TJC Basketball

"You've come a long way, baby."

The Teaneck Jewish Center's Adult Men's Basketball league has certainly come a long way since... well, since my day.

When I was 18 and still around my hometown of Teaneck, I played in the 5-team men's basketball league at the Jewish Center. There were a handful of other younger guys and some older guys. The league was such where each team only had a couple of pretty good players. I even won a MVP trophy of the league one year - this illustrates the quality of the league. I also played pick-up ball down there often.

Now, at age 31, I wouldn't come close to sniffing the ass of an MVP trophy these days. The league has grown in stature considerably. Last night I watched my brother play on a team that includes two former Teaneck High School basketball players, and two guys who are as good as those former basketball players. They played against a team that included a similar level of players, including two former THS players as well and a couple of guys who, again, are as good as them. (Now, granted, many of these guys aren't Jewish. One regular in the league is named Christian Hernandez - as Adam Sandler sang, "Not a Jew.")

Anyway, the good guys remained undefeated and won in overtime. What inspired me to write this post is that the league actually keeps stats, and has a website! (Not a great site, but one nonetheless.) You can see it here.