out.

First off, I am going to sound like everybody who has ever watched a basketball game, as I say the referees were some of the worst ones I have ever seen in my life. These refs changed multiple games, as they would call a foul when there was none present, or not call a foul when there was definitely one present. The Gruden Grinders were playing in a game vs. the Emory & Henry basketball team, a.k.a. “2 Hard 2 Guard," when my brother went up for a layup, and was smacked hard on the arm while shooting, and no call was made. This normally wouldn’t be so unusual, except for the fact that he had a full handprint on his forearm, and no whistle could be heard. The referees were so bad that they were calling fouls on the wrong people! A player on “The Tryhards” was driving down the court on my brother and his teammate, when the teammate punched him in the face by accident while going for the ball. They called the foul on Zak. In another instance, a different teammate tackled another player, and once again, Zak was given the foul.

The terrible officials didn’t ruin the tournament, even though it seemed like they tried. Lots of exciting plays happened, including multiple dunks that are hard to do. Tip slams, fastbreaks, posterizing . . . you name it, it was happening. For one instance, I witnessed a tip slam that was also a tomahawk. There were also huge leads and final scores in wins by the teams. At one point, one team was beating another, 50-8, at the end of the first half. The Gruden Grinders were knocked out by losing by 38, and that was by 2 Hard 2 Guard. It was a great effort, but just not enough.

All in all, it was a fun tournament, and that was what they wanted. It brought in money and entertainment to a great crowd. My opinion is attend next year’s Todd Ridgaway Memorial Basketball Tournament; you won’t be disappointed.

-Blake Holmes