Travis Acton vs. Randy Acton

One could call this battle "The Irresistible Force vs. The Immovable Object."  The Acton brothers were the two titans of the court in days when we played at Schurz court.  However, their rivalry started on their home driveway.

The two were very different players.  Travis was the defensive stopper;  Randy was offensive firepower.  But one thing they had in common;  they loved the physical, brutal style of basketball.  They had great respect for each other, but great respect meant that they had to fight that much harder to keep the other from winning.

Randy would try to back Travis down all the way to the low block.  Once Randy would get there, he was going to score with his post moves - unless, of course, Travis made one of the stellar defensive plays he was known for.  Travis knew good and well what Randy had planned - and he wasn't going to let him do it easily.  Bump-push, bump-push, bump-push - both Acton brothers would fight for the upper hand - and only a wimp would call foul.  Eventually, Randy would get to the low block, turn, and use his body to get Travis out of position.  And Travis would still block more than his fair share.

So then Travis would take the ball, and move back and forth across the lane.  Randy wanted to deny Travis his right hook, but in doing so, was forced to give position as Travis would take the ball deeper and deeper.  Bump-push, bump-push, bump-push - both Acton brothers would fight for the upper hand - and only a wimp would call foul.  Once Travis got close enough, Randy had to worry about other moves rather than just sit on the hook, and as he'd try to deny the basket, Travis would take a step through, and put up a nice little hook over Randy's outstretched hands - not as accurate as Randy's shot, but still a solid scoring threat.

So - who would win?  Well, just on general principle, the first one to call a foul LOSES.

Randy eventually developed a new strategy - tell his brother, "You need to start powering the ball up instead of using the hook."  Travis often joked that when Randy gave him this advice, he really believed Randy was trying to help him, but all it really did was insure that Travis couldn't beat Randy any more.

Randy would probably win the match-up, since more of his shots will go in that Travis's, but winning doesn't come any tougher than this.