Don't mess with a fat man's food

I'm usually not one to make threats but I certainly gave Junction City boys coach Joe Paul Hammett an ultimatum on Tuesday. Believe, me, I meant every word of it, too.
The 76th annual Dual State Tournament tipped off on Monday. The bracket had just three games scheduled, all of them girls.
I alerted Coach Hammett on Tuesday that if he ever scheduled a Dual State day with only girls games again and I don't have time to visit the hospitality room, the two of us would be fighting.
I hope he doesn't think I'm playing.
Anyway, the tournament had its first BANG!!! on Tuesday when Bearden, the No. 3 seed and my favorite to win the championship, lost to Hamburg 69-61. The Lady Bears were minus Nekeia Rideout, who was sick. Mariane Rogers was also sick but managed to play quite a few minutes.
When Coach John Traband told me before the game about his team's situation, I wondered aloud why he would even gas up the bus if those two girls weren't healthy. Obviously, I was being sarcastic. Of course you still have to play the game but without Rideout and Rogers, those aren't the Bearden Lady Bears.
That's one thing I've noticed about girls basketball this season. Every team, even the best of them, has one or two players they can't afford to lose. That's a scary thought when advancing to state hinges on the health of one teenaged girl.
One twisted ankle, one case of the flu, one wrong step on someone else's foot could be the difference between winning a game or two in the state tournament or not even getting to regionals.
I wish all my area teams good health as this season heads to the home stretch.
As for Coach Hammett, don't mess with me when it comes to food.