John Jackson barrels into the lane, stops, reverse pivots and throws up a hook shot just begging for divine intervention. As the ball arcs downward, it slams against the white square of the backboard and exits the net in swift fashion to a resounding “Oh!” from the other Monday night gamers on Dallas Academy’s basketball court.
“I just wanted to show you what the commissioner does,” Jackson taunts toward the sideline.
It’s only fitting that his shot went in, since Jackson started the little-known Lakewood tradition of the Monday Night Game.
Every Monday night for the past 20 years, an assortment of Lakewood dads and personalities have taken the court for a grueling, bruising game of five-on-five, whether it be at Indian Guides and Princesses camp where the tradition began, or at the Woodrow gym or the YMCA. Players have come and gone, but the game continues.
“Some disappeared and some came along,” Jackson says during a water break, but a few originals — such as Jackson, Joe Daume and John Holt — still show up weekly to run around for two hours, regularly clutch their knees and occasionally make a basket.
“It takes forever ’cause they’re so bad,” says 16-year veteran Tom Crabb as he laces up his sneakers on the sideline. “Since I sat down, they’ve been playing, what, 10 minutes? And they’ve only made one basket.”
Don’t let the low-scoring nature of the games mislead you, though, because these guys are tough. In a game of first-to-seven, an even score at six looks more like a rugby match as each team is determined to stop the other from scoring.
“It’s a little bit of football, and the rest is basketball,” David England says after a hard foul. It seems as if everyone has sustained at least one injury, some resulting in bruises and others in stitches.
“Dr. Montgomery is kind of the doctor to the stars, and most people kind-of go check with him,” Jackson says. And regardless of the potential hazards when five defensive-minded middle-aged men stuff the lane, Jackson and Co. convene every week, never missing a game. The only, and they mean only, time they will cancel is if Monday night coincides with Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
Those who think they can withstand the beating are cautioned not to just show up on a whim.
“It has to clear the commissioner,” Crabb says, referring to Jackson. “The commissioner is all-powerful, all-knowing. Everything goes through the commissioner’s office.”
And it’s best that way. The Monday Night Game is about camaraderie, about the group of friends that have up kept a Lakewood tradition for almost 20 years. It’s about having fun, never winning or losing, not being the best player.
“Best player?” laughs Crabb as he prepares to take the court, his laces cinched. “Everyone in their own mind is the best player.”
