Writer aims for a repeat performance

Few Columbia County sports fans truly know the significance of the 2006-07 basketball season.

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Sure, Greenbrier, Evans and Lakeside are caught up in what could be the most competitive boys' basketball region we've seen in years. Yes, Augusta Prep is on pace to have two of its finest seasons (boys' and girls' teams) in school history. Of course, the Greenbrier girls entered the weekend undefeated, with absolutely no sign of slowing down.

Yet of all those impressive basketball facts there remains one other milestone that trumps them all. This is the 10-year anniversary of one of the most amazing basketball games in the county.

Ten years ago exactly, a young middle-school phenom wearing Reebok Pumps and an elastic band around the back of his neck to keep his eyeglasses from falling off hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Augusta Christian over Edmond Burke Academy.

The clutch game-winning shot came in the semifinals of the Augusta Area Private School Junior High Boys Basketball Tournament.

That young middle school sharpshooter was none other than yours truly, and that shot was the pinnacle of my otherwise heroically mediocre high school sports career.

Could that really have been 10 years ago?

In celebration of this milestone in Columbia County sports history, I would like to announce my intentions to come out of retirement.

On Tuesday, a pair of Evans Knights, Wes Wuchte and Matt Clark, will stage a charity basketball tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society as part of their senior projects. In a moment of apparent desperation, they asked me to play in the game.

Looking at the expected roster, I'm not expecting a repeat performance.

In fact, given my current shape and the length of time it's been since I've played any type of competitive basketball, I can't guarantee a made basket.

That being said, I can guarantee a worthwhile evening. Clark and Wuchte have given the county a perfect opportunity to enjoy a stress-free, entertaining night of basketball with a chance to do some good at the same time. The two have already raised more than $700, and their goal of $1,000 is well within reach.

So, let's all support this worthy cause with our attendance and our dollars. Game time is at 7 p.m. As an added bonus, I've heard talk that a certain other columnist in this newspaper doesn't believe in my game and is undecided whether he'll play.

Like I said, I can't guarantee much, but I can guarantee one thing: I'll be out there on the court.

Wouldn't you readers like to see the other guy out there, too?