Prayer Request

Kurt Talbot, the director of a number of NCHBC tournaments (The Gateway Regional and Tip Off) went to the doctors on Friday because he couldn't shake the flu. After some blood work he was sent to the Hospital in Springfield MO where he was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.

Chemotherapy treatment began on Sunday. It looks like they will keep Kurt in the hospital for 3-4 weeks while he recieves his treatment. Of course Kurt is optimistic but this is a very tough time for Kim and the children. Please keep the Talbot family and especially Kurt and the doctors in your prayers.

Kurt is not only a friend to homeschool basketball, he is the kind of person that anyone would enjoy spending time with. There are very few people who are willing to make the kind of sacrifices for home school basketball that Kurt is so let's join together and ask God to heal him quickly.

Nationals T-shirts -- For Sale

We have had enough time for the dust to clear and we have about $4,000 in t-shirts and sweatshirts that we would like to sell to get our budget even on the Showcase. It is our commitment to continue to find ways to make the National Tournament a better experience for all, when we do sometimes there are often cost that are not covered in Nationals budget. It is our commitment to not raise the cost to participate for teams or players or to charge a gate for family and friends. So we use try to cover cost through things like t-shirt sales and the pizza party. We have had a couple dozen e-mails from players who want to buy shirts and that is great. But let me ask those of you who bought your shirts at Nationals, how about buying a shirt for a gift and to support Nationals at the same time. I am in Arizona right now with my in laws and over the last few days they have worn basketball (Nationals and Storm t-shirts) from past years that we have given them. They really like the shirts and I am sure your Grandparents, parents, older siblings who used to attend Nationals before they graduated, younger siblings who couldn’t attend Nationals, friends and so many others would love a Nationals t-shirt or sweat shirt. Oh yeah and if I haven’t been clear we really would appreciate your support. Here is what we have available:

2008 Nationals Design
Short Sleeve $12
Black – all sizes
Grey (Med and large only)

Long sleeve t-shirts $17
Black – all sizes

Hooded -- youth $20 adult $30
Grey – all sizes except 2XL, 3XL

Water bottles $3
Navy Lanyard $2
Basketball (full size only) $10

2008 Show Case Design
Baseball style -- $20 with your name and number printed

Short Sleeve T-shirts White, Red or Blue all Sizes $15

Shipping is $6 per order and if your order—no matter how many items you buy.

Special Offer if your order is more than $30 we will send you a free Showcase T-shirt –Please tell us the size and color for your free showcase t-shirt.

Checks payable to NCHBC, 7631 NW 192nd St, Edmond OK 73003

New York Times

Wow -- what an amazing week. The showcase was a huge success in many ways, the most immediate, in terms of seeing a difference, was the media attention. For years we have tried to gte the Daily Oklahoman to give us more coverage. Early in the week they will usually do an article or two but this year we were able to get the to attend the Showcase and after that they assigned a different reporter to the tournament for each day. This was Sunday's http://newsok.com/article/3216859/1205653085

Below are the links to the New York Times article and slide show.

They also put together a slide show that is really good.

SPORTS March 16, 2008 Growing Cheers for the Home-Schooled Team By JOE DRAPE

I will follow up with some more post after I get my feet on the ground.

Award Ceremony Times

I want to clarify the schedule for today at the Sawyer Center.

The Girls Varisty Championship Game will start at 3:00

The Game will last 1:05-1:15 Minutes. We will set the clock for 15 minutes after the floor is cleared and to give a chance for players to get in the right section. I would estimate the Ceremony will start at 4:20-4:30.

If you don't have a game it would try to be there by 3:30 so that those who are running from games will have less confusion getting in to the Sawyer Center.

Based on the above

Boys Varsity will kick off at 5:15-5:30

Second Awards at 6:45-7:00

Sleep Fast,

TF

Showcase – Game Schedule Change

From the comments I heard I think the showcase was a huge success. It may have been one of the most enjoyable evenings I have ever experienced at Nationals. I would like to ask you to do two things for me if you enjoyed the Showcase.

1) Thank Rick Malone and Rob Flatt – those guys really do all the behind the scenes stuff and it would never happen without them. Sometimes people don’t realize the impact of those two because of the fact that Rick has done it for 6 or 7 years now and it runs so smooth. Then Rob is a “Flatt” so people assume he just has to do it, but I can tell you almost all the ideas for tonight came from him. He just loves Nationals and homeschool basketball and is always looking for a way to make it better for the players.

2) Buy our showcase t-shirts on Saturday, we really need to sell them to help pay for Showcase. This is a chance for you all to vote with your wallet to make sure we are able to bring the Showcase back for 2009. I think that it was entertaining enough to support it with a $15 purchase. That’s a pretty inexpensive evening for a family for three hours, don’t you think?

Game change Boys 18U 3A some games on Thursday are scheduled on court 19 but it should be 18. I think that is right but I can’t remember exactly it could be the other way around. The bottom line is if you were in 19 it is now 18 or vice versa. I so tired I can’t remember. Call the score hotline in the morning if you are in B18 3A and I confused you.

I am going to bed and will try to get up and answer e-mails and return phone calls buy 11:00 AM. Although last time I thought I was going to do that (yesterday) I slept 4 hours and woke up with things on my mind. I really can’t afford to do that again.
Tim Flatt

Quick Notes

Things seemed to go well for the first full day of games.

The Showcase will start promptly at 7:00 (if the the Lord doesn't come and the creek doesn't rise). The event will be 3 hours. The schedule is:
The opening ceremony 40-45 minutes
The All-American Games 1:20
Three Point and Slam Dunk Contest 45-50 Minutes

All-Americans and Honorable Mentions we will reserve a special section for you on the ground level be there at 6:45 sharp.

Pizza Party -- we will have pizza available immediately after the opening ceremony section. We will have an extra 100 or so pizzas ordered so if you didn't get your tciket just come to the booth and we may have some available.

Be Enthusistic

Honorable Mention Update

Last week my computer crashed and some of the info I have had trouble recreating. One of the items was the All-American Honorable Mentions. I found a number of players I left off the list tonight when I was getting things together for tomorrow night. I have added the players to the list below (the orignal post). I am sooooo sorry for the mistake.