Back in 1985 my high school basketball coach decided he would play us in a summer league against the big schools in San Diego County. We played the games down at the municipal gym in Balboa Park and it was always 90 degrees in there.

The games were not mandatory. The league had rules which prohibited practice and basketball related contact outside the games by the coach. It was supposed to be an opportunity for teams to improve their skills and have some fun.

We had 12 varsity players but never had more than 9 show up to a summer game. We did not win very often but that summer provided some of the most memorable moments of my basketball playing days.

There was one game where we had five players show up. My coach gave my little brother, a JV player, a jersey and so we went in with 6 players against their 12. Immediately they pushed the tempo and we hung with them. Somehow we pushed the game to overtime and pulled off a massive upset. I thought the opposing coach was going to have a stroke.

In another game we played a team who had a dozen players who were about 6'2" to 6'4" and fast as gazelles. They were blowing by us left and right but we managed to keep the game within 10 into the 3rd quarter.

Something odd happened at that point. The opposing coach went into a four corners offense to bleed the clock. I was sitting right next to my coach on the bench at the time and he was livid. He called a time out and told us we were going to put on a 1-3-1 half court press and just have some fun. It was fun but with their speed they hung 110 points on us and beat us by 40. It felt like we were the Washington Generals the way they were moving the ball.

The regular basketball season ended up being our chance to be on the other side. There was one game where we jumped on a team 30-0 after one quarter. Our fans booed when the other team finally scored halfway through the second quarter.

The fan reaction was poor sportsmanship but there is more to the story. That school had been offered the opportunity to play a JV schedule and refused. My coach tried everything, as did the officials. I played center for the only time in my life in the 4th quarter and the officials let the other team nearly take my arms off with hacks without blowing a whistle.

The college players at Dartmouth used to occasionally play pick up ball in the gym off season. They had amazing skills and it was always fun to try and keep up with them. They never talked trash and it was a great experience. The dedication it takes to participate in college athletics especially when there is no scholarship there is admirable.

There are always exceptions but I never recall much trash talking in organized basketball games. On the outdoor courts of National City or South Boston that I have played on before that was not the case. That is understood to be a different environment. It can be an enjoyable environment if you accept it for what it is.

The letter to the editor by Coach Jennifer Barsalou caught my eye last week. Dimond High School's varsity girls basketball team beat Eagle River 99-13 recently. Coach Barsalou was upset with the magnitude of the victory and players being allowed to "talk smack."

I know nothing else about the game except what the letter says.

The score is not bothersome. There is only so much a coach can do. You can empty the bench. You can put players in odd locations (center for example). You can pull back into the least aggressive defense you run. However, there is no way to effectively keep the team from playing. In fact, to not try is even more disrespectful to your opponent.

The "trash talk" is an entirely different issue. I have actually had a conversation with Jim Young, the Dimond coach, about these issues recently regarding the YMCA youth league. It is doubtful that he has not addressed the alleged incident with his team. He definitely gets the principles of sportsmanship and preaches them to the YMCA leagues.

It appears the Eagle River girl's basketball team is having a rough year. The last thing you want to do is get caught up in what other teams are doing including the "trash talk."

At some point most of us end up realizing we will not go on to play a sport at the next level. Most high school basketball players in town will not play college ball. It is not worth expending significant thought on some inappropriate comments. A few years from now nobody should remember or care.

When I was in college the football and hockey teams had some rough years. The trash talk of college fans can take things to a whole new level. Ivy League crowds tends to make elitist lemonade from the lemons. Cheers like, "We won the toss!" and "That's alright. That's okay. You're gonna work for us some day!" dominated the scene.

I consider myself possibly the most competitive person on the planet at times. And yet, I remain in awe at how seriously some people take things. Admittedly, I have had to catch myself at times but ultimately a game is just a game.

The problem I have with the letter is the best thing a coach can do here is call the team to the sideline and go into the 1-3-1 press. Have some fun with it. If the other team wants to "talk trash" then let them do it. Trash talk exists beyond sports and it is always better to deal with yourself and your team and let the other team deal with their issues.

A final anecdote about one other game. As a JV player we once played a reform school. There were no fans and it was at their place. The score was a disaster. The thing is every time they scored a basket you would think they had won the NBA championship.

You win some. You lose some. Sometimes it gets ugly. So it goes with basketball and so it goes with life. The only thing you can control is your reaction.