As some of you know, I'm the oldest of three kids. I have two brothers; Joel is a senior in college and Jeremy is a sophomore in high school. Both of my brothers are incredibly passionate about basketball, and play on their school's teams. They both have had their struggles - past and present - with injuries and disappointments, but I'm so incredibly proud of both of them for sticking with it and giving it their all.
Today I thought I'd talk a little about Joel. If you look back at pictures of Joel when he was a little guy (like 3 or 4) you are almost guaranteed to find him with a basketball in every photo. He's just always loved the sport. I remember we used to watch Space Jam all the time when we were little - you know the movie with Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes. When he got older, my dad bought Joel Pete Maravich's Homework Basketball Videos. It wasn't long before he learned how to control the ball, dribble between his legs, and even spin the ball on his fingers.
Joel played ball all through grade school as a guard, and got onto the basketball team in high school as well. But we Pezzelle's are prone to broken bones. His freshman year, Joel was playing in the gym after baseball practice. The boys were trying to dunk and Joel went up for his attempt. On his way up, he pushed off the floor and heard a snap. That's right. He broke his leg on his way up not when he landed. What happened to Joel is that his muscles were tight and the growth plate was open so when he pushed up it caused too much tension and just ripped the bones apart. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it?
Luckily this happened in the off-season, but he didn't get to pay on the summer basketball team like he normally did. So as you might imagine, he was a little bummed. But he focused on letting himself heal so he could be ready for sophomore year's season. Unfortunately though, after his leg had healed, it broke again. This time, the doctor put screws in just to be sure. But Joel hung in there. He went to all the games and stayed on the team his junior and senior years. In spite of all the struggles, Joel hung in there and stuck with it. He never gave up.
Now, almost four years ago, Joel received an academic scholarship to attend Greenville College in Greenville, IL. He's been playing on Greenville College's Division 3 team since his freshman year there and I couldn't be more proud of him. He's also made a bunch of great friends through his teammates.
So on Wednesday this I got to run down to Greenville to take some pictures of all the senior basketball boys. I had tons of fun taking pictures of these guys! We had fun doing some action shots, some posed shots, and then a bunch of shots trying to dunk. They were goofing around and having fun the whole time. It was a blast! Here's a few pictures from the session.
I don't know if you're reading this Joel, but I'm so very proud of you. You are an incredibly hard worker and you deserve every minute of playing time you get....if not a little bit more. And in spite of all the time basketball takes up with practice, games, and service projects - you still manage to get good grades. Take all of that and add in that you have grown into a good Christian man and you're really somethings special. I don't know exactly what the future holds but I know there are great things in store for you. I love you little brother!
Hey Stephanie, of these two I like the one where I am going up for a dunk. -Jonas
ReplyDelete