#3 - The Art of Commentary at a Ravens Basketball Game
I've been on a basketball kick, so I present to you a discussion of One Tree Hill 4x09, 'Some You Give Away'
I promised this newsletter would be fortnightly, and I have already broken that promise, but life gets busy and I had a sport-related sewing project1 to complete etc etc. The other caveat I bring you today is that this issue of SportsMovies82 is not about a movie at all. It’s about a TV show because this is my newsletter, and I can do what I want. This being said, the sport of basketball is such an intrinsic part of the WB/CW drama about life, love and basketball, One Tree Hill, that I felt it appropriate. I will also make any excuse to talk about season 4 of One Tree Hill2.
The other day I was talking to my co-worker (as one does) about sport (as I do)3, when he delivered the following line, “sport is romantic.” It was said so simply, almost as fact, and while it’s not the first time I’ve heard it, it stuck with me for the rest of my shift, because sport is romantic, and this is something I wish to convey to people.
It’s not romantic only in the sense of love – although love is undoubtedly a huge part of it: Office workers walking around with their company ID’s on their favourite team’s lanyards, bumper stickers on family cars, a warm winter scarf tucked into a coat during the commute; the light that ignites in someone’s eyes when they talk about an impressive play or favourite player; is that not love? – or the way it can bring people together with a spark of recognition between fans as I myself am more often than not talking to fellow Carlton fans on the dating app Hinge (hence my co-worker’s comment). Sport is romantic in the depth of feeling it can convey and inspire. Yes, I’m thinking not only of the passionate journey towards triumph, but in this instance, I am particularly inspired by the depth of feeling, the romanticism, of sports commentary which often accompanies these moments. Passion filled voices exclaiming in unrehearsed excitement, reaching across fields and stadiums and living rooms and car radios, somehow exalting something profound when all anyone else can do is scream in shock and awe.
Imagine the scene: Me, sitting on the edge of the couch in my lamplit living room, anxiously clutching a pillow to my chest as I nervously watch my AFL team fight to return from a significant point deficit in the final five minutes of the game. It has been a fast-paced match of rough-and-tumble contests, fumbled balls and “play on!”, desperate kicks and hands reaching up to the sky to save the ball and their team. Until, with 3:55 minutes left on the clock, Blake Acres pulls through out of the cyclone of men, the yellow ball clutched in his hands like a beacon, and kicks a goal, bringing the score within a fighting chance.
The commentator rings out: “OH AND IT’S A GOAL! THEY COULDN’T COULD THEY?!” he yells, amazed at the momentum Carlton has, and the possibility that maybe, just maybe, they could win this after all. He continues to yell, “Carlton fans have just about packed up - some have left already... If your mate’s gone, [you] better give ‘em a call! ‘Get back to the MCG and get back now!’ Yell out to the bedrooms, to the kitchens. It’s game on at the G!”4
My team ended up losing. But for a moment there was hope.
The North Carolina High School State Championship basketball game arrives in season 4, episode 9 of One Tree Hill to a bevy of anticipation and tension. Being a championship during the senior year of the show’s teen protagonists, it’s their last chance to prove they can be, and are, the best. But the importance is set up in many ways, for many reasons: For Skills Taylor (Antwon Tanner), a kid who used to only play on the public park “river court” away from the flash and privilege of varsity basketball, winning the championship means opportunity to receive a full scholarship to attend college, the only way he can afford to go; for Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray), one of the main characters and co-captain of the team, it’s the last basketball game he’ll ever get to play as a genetic heart condition prohibits him from pursuing playing basketball professionally (or at all); for Coach Whitey Durham (Barry Corbin), the championship is his last game as coach of the Tree Hill Ravens, a mantle he has held for 35-years without a championship title; the game even means a lot for the Tree Hill community, as the town creates a convoy behind the team’s bus on the way to the fancy stadium the all-important game gets to be played in5, and the stamping of their feet as their chant “Let’s go, Ravens, let’s go!” literally shakes the floor.
Winning the state championship is an opportunity to go down in the history books of the school, to bring glory to yourself and the town. It is something to be proud of, a story you will tell your kids one day, and their kids. “Maybe you want to one day tell your grandkids about the state championship you almost won”, the coach says to his team in a final inspiring push. Lose, and you end up like Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), the bitter, evil, and vindictive Mayor, who was once a promising yet cocky player for the Ravens but caused the loss of the state championship 17 years ago. This failure breeds resentment and is the underlying bitterness that fuels his toxic relationships with his sons, with his brother, and everyone else who dare be more successful or happier than him.
All of this hinges on one person: Nathan Scott (James Lafferty), talented shooting guard, co-captain and half-brother to Lucas6. With a scholarship to play ball at Duke University waiting for him, married to his high school sweetheart Hayley (Bethany Joy Lenz),7 and a baby on the way, all of his dreams are about to come true. However, desperate for money due to mounting hospital bills8 and debt, Nathan is caught up in a point-shaving scheme (purposefully keeping the score at a certain level so that bookies with bets on the outcome of the game can make money) which leaves him at the mercy of Daunte (Rick Fox), a loan shark who threatens to break his leg if he doesn’t throw the state championship.9
Commentary plays a creative role in this episode. The episode opens to shots of Nathan and Coach Whitey crying alone, as the sound of a sports commentator announcing the Tree Hill Ravens have lost the championship plays as a voice over. “Whitey Durham is the picture of a broken man,” the announcer laments. “No doubt about it: hearts are breaking in Tree Hill tonight.” However, it acts as a false start, as it is later revealed that the commentary heard is from 17 years ago, the last time the Ravens had competed in the championship.
A recording of it is played during half time by Whitey, as a motivator to his losing team. The implication is clear: surely you never want to feel this way about your own game, as it will haunt you forever. Nathan, resigned to bend to Daunte’s will, is throwing the game – Lucas and Skills, aware of his plan, are determined to ice him out and try to win it themselves. What results is only an on-court brawls between brothers and teammates. Tree Hill is losing, but they don’t have to be.
It is the reveal of their baby’s gender by Hayley – a son – that shakes Nathan into gear. How could he ever live with the shame and disappointment, how could he look in his son’s eyes and know he threw the game? A good father and husband, it is suggested, doesn’t give up.
The Ravens coming together to fight back and close the gap between teams – the determination to win once and for all – is inspiring television. The energy is high, the music triumphant. Fellow Senior, Marvin “Mouth” McFadden (Lee Norris), aspiring sports presenter and commentator for RavensHoops.com, watches on: “Well, if you stuck around, you’ve been rewarded as Nathan Scott is leading the Ravens on what just might be greatest turnaround in state championship history.”
While this line echoes the commentary that stood out to me so clearly during the AFL a week prior to revisiting this episode, this is not necessarily the commentary I think of as romantic. During a final time out, seconds left on the clock and a 3-pointer needed to win it, Mouth McFadden takes a moment to comment on the significance of feeling the game has elicited:
“You know, say what you will about the ravages of sports in this corporate age where overpaid athletes expect prima donna treatment. But... there is still something so unifying about sport in its purest form, when athletes rise above themselves and touch greatness and, in doing so, remind us all that we also have greatness inside of us.”
And that is the romanticism of sports. That is triumph and greatness and the belief that we carry with us, and the hope for every time we play a game, compete in an event, tune in and show up: euphoria.
Post-Game
Some You Give Away is often rated as one of the top episodes of One Tree Hill ever, and for good reason. I only scratch the surface of how much good stuff is in there, especially as it relates to sport and storytelling. If you’re curious, it’s currently streaming on Stan in Australia. If anything, I recommend watching this clip of when the Ravens win the game, set to Heartbeats by Jose Gonzales, also one of the show’s best music moments.
I can’t talk about Ravens basketball and not mention this free-throw from season 3, which is, in my opinion, one of the hottest moments on television. According to the Drama Queens podcast, run by three actresses who starred in the show, James Lafferty actually made the shot himself. Nothing. But. Net.
Damn, does this show know how to film a ball game.
And if you can’t already tell that I love Nathan Scott, here’s a 16 minute video of every basketball shot he makes.
I can only ever be 100% myself!
Season 3 is also one of the Greats.
The conversation happening between two queer writers behind the counter of a bookstore makes this a little more interesting, I promise you.
Round 7: Geelong V Carlton, Fox Footy, 2024
That Championships and Grand Finals get to be played at flash locations and with much fanfare just exhibits the theatre of sports.
They share a father in Dan.
It should be said they got married while still in high school – twice. But the moniker still fits. Nathan and Haley are endgame <3
His and Hayley’s wedding day ended in a limo driven by Nathan’s uncle and their classmate Rachel driving off a bridge. Nathan jumped into the river to save them. Hospital stays are expensive.
It does baffle me that there could be so much money and interest in a high school basketball game but considering how much money there in college basketball and seeing these numbers coming out of the WNBA and NBA drafts, I believe it.