BIG day tomorrow...

National Letter of Intent Day.  A holiday for recruitniks and college football fans.

Can't wait.

Yawn...

Tired.  Almost couch time.  Over/under on minutes until sound asleep is 15.

Take the under.

Best we can do...

Gutting it out...

We let The Playmaker do a partial practice last night with his Metro team.  He did the shooting drills, some light running (no sprints) and dribbling.  When it came time for the scrimmage, we huddled with the coach and decided to let him participate.  He played with a slight limp, but we figured he was good to go for the weekend games.

Until this morning when we discovered his foot (just below the ankle) was now bruised.

Sheeeet.  Double sheeeet.

One text later, Mr. D was at the door.  He had a clear bottle full of some type of liquid and an unmarked white jar.  We shook hands before The Man got right to the point.  "Where is he?!?"  We lead him to the couch where The Playmaker was watching SportsCenter.  He handed him the bottle and told him to drink it.  The Boy looked at us.  We looked at Mr. D.  "Don't worry.  It tastes good.  Kind of like Gatorade."  When we asked him what it was, he smiled and said, "Don't worry.  It tastes good.  Kind of like Gatorade."  With that we popped off the cap and let The Playmaker drink it. 

Sure enough, he said, "I like it.  It tastes good.  Kind of like Gatorade."

With that, Mr. D unscrewed the lid of the unmarked jar.  He took a fist-full of what looked like dirty Vaseline and rubbed it all over The Playmaker's left ankle, foot and lower shin.  It wasn't even on five seconds when The Playmaker announced his foot was "burning."  Mr. D smiled and told him to keep drinking his drink.  The Playmaker never mentioned the burning sensation again.  The Man kept rubbing and massaging his ankle and foot.  Five minutes later he asked what time the game was.  The Playmaker said 11 AM.  Mr. D fist bumped him and said, "I'll be there."

Two hours later, wearing an ankle brace, The Playmaker took the court.  When it was all over, he had scored 13 of our 27 points and led us to victory.  He also had 4 assists and 6 rebounds. 

Today was picture day, which meant after the game we waited around 20 minutes to have individual and team photos taken.  Of course, the ankle had completely stiffened and he was back to limping.  Not to worry, Mr. D said he would be back tomorrow morning to get him ready for his Metro game.  We pulled him aside and spoke quietly.  We asked him what was in the mysterious drink he had brought to the house.

He smiled and whispered into our ear, "Gatorade."

Sheeeeet...

Playing doctor tonight, trying to get The Playmaker's ankle ready for weekend hoop games.  He rolled it yesterday playing Knockout and has been limping around for 24 hours.  Mr. D's been keeping vigil, trying all sorts of things to help out.  We'll wait until tomorrow morning to make the decision on whether or not he plays his rec game.  Ugh.

Never gets old...

So not cool...

What a douche bag JAVIER PASQUEL is for posting this sheeet on Twitter after Kyle Williams' fumble cost the 49ers the game against the Giants.  And what a tool he is to attach it to his real name.  Undoubtedly he will be the one now receiving threats.

C-R-A-N-K-Y...

Shouldn't be, but we are.  BIG time.  Ugh.  One of those days.

First thoughts...

Balanced offense.  The ability to jackhammer you up the gut on the ground.  Receivers who can beat you deep.  A QB who, we finally must admit, is outstanding.  And a pass rush better than anything they've seen all year.

Yup.  We think the Patriots are in all sorts of trouble with the Giants.  We're shocked the Giants are 3 point dogs.  That's easy money.  Low hanging fruit.  Very low.

Lotta time to change our mind between now and Super Bowl Sunday.  But at this point, we'll say:

Giants 30
Patriots 24

Wow...

Crappy audio, but it's the only clip (so far) on YouTube.

Best we can do...

Good stuff...

Picked up 4 inches of snow last night.  Actually got to fire-up the snowblower this morning.  Another 4 or 5 coming tomorrow.

Woo!  Woo!

Play (well) for pay...

As we stated yesterday, we gave The Playmaker a bonus for a Metro game well played last Sunday (7 points, including 5 in the fourth quarter to cement the victory).  Here's the SWAG. An autographed Kobe card, complete with the NBA patch.  No need to worry about the price.  Suffice it to say, The Wife would S-C-R-E-A-M if she found out the coin we dropped.  Oh, well.

Two and oh...

Great weekend of basketball.  We kicked the sheeeet out of an undefeated team in rec on Saturday, 36-19.  The Playmaker had 12 points and 5 assists.  The Grizzlies are now 3-2 on the season.

On Sunday The Playmaker's Metro Team got its first league win, 32-25.  The Playmaker had a season high 7 points to go along with 3 assists.  His team was up by 2 points when he entered the game with four minutes to play.  In a two minute explosion, he erupted for 5 straight points to propel his team to the victory.  He nailed 3 out of 4 free throws and then sank a six footer along the baseline.

After the game, he was rewarded at home with a major bonus.  (More on that tomorrow.)

Best we can do...

Happy 13th Birthday!!!

Thirteen years ago this morning, The Playmaker's Sister popped into The World.

Happy Birthday!!!

Love this...

5:47 P.M. Back from the mall...

A 2.25 hour visit.

And it's all over!!!

Not cool...

Tomorrow The Playmaker's Sister is having her birthday party.  (She turns 13 on Monday.)  She and six friends are going "shopping" at the mall.

We're not kidding.

Four girls are going in The Wife's car, three with us (along with The Playmaker).  So while you're enjoying your Saturday afternoon, we'll be ... wait for it ... in a mall with seven 13 year old girls.

A split basketball weekend...

The Playmaker went 1-1 last weekend in basketball.  His rec team won, 23-19.  He scored 9 points and had 4 assists.  His best play was a three point play at the buzzer to end the second quarter,  He got the defensive rebound and dribbled the length of the court.  He knew he had a bigger defender hot on his heels.  He came to a jump stop about five feet from the hoop, then did a shot fake -- which sent the Big Man flying in the air in a feeble attempt to block his shot.  The Playmaker then went up with the shot, absorbed the foul and made the hoop.  With no time on the clock, the refs made the other 9 players leave the court.  The Playmaker then sank the free throw for the old school 3-point play.  The next day his Metro team sank to 0-3 in league play (though they are 3-3 in tournament play).  He had zero points (0-2 on shooting), but had three assists.  (In part due to the fact that he is the ONLY ONE WHO LOOKS TO PASS!!!    Can you say C-O-A-C-H-I-N-G?!?!?!?!?!?!?  As in his team is suffering from a LACK of coaching,  Good gawd, man!) 

Later, man...

We're going to bed.  No, really.  We are.

Brent shoots his load...

:- (

We bought the two Christmas trees on December 3 (first Saturday in December ... our annual ritual).  And today we took them down.  (Another ritual: the tree(s) stays up until the college football national championship.)  We say it every year.  The five weeks from Thanksgiving thru Christmas are, without a doubt, the best time of the year.  (Yes, even better than our two week escape into The Basement every August.) 

 

Only 10 months away.  

The present & the future...

Nikola Vucevic 

Best we can do...

Back 2 hoops...

Tomorrow marks the return of rec basketball.  We have not had games the past two weekends, as Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fell on Saturdays.  Our last game was December 17, when we got our first win of the season. We won, 24-10.  The Playmaker had 6 points and 8 assists.  (Do the math: He either scored or assisted on every basket but one.)  He was getting double teamed in the lane every possession and simply found the open man for easy baskets.

On Sunday we return to the Metro scene.  We won our final game of the Christmas tournament last week by one point.  (Giving us two wins in three games.)  The Playmaker had 2 points (1-2 shooting), 3 assists (he logged heavy minutes at the one), 1 block and 2 rebounds, including a defensive one on the final possession of the game to clinch the victory.

Losing in front of the whole school...

We did, indeed, sneak out this AM and slip in the backdoor to watch The Playmaker battle two other fourth graders and three fifth graders in the finals of the Geography Bee.  And we got the VIP treatment.  One teacher knew us by name and insisted we sit in the front row.  We had no clue who she was.  When it was over (The Playmaker and one other kid lost in the first round), The Principal came over and shook our hand and congratulated Our Son.  (And posed for a picture with him, certificate in hand.)  But the best part of the event came before the first question was even asked.  The Principal introduced the finalists one at a time.  And who got the loudest cheer (by far)?!?

Yup. Our Son.  Some things never change.  Jocks are still jocks.  And they still run the school.                

Even in the fourth grade.

Our kids are better than yours...

Got a call from The Playmaker's teacher today.  Seems he won the geography bee in his class yesterday and will be participating with two other students in front of the whole school tomorrow.  Suh-weet.  And, yes, we'll be dodging our own school and slipping in the backdoor to watch.

It's a new year!!! (Let us count the complaints...)

1. We have a bad cold! Our Daughter had it.  And probably gave it to us.  It feels like the flu -- but of course it can't be since we had a ... wait for it ... flu shot last fall.  Ugh.   

2. Our sciatica kicked in yesterday afternoon!  It was, undoubtedly, triggered by two nights of sleeping on the couch (so we wouldn't keep The Wife awake with our coughing).  Last night we slept in the guest room, which was a heckuvalotbetter than the couch.  (Why did we not do that sooner and skip the couch altogether?!?  Good question.  Short answer: the guest room is full of the Christmas boxes from the attic.)

3. Holiday eating!  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we lost 5 pounds.  Woo!  Woo! The problem is we gained those five back (plus probably another 5) over Christmas and New Years.

So to sum up ... We feel like crap.  Miss sleeping in our own bed.  Have a shooting pain from the lower back down through our ass.  And we feel like an overweight slug.

Happy New Year!!!  

Ugh...

Back to work tomorrow.

First meal of 2012

A 19-pound roast turkey