Playing a ton of basketball growing up (and in fact still playing, though not as often as I should), I encountered this exact stuck ball scenario dozens of times.

Ball somehow arcs up over the backboard (generally thanks to a brick, though sometimes thanks to being fouled while attempting a patented-but-ill-advised left-handed scoop layup (oh, is that just me?)) and gets stuck in the array of bars and crannies that adorn the backboards in most gyms.

At that point, there’s generally two options: you fire another basketball at the stuck ball from below in an effort to dislodge it, or you use the gym’s big dust-mop handle to try to poke it out.

This exact scenario happened last night in the Fresno State-Boise State game, and after both of those methods proved unsuccessful, they had to go to a third: child labor.

Take a look:

Look at that adorable tyke! He kind of looks like the bedridden kid from Seinfeld, the one to whom Kramer promises two Paul O’Neill homers.

And he got the ball! Talk about a ball boy, huh?

(This joke brought to you by Rick Reilly, circa 2009.)

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.