Bermuda100: Memories stirred despite loss

I am sitting here in my Baltimore basement thinking how cold it is outside and how I definitely do not want to deal with the Milwaukee weather again this year. 

It was 15 degrees on Friday evening when we, the Baltimore Blast, arrived to take on the Milwaukee Wave on Saturday.

The game was a battle and it came down to the last 30 seconds of the game when Milwaukee scored the winner.

It was a tough loss to take but we were proud of our team and will continue to get better. Milwaukee is our biggest rival and we know we cannot make any mistakes against them as we will get punished.

We are at home this weekend against Rochester Lancers on Friday night. Monday was a light gym day for the players as we arrived back in Baltimore late on Sunday but on Tuesday we stepped it up with a hard training day.

Today we will focus on special teams and systems of play. Each side we play against we prepare a little different based on their style.

After the game at the weekend a fan approached me and was talking about the league and how much he was a fan of Chicago when I was playing.

Now a Blast fan 

It was amazing all the players he remembered from 20 years ago and what the game meant to him at the time. 

Sometimes you forget what fans go through and what the game means to them. This young man is now a supporter of the Baltimore Blast. He comes to all the Blast games when we play in Milwaukee — I could only thank him for it and tell him how sorry I was we lost.

After our conversation he asked for my email in order to send some pictures. 

I was very thankful as I had been searching for pictures from that year, which saw us win our third Championship and me dedicate it to a friend of mine who passed.

I had put his initials and his jersey number PK7 (Paul Kitson) on my jersey and shoes for each game. 

We came from behind in all the games in the playoffs to win — it was amazing.

It is crazy how this memory could have been lost if I had not spoken to this young man.

Until next time. 

David Bascome is a coach at Baltimore Blast and founder of the Hope4Life Foundation and the Bermuda100 initiative, which aims to support schools, and recruit and train leaders in our community.