March is a beautiful month for many reasons. I am getting excited to fish. The golf season is here, and I will devote as much time to watching as much basketball as I possibly can. MADNESS baby. NBA. College. High School. It doesn’t matter. I even get stoked when I spot a few kids hooping on the playground. It reminds me of the good days. Hurry up, Spring. March is like Christmas.

Jensen’s team came up short. No worries. They had their chances. I was proud of the kid. He played well down the stretch. Jensen got to dress for the WAHS playoffs. My man did the best he could on those sidelines. I always encourage him to be a good teammate. Cheer for your brothers and give them fives. Embrace the idea of being a benchwarmer. I asked him to keep track of the points he scored in pregame warmups. Do your best with rebounds, bud. Work extra hard to get the varsity guys some shots. Have fun with the experience. You will remember the games and atmospheres forever.

I am thrilled to watch all of the coverage. The behind-the-scenes stories of March Madness. The media does an excellent job of portraying the road to the Final Four. Yes. We will see some great individual and team performances. Game-winning shots to behind-the-back passes. My fellow hoops junkies will rejoice. You may even see some close-ups of the benchwarmers. The clean-cut, less athletic kids on the busy sidelines. Doing what they can to help their team advance.

We often joke at home. I was never a star player. I was a decent shooter but never in the game during crunch time. I understood my role. I made my teammates better. I was their biggest fan. My good friend Ron Bowling reminded me that I averaged 2.4 points per game. He gave Jensen my stats and box scores. The others laughed. But I told them that I was good enough to walk on and play three years in college. I then went on to coach for 20 seasons. Five District IV golds and two PIAA State runners-ups. Care to play me in HORSE Naz?

I love that I got to experience my career as a benchwarmer. I cherish all of the lessons learned from not being an all-star. I was never the best on any of my teams, but I was always the best teammate. I continued to embrace this when I started coaching. Some of my favorite players were the benchwarmers. Many years of fantastic kids that I remain super close with. They were my guys. I related to them. I tried to make them feel that they were a huge part of our successes.

We often hear about the kids who are not getting their opportunities. Several use social media to blast the coaches and administrations. Many parents would rather see their children score 20 points and the team lose by 10. It is MADness. It is more and more common today. It is bedlam.

Come on, people. Let’s do better. Every successful team needs some solid role players. Benchwarmers are key. Hang in there, guys and gals. Maintain a positive attitude and bring some effort. Work on your games in the off-season. Become a better teammate. Ride the pine with pride. Your time will come. And if it doesn’t — find other ways to contribute to the program. You will thank me many moons from now. Cheers.