Archive for the 'Sports' Category

Aaron’s first Upward season concludes

Published on March 9, 2010 in Family, Leisure and Sports. 3 comments

Aaron’s Upward season-end party was tonight at Pizza Inn.  (I’ll skip the restaurant review.  Pizza Inn is Pizza Inn.)

This was Aaron’s first time playing organized basketball, and I’m proud of how well he did.  He really wants to get things right, and that includes protecting the ball when navigating up to take a shot.  (His coach told us he hadn’t taught him that, because “they’re not supposed to be able to get that at this age.”)  Well, that’s cool.  He watched Nathan a lot, and I don’t think Lea or I knew we weren’t supposed to be teaching him that.

Speaking of, we really appreciate the time and effort Coach Jimmy and Coach Holly put in.  They related to the boys marvelously, and the end product looked a lot more like a basketball game than did the beginning.

Couple of weeks off, and then on to spring soccer we go!

The entertainer was a bit off

Published on March 6, 2010 in Family, Popular Culture, Religion and Sports. 4 comments

Nathan and Aaron had their season-end Upward ceremony this morning at church.

Many dedicated people work long and hard to make an Upward season happen, and I think the size of this one took a lot of people by surprise.  I’m extremely thankful for all of the volunteers’ efforts, and my meager contributions—an occasional coach sub or an afternoon in the kitchen—pale in comparison.

All of that said, the entertainer at this year’s season-end ceremony seemed a bit off to me.  He was a guitar-playin’, singin’, audience participationin’ sort of fellow.  Had us clapping, shaking hands, hugging, exercising, and stuff.  He had a bit with an imaginary friend named Larry.

Dig, all of that’s fine, but there was a subtle undercurrent of unmistakable weirdness about him.

Fortunately, I had a like-minded texting partner also in attendance.  (This is an exact transcript, apart from three <name redactions>.)

(begin text transcript)

Bo (10:09 AM):  I’m about to strangle the <redacted> boy.

BamaDan (10:11 AM):  Sleeper hold? Who’s the entertainer? Salome of the Mystic Feather Dance?

Bo (10:11 AM):  Marilyn Manson

BamaDan (10:13 AM):  Europe?  Where’s We’ve Got Spirit cheer?

Bo (10:20 AM):  FREEBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD

BamaDan (10:22 AM):  Hey you were right.  It is Marilyn.  So Harvester of Sorrow isn’t an acceptable name for this song?

Bo (10:23 AM):  “He’s a Vengeful and Bloodthirsty Savior”

BamaDan (10:24 AM):  Sol Invictus didn’t roll off the tongue I guess.

Bo (10:27 AM):  The case for this guy being a raging fetishist is not a difficult one to make.

BamaDan (10:30 AM):  I’m contacting his parole officer and checking the Davidson County predator’s list.

Bo (10:36 AM):  “ok, now everyone take your shirts off!”

BamaDan (10:38 AM):  Is Larry in a leather gimp mask?

Bo (10:45 AM):  Are you almost done, Kevin?

Bo (10:46 AM):  I was going to hug <Stepford Mom #1> very thoroughly, but she evaded me.

BamaDan (10:49 AM):  Don’t take it personal – maybe if you were at more PTO mtgs?  This place needs a buffet table.

Bo (10:49 AM):  Feet, check.  Underwear, check.  Watersports, check.

BamaDan (10:51 AM):  Would it be yellow journalism to tell <Mrs. BamaDan> that the entertainment made kids play with his instrument?

Bo (11:01 AM):  Man, is that guy ever a blog post waiting to happen.  I think I shall refrain.

BamaDan (11:04 AM):  Ummm, why?  He’s gotta have a web page.  Deserves a link of love.  Making light of the yr end entertainment is a time honored tradition.

Bo (11:05 AM):  I’d be too mean.

BamaDan (11:06 AM):  Can never have too much of a good thing.

Bo (11:32 AM):  I don’t want a churchmate to happen upon it and think I’m unappreciative of the work someone did to find him.

(end text transcript)

And I don’t.  And I’m not.

But dude was weird.

“No brakes, no gears, no fear”

Published on March 5, 2010 in Leisure and Sports. 0 comments

The boys and I were flipping around a few weeks back and happened upon a motorcycle speedway event.

Do you know about this sport?  I’d never heard of it, and it’s been around most of a hundred years.  Essentially it’s four riders on 500cc, methanol-fueled motorcycles with no brakes and a single gear, sliding around a short track in a series of four-lap heats.

(I figure the heat structure is necessary because if these guys ran long races, no one would ever have a speedway career and there wouldn’t be any fans, because everyone would die doing it.)

The slicing and dicing in the corners is really something to see.  It’s almost balletic.  The ways in which the bikes can move in and around each other are surprising (and unpredictable, to an inexperienced watcher like me).

Even though most heats end without a crash, part of me is still shocked when they do.  (This heat does have one near the end, but it’s not bad.)

We saw it on Discovery HD Theater, so if you’re interested, watch for it there.

That’s $323.99 with tax

Published on March 3, 2010 in Consumption and Sports. 5 comments

Were there $300 (or, you know, maybe $175 or something in those dollars) baseball bats when I was a kid, and I just didn’t know about them?

And ooh, you can “SAVE $100″ on that one.  It’s normally $399.99, apparently.  You know, just a little tip there, for the value-conscious amongst us.  (cough)

Stuff like this gives me a little optimism. If this market is still there, then the economy could be worse.  Right?

Upward party at Tommy’s Pizza

Published on February 28, 2010 in Consumption, Family, Leisure and Sports. 5 comments

The boys played their last games of the 2009-2010 Upward basketball season yesterday.  Nathan’s season-end party was this afternoon.  We don’t keep score, but if we did, the Rattlers would have won all of their games this season except yesterday’s.

This is Nathan’s third year to play for Scott (“Coach T”), and he does a wonderful job teaching the boys basketball, as well as sharing Christ with them.  We’re blessed to have him in Nathan’s life.

Our team mom helped out with snack schedules, trophies, and such, and did a great job.  (Plus, she’s smokin’ hot.  I’m so totally going to have a steamy affair with her.)

We really enjoyed our early dinner at Tommy’s Pizza.  Tommy and Christy are experienced restaurateurs and genuine New Yorkers, and that means they make genuine New York-style pizza—huge, floppy slices on hand-tossed crust, with just a bit of sauce.  It was delicious, and we got hooked hard.  They were kindly obstinate and wouldn’t let us pay (thanks much, guys!), but I’ll be going back for a slice for lunch from time to time.

Here is Nathan getting a lesson from Tommy with the practice dough:

It was a great season.  My biggest complaint was the Boise State colors for the uniforms, which is a minor one indeed.  Aaron’s season-end party and the ceremony at church are still to come, and then it’s on to spring soccer.

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