donkey basketball

the lack of interesting posts as of late is due to the fact that we have been having so much fun lately and i have not found enough time to blog about all the adventures. besides an interesting trip to tummi yummi's and the march madness super dates with the nortons, we have managed to squeeze in some other odd entertainment worth blogging about.

for starters- donkey basketball. i grew up in sandy which means that the only donkeys i ever saw were on tv or at some girls camp ranch. so, when cade, eddie, juan chico and jason announced they would be playing in the donkey basketball tournament, i just figured that was the fancy name of some 3 on 3 tournament put on by the college of agriculture. despite cade and eddie's repeated explanations, kylee and i refused to believe that the players ride actual donkeys. but look at these boys... how are we supposed to believe anything they say?

well, turns out the boys weren't lying. this was one of the funniest things i have ever seen. cade made a little video for you all to enjoy...



so donkey basketball is just like it sounds- you sit on donkey and play basketball. simple enough, right? the hardest part seemed to be the obstinate donkeys. they did as they pleased and were usually pulled by the rider to recover any loose balls. to make matters worse- there was a little referee man running around the court with a whip to stir up some havoc and make the donkeys run for it. it was chaos. the only rule as far as i could tell: you can't pass or shoot while off your donkey- which our boys broke only a few times.

cade's donkey was a little devil and just dragged him around the court on a full gallop. every video clip you see of cade involves him chasing it down or trying to jump on as it trods off. the beginning of the second round was even delayed as the entire crowd cheered for cade to catch and get on his donkey- but the stubborn thing had other plans. cade even tried to be friends with his donkey. he would see it try to itch itself and cade would reach in and scratch as hard as he could on the seemingly troubled spot. yet- the donkey never seemed to warm up to him.

here are the boys practicing before one of their games.

yes, that really happened in front of a large crowd.

in the end, the boys pulled off a huge win! they took second place in the tournament after a narrow final loss to the agricultural students (who, by the way, kicked the donkeys in the eyes to make them go the direction they wanted...i didn't like that).

they still got a trophy! or a wooden stool... whatever.

the herald journal caught a great pic of cade at his leaping best... you'll have to click here to see them as i am unable to figure out how to steal them properly.

but there you have it, folks. donkey basketball is real and an important part of the madness in march.