Academic

Amber Branson coaches basketball in a tiny town in Texas, Lipan, population 425.  The team is away at the regional tournament, in Abilene, lets say less than two hours from where she lives, give or take.  The team wins the semifinal game, so she whips over to the hospital in Abilene and gives birth to her third child in about an hour.  The next day, about 15 hours later, she is no the bench, coaching her team in the final game, which the team wins.  She then returns to the hospital.  The team goes on to the state tournament for the first time since 2003.  (They did not win the state championship, or even play in the finals.  This is real life, not a Disney movie.)

So, the media is having a heyday about how much of a miracle this is and how tough 34 year-old Coach Branson is.  I'm glad.  I love sports, particularly women's sports, so let's shine a little more media attention on great women's teams and great women's coaches.  Admittedly, a lot of moms also have to get right back to real life after having a baby.  Branson had a complication-free delivery in less than an hour, without drugs, did not have to stay up all night to have it, then was sitting up somewhere in street clothes by the next afternoon.  (The street clothes would be the hardest part for me.)  A not miniscule number of women go home within 24 hours of a nonsurgical birth, and a lot of them are walking around, picking up, cooking, etc., particularly with two other children at home.  So, I think showing up for the final game is admirable, and noteworthy, but not a miracle (or a dereliction of maternal duty to the baby sleeping away at the hospital a few minutes away).  Now, if she paced up and down the sideline and yelled, that's more than I can fathom!

In this amazing story, the media seems to be leaving off what is truly incredible to me.  Branson took her team to the regional tournament when she was obviously fairly close to her due date (the baby girl weighed in at over 8 1/2 pounds).  During at least the semifinal game, she had to suspect she was in labor.  But, she finished the game.  I'm all for handing out medals, and I think the medal should be for coaching while in labor, not coaching while post-partum!

My favorite part of the story is that the team's motto this season was "If it's easy, I don't want it!"