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When people are in high school and participate in athletics, it is an exciting time-starting the season, the big home games, the tournaments and the chance to win it all. After high school, these experiences fade away as life happens. Time and energy is consumed by going to college, marriage, a regular work week, and children. On Saturday, March 19, roughly 100 adult men gathered at the Chisago Lakes High School to play in the third Annual Glory Days Basketball Tournament, organized by Chisago Lakes Community Education. Teams like "Hoosier Daddy," "Devolution," and the "Jimmers" arrived at the gyms with rested bodies and high hopes of victory in the day's tournament-the old feeling of having butterflies over playing a real game with refs and a scoreboard and against unknown teams competing for a championship, made their adrenaline run a little higher. An adult doesn't get that feeling going to work in the morning. As play began, and the initial adrenaline wore off, some realized that what they thought they could do and what they actually could do were two different things. This can be a tough pill to swallow-the image of athletic prowess that lingers in the back of a man's mind through his adult years, is hard to let go.

In all, 20 games were played in the day and one by one, the losing teams went home with sore muscles and a little less pride. The winning teams stayed on to fight for the bragging rights of tournament champions. It came down to two teams, Hoosier Daddy and Team Jansen. Hoosier Daddy, led by Matt Lasiuta, has been known in past tournaments for stacking the deck with talent that is not from local origins.

This year was no different as a cast of broad-shouldered, overgrown beasts swaggered into the gym for their first game-the rest of the teams all took notice. But Team Jansen was not intimidated. Led by local high school math teacher Ryan Anderson, Team Jansen played with heart all through the championship game and the score was tied with just 15 seconds left. On the final play of the game, Hoosier Daddy's Chris Anderson, took the ball to the basket and scored with one second remaining.

Like high school sports, the tournament ended, the gym became quiet, and everyone moved on.

On Monday morning, the participants of the tournament returned to their jobs and began the process of restoring their dignity by spinning the events of the weekend's games in their favor to their coworkers. "The reffing caused us to lose a tight game," or "My shot was off in the second half," or some other contrived remark to shift the focus off reality. The reality is that the magic of participating in high school sports is a vapor that happens so fast but leaves such a strong impact on us, that it shapes our thinking for the rest of our lives. Adults take on other personas as teachers, construction workers, or business owners, but they never forget who they were in the Glory Days.

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