Johnny Rodriguez
12/1/2017
What’s up ya’ll my name is Da’Marco Watson? I am currently a 6’4 guard in my sophomore year at St. Raymond’s High School. I have gone to public school in Brooklyn since Pre K. So going to a private, all boy school in the Bronx is a very different and new experience for me. I spend a lot of time in the Bronx being that my AAU team The NY Gauchos home is there. The program has produced a ton of pros such as Stephon Marbury, Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson and Kemba Walker just to name a few. We had a pretty good AAU season, played with Coach Tommy since 2nd grade. He loves to win and coaches with winning as the goal, no politics, no funny business he just coaches.
Now, my first year was an adjustment for me, especially because I had a few honors classes which meant a larger work load. I had this long commute and practices/games and would get home pretty late. I honestly decided to go to St. Raymond's over Christ The King because my mother really wanted for her two boys to play ball together. So here I am at St. Raymond with my brother, Dallas Watson, who is a Junior. I am used to having to make a name for myself because I have 6 siblings, and we all went to the same schools for elementary and middle school. I usually get confused with my two older brothers from the start. But, it’s hard to confuse us, maybe just our names because they all begin with the letter D; following behind my dad’s family tradition, but our personalities are different. I come from a big family and you can see the diversity but then there are the blends of our personalities that make us “The Watson’s". We are all leaders, we all think we know everything which leads to arguments and makes us super competitive not only with each other but opponents. I think we all speak up but in very different ways but i’ll let you know what’s up right away, no holds barred.
As far as school goes, I am not a big fan. I go to school because I know the importance of education but not because I love it. My best subject is English, I enjoy reading and writing about what we read but outside of school nah man I’m good lol. My spare time is for working on my game in the gym, playing NBA 2K or GTA and watching The Flash on Netflix.
12/2/2017
So, today is game day, we’re traveling to Thomas Jefferson in Brooklyn for our 3:30 match up. I don’t have any formal routines or superstitions I do to get ready for a game. I do make sure I eat right and hydrate though. My mind is always in the winning mentality zone. I like to win even if that means sacrificing my stats. Whatever the team needs from me, I will provide. I think where I’ve developed is recognizing when to pass the ball and when to attack the lane. We don’t always win, but I walk away with something every time, a lesson learned. Some people say there are lessons in every loss in which I agree but there are also lessons with every win as well. Coach Lopez’s game plan couldn’t account for the way the game was being called, we were handicapped with fouls from the first few minutes of the game. I know referees have the final call, but it was obvious that being fair was not on their agenda. But what I quickly learned from this loss is that just because you’re a referee doesn’t mean you’re good at your job. I should have walked away, but it was important that I speak my peace. My peace cost me the next two games; suspended for being thrown out of a game. Would I do it differently? That’s a question I’ll have a few days to think about.
12/9/2017
The next two games we had was against Stepinac and Our Savior Lutheran. The worst part about being suspended is doing every to prepare for the game but not being able to play. Coach Lopez stated the plan was simple, to play hard and leave it all on the floor and my teammates executed that plan. My brother Dallas held it down in both games!
12/12/2017
All Hallows on the menu today.. Always an early start for me but on game days I can’t help but to wake up a bit earlier; the commute from Brooklyn to the Bronx is not always an easy one. Some days, I hate it, but most days it’s just part of the routine. I just toss on my headphones and start listening to Jay Critch and NBA Youngboy. My tunes get me right for a long day but especially for game day. It's like a cup of coffee, the day ain’t right until my music is set. I arrive at school.. currently my favorite class is Spanish because the teacher makes it fun to learn a new language. It’ll help me to communicate with some of may family or when I visit Panama. By the time lunch time rolls around the day speed balls to an end. Tip off is at 5:45 and I’m locked in! We stuck with the game plan and we got the win. I finished with 15 points and a few rebounds; not bad for my first game back. Man it felt good being back out there!!
12/16/2017
We had a little 4-day break which was much needed.. got my body well rested and ate the proper foods to fuel it. We play against Wings, which took place in my home gym, Gauchos. The game started out with us playing slowly, but eventually we got it together. I had a lot of touches in this game. I only scored 11 points but dished out 8 assists. I’m glad I am able to showcase that I am more than just a scorer. We left with the win and if we can stay injury free and play team ball then we will have a very good season. But as I say even in a win, there are lessons. The lesson in this game is that we still have some lapses on defense that we have to work on if we want to have a successful season.
12/19/2017
Home game against Iona Prep! We trailed in this game for a while, but was able to bring the game within our reach in the last quarter but we couldn’t convert the win. We needed to play smarter defense and make better decisions offensively SMH. I had a cool 15 points but much rather have 0 with a win. Looking back at any game, you see all the things that we should have done, but when you're in the midst of the game you don’t always see so clearly. It happens so fast. With more game experience it’ll slow down mentally and be able to avoid those mistakes. This was our first league loss and hopefully our last. The lesson from this loss is sometimes the play called by your coach doesn't always work as planned. So as a player if you see it differently, then rely on muscle memory and live with the results. I think that’s a lesson for all ball players, but you have to be able to live with being the hero or villain depending on that outcome.
12/22/2017
We play powerhouse Christ The King today which is sponsored by Lebron James so they have all the fire sneakers. Mannnn I was looking forward to this game, felt like it was going to be a good one. Let’s just say the coach played around with the starting line-up and we were never able to recover. When my brother and I was finally subbed in we were down 15-2. We never gave up and played hard, but the whole time, I just kept thinking, why? We were able to cut it to 9, but that was not for long.. they closed out the game on us. I scored 17 points, but we fell short. This was our second loss and to say the least I wasn’t happy. We weren’t happy as a team. The lesson from this loss is don’t try to make sense out of nonsense. I don’t know what goes into making decisions as a coach and I know it isn’t an easy job, but what was the point of that line up change? Smh at this loss!
Hopefully my next Dear Diary: entry will start off with some good news.. by the time you guys read this it'll be a new year, so I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday!
Catch you guys next time
- Da'Marco