So I was sitting in my basement last Tuesday, scrolling through NBA stuff after the Nuggets got eliminated, feeling kinda frustrated about how our rec league team keeps choking in playoffs. Remembered that article about Calvin Booth fixing the Nuggets roster. Figured hey, why not try his method? Grabbed my beat-up notebook – the one with coffee stains from last season.
The Starting Point Mess
First thing I did was dig out our team spreadsheet. Total disaster. Stats scribbled everywhere, contract notes in the margins, no real system. Started cleaning it up Booth-style: made columns for age, salary, health history, even added how well each guy passed the ball. Took me three hours just to organize last season’s turnover numbers.
Cutting the Dead Weight
Okay here’s where it got ugly. That power forward who only shoots long twos? Salary cap nightmare. Our backup center with bad knees? Medical bills stacking up. Booted ’em both immediately. Felt brutal but necessary – saved a ton of cap space too. Called ’em while chewing gum loudly so my voice wouldn’t crack.
The Scouting Grind
Then came the real work. Spent nights at community college games instead of watching Netflix. Poked around parks for pickup games like a weirdo. Found two gems:
- Linda – 38yo accountant who drains threes like Curry
- Marcus – Lanky kid who blocks shots for fun
Signed Linda for peanuts. Convinced Marcus’ mom we’d buy him new sneakers.
Chemistry Experiments
Remembered Booth’s thing about locker room vibes. Hired my sister’s food truck to cater practices. Made the selfish point guard share tacos with rookies. Watched ’em start passing better within two weeks – don’t ask me why it worked.
Regular Season Clusterf
Lost our first five games. Linda kept tripping over the three-point line. Marcus fouled out in eight minutes. Almost quit when our captain sprained his ankle doing TikTok dances. But stuck with Booth’s “big picture” crap.
Playoff Payoff
Flash forward to last Sunday. Championship game down three points. Our washed-up center (kept him for leadership) draws a double team. Whistle stops. Ball swings to Linda in the corner. Swish. Crowd goes dead silent. Still can’t believe we pulled that garbage off.
Whole process took eight months. Notebook’s destroyed. Got five new gray hairs. But that trophy’s sitting where my PS5 used to be. Worth it? Ask me when Linda demands a raise.
