Quoted in Uni-Watch Lead Article!

Wednesday the Uni-Watch blog read had a write-up on Punt, Pass, & Kick. He had asked for input a few weeks ago, and I wrote in. I was one of about six guys that were quoted…I came off sounding like a goober, but it was what I wrote. I’ll have to tell Lang. Uni-Watch also mentioned that on Feb 29 the GT women’s team was wearing 1979 throwbacks. The old photo they ran was of a girl that was in my classes.

Busy at work, and everyone’s sick at home…Anna went to the doctor yesterday and missed ballet. Tonight Will has baseball and basketball practice, tomorrow just baseball. Matthew starts next week.

See where Chipper was on the AJC blog? I read it…big thing to me was that the Braves will wear blue jerseys next year. Lots of people were gushing over Chipper and asking questions, but one guy was still a jerk.

Tech is finally making a move in basketball. Saw Shaq on the cover of a Diabetes magazine at Kroger.

Injury

Will almost made it through the entire basketball season uninjured…I got him some of those ankle supports. Then Wednesday night in his last regular season game the point guard threw him a pass that Will wasn’t ready for…he barely got his hands up so the ball didn’t hit him in the face, but the pass sprained his hand, and it swelled up. I thought it was just his pinkie finger, and I wasn’t going to let him miss baseball practice because of that! But it was his entire hand…I think it’s better today. Today he’s going straight from baseball to basketball practice.

Talked to Matthew’s coach from last year today. They are drafting tonight, and two of the teams are being coached by good guys that Matthew likes. I will be able to help out with Matthew more this year, but it will be harder to get off early…so I won’t be an official coach. It has been nice the last few years to be able to get off early when needed, and I did so as much as I needed to. I knew the day would come when it would be harder. Still, I may take a long lunch next week to go hear Matthew in his Poetry Recital.

Will almost got on a baseball team that had a few games in Augusta. The one thing I thought was that the Millers could come to those games! They also had games in Alabama…Will would’ve missed too much school, and the practices and games would’ve been an hour away from home. I would’ve missed almost all the games, as they play on weekday afternoons.

I’m still enjoying writing those recaps…I have been busy here at work, but I try not to let that get in the way of the writeups! Another thing is that even when Will plays a lot, there may not be much to report. Last Saturday I didn’t have to be the scorekeeper of the varsity game, and I was able to take notes on the game so the recap could be more than stats. My parents came to that game and told some of the parents I wrote recaps…now they want the recaps sent to them!

Good that golf it starting up…we watched Pebble Beach last night on the Golf Channel. Will’s Flight basketball program also has a golf team that’s just starting.

Looks like it may work out that I can take off that 19th week. That sure works better than the week before!

Logo Man

Both Will and Matthew were both excited about the latest addition to their bedroom shelf...this Pittsburgh Pirates Logo Man bobblehead, dressed in the 70's era uni.

Now he stands near Spahan, Matthews, Aaron, Francoeur, Josh Smith, and the retro Braves and Tech bobbleheads.

Flight Jayvee Regular Season Finale

Facing a tough opponent in their final regular-season game while knowing they already had secured a place in the tourney, the Flight JV boys emptied the bench in their Wednesday night 62 – 47 loss to GAAA.

Flight started the game on a hot streak, with DJ draining all three of his long first-quarter three-point attempts. Kevin added a basket, and DJ added two other baskets as the first-quarter ended with Flight up 36 – 12.

DJ scored ten more second-quarter points, including going 2 – 2 from three-point land. Substitutes Joel, Max, Jordan, and Will came into the game at various times in the quarter, but even regulars Conner, Josh, Isaac, and Kevin were repeatedly getting inside shots blocked. Offensively GAAA found their game, using fast breaks and quick, sharp passing to score 24 points in the quarter, with the help of only one three-point shot. At halftime GAAA led 36 – 30.

In the third quarter Flight went into a shooting slump. DJ not only missed both of his three-point attempts, but his one-handed shots on drives to the basket weren’t falling either. Scoring only one foul shot, he wisely started passing off, but crisp passes to both Will and Josh bounced off their hands, and Kevin cut to the basket just as DJ threw a pass to him in the corner. GAAA outscored Flight 16 – 5 in the quarter.

DJ sat out the fourth quarter, saving himself for the upcoming Varsity game. In three quarters he scored 24 points, with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and an assist. GAAA emptied their bench, rotating three or four reserves with one or two starters. Conner led Flight as they fought to stay in the game, at one point narrowing the lead to single digits. Conner battled mightily inside, finishing with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He had a three-pointer taken away on a three-second violation.

…Holt was the one Flight player able to hold his own inside. He had no shots blocked, and scored 9 points with one rebound.

…Josh continued to play well, with 5 points and rebounds, a steal, and 2 blocked shots.

…Kevin had 5 boards to go with his one basket.

…Jonathan and Isaac played a good portion of the game, and both logged one steal.

…Jordan and Max each had a rebound. Max played quite aggressively inside, and was called for a foul.

…Joel played well and got off two shots.

…Will had 3 rebounds and made a nice pass inside. On one missed shot the rebound came off the rim, and several players deflected it over toward Will. He jumped up and caught the ball, laying it into the basket in the same motion.

Flight Varsity Wins a Thriller

Ben had a frustrated Flight Varsity game Wednesday night against talented Greater Atlanta Adventist (GAAA), turning the ball over several times and diving fruitlessly for other loose balls. But with nine seconds remaining in the tied game, he redeemed himself in a mighty way, driving the lane and laying in the winning basket with just three seconds left, giving Flight a 60 – 58 upset victory.

Somehow the game remained close the entire way. GAAA passed quickly and with precision, in contrast to the more physical brand of basketball played by Flight. Whenever GAAA would score a couple of baskets to move ahead, Ryan or Josiah would hit a clutch three to keep Flight in the game. All ten of Ryan’s points came in the first quarter. He also had 4 rebounds and one assist and steal.

At the end both of the first and second quarter the score remained tied, first at 23, then 33 – all at the half. More fouls were called against GAAA, leading to second-half frustration on their bench that was perhaps somewhat justified. Many more fouls could’ve been called against both teams. David came in off the bench to provide a spark, and he drove the lane repeatedly, drawing fouls. He hit three of four foul shots, grabbed 3 rebounds, and dished two assists. With Walker out, Josh was the only other Flight player to come in the game.

DJ helped Josiah run the offense, but most of the running one-handers on his repeated drives to the basket missed. He only scored two baskets and one free throw, and added 3 boards and 2 assists and steals. As usual, Josiah was all over the court, scoring 16 with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Once he fell to the floor on top of a lose ball, but without grabbing it he instead got to his feet with the ball under him, and then picked it up. Ben added 6 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.

Throughout the game GAAA was able to block many Flight shots. The third quarter ended with Flight up by just one, 50 – 49. GAAA’s best inside player drew his fourth foul and came out of the game. Amazingly, in the fourth quarter Flight was able to pass the ball inside to Willis for easy baskets, and several times he was able to draw a foul on the play. The big guy scored eight points in the fourth quarter and a game-high 20, including a perfect 6 – 6 from the foul line. Four of Willis’s 5 rebounds came in the fourth quarter.

It took Willis’ last three-point play to tie the game at 58 with 1:02 left. After a GAAA timeout, the visitors ran off 62 seconds before the coach called their final timeout. On the ensuing inbounds play in front of the scorer’s table, the short pass came into a GAAA player standing just on the frontcourt side of the halfcourt line. But not realizing exactly where he was standing, he ill-fatedly passed the ball to his teammate still in the backcourt…a disastrous turnover with nine seconds on the clock.

After their last timeout, Flight ran a play to inbound the ball to Josiah, who was double-teamed. Instead the ball was passed in to the open Ben, seemingly the last Flight option. He quickly dribbled to the middle of the court, looking to pass as Josiah, DJ, Ryan, and Willis spread out, fruitlessly trying to get open. Instead Ben found the lane wide open. Without options and the clock ticking down, Ben drove in and laid the ball in the basket. With just three seconds left, GAAA wasn’t able to inbound the ball. The team and crowd went wild…Flight had won!

Attention

Seems like Matthew thinks he doesn’t get enough attention, and resents traveling to Will’s games and Anna’s ballet. To a certain extent that’s true, though he gets lots of attention at home…when he’s not eating, doing schoolwork, completing chores, taking baths, and going to bed. So perhaps I need to make to Matthew’s Poetry Recital next Wednesday at lunch. He should do ok. Anna is the one that gets the least attention…she’s been doing a ton of schoolwork all by herself.

I mentioned my parents attending Will’s game but forgot the point…they told other parents how I write game recaps, so now they want me to copy them. During the varsity game second half I took notes, so I could recount the game chronologically, in detail. I may share my blog with Holt & Marykathryn’s parents…they’re much more into travel sports than me. Today is probably the last basketball game of the season for Will, though he could still practice a few more times with the varsity.

At Saturday’s game I sat at the scorer’s table keeping the books. Two guys from the opponents varsity kept the other official book and the clock, and did a good job…even called me sir. Another varsity player sat on the bench as the assistant coach…after his game I told him he played better than he coached (he dominated the game). I almost told the scorekeeper he’d make a good accountant (though it appeared he’d rather be a rap star).

Ceil read parts of Dungy’s book, that her mom had bought. We may still have it at the house…I need to read it. I’m almost halfway through Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book on Lincoln’s cabinet…exhaustive American history, but interesting. You forget about the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, etc. Wish there was more about Lincoln and less about his Cabinet.

I saw all the Super Bowl scoring, seeing the two first quarter scoring drives, then watching most of the last quarter. Like you said, pretty good. Didn’t have strong feelings either way, but I do like Eli and Brady (and Peyton). Tried to remember to not change the channel during commercials. Matthew got to see the Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl (IV or V, I forget which).

Interesting site from the Dec 17^th SI… http://www.profootballtalk.com/ Deals with substantiated rumors and contract talk. Would be nice to have a similar baseball site…guess that’s Rowland’s Office, etc for the Braves. Also an interesting article on Rick Majerus. If you ever see an interesting SI article let me know, so I don’t miss it!

We discussed Andrew Dice Clay here at the office yesterday.

I’m getting more and more addicted to Wii golf.

We might not be a good IKEA family. One of our nice bookcases is out of square, and the drawers of a chest keep coming apart…guess we need better assemblers and wood glue.

Interesting that Staubach and Craig Morton share the same birthday (today)…considering at one point they were alternating on every play.

Flight Varsity Road loss

The Flight Boy’s Varsity knew they were in for a tough game against the athletic Sound Doctrine squad, but they scrapped the entire way. The entire team played well, keeping the score close in the first half and reducing a twenty point third-quarter deficit down to a close eight points late in the game.

Sound Doctrine game out and controlled the boards, blocking one of 6’8” Willis’ shots. Late in the first quarter Sound Doctrine’s best player leaped high for a majestic dunk, and hung on the rim to avoid falling on two defenders underneath him. Flight trailed 20 – 13 after the first quarter.

The referees were calling a close game, and both teams were in the double bonus for much of the second quarter. Flight was unable to cut into the lead, and at one point missed six straight foul shots. David had a strong drive to the basket for a lay-up. DJ had eleven points at the half, Josiah nine, Willis four, and Ben two…but Sound Doctrine led by nine, 38 – 29.

Walker played well in the third quarter, hitting a three to cut the lead to eight. He later drew a foul, but missed his two foul shots. Josiah battled for a tough rebound, drew a foul, and made his two shots. Ryan scored two baskets and grabbed a rebound. Gerald played perhaps his best game, grabbing two boards in the quarter, with one resulting in a putback basket. Later he drew an offensive foul.

The play got more furious late in the third quarter. After draining two three-pointers, a foul shot, and a basket, DJ capped a nice drive with a lay-up, cutting the lead to 63 – 47 with 1:47 left. Walker made a lay-up with 52 seconds left, then Josiah nailed a three-pointer with six seconds left seemed to create some Flight momentum. But not far across the half-court line, far away from the three-point line Walker committed an un-necessary foul on the lefty’s last-second desperation shot. Incredibly, the long shot banked in, and the lefty sank the foul shot for a four-point play, extending the lead to twenty.

Things didn’t look good as Flight broke the huddle for the fourth quarter. Ben had committed three fouls in the third quarter, and was called for his fifth just 58 seconds into the fourth. Walker passed inside to Willis for an assist and later drained two foul shots and grabbed a steal, but he too fouled out 55 seconds later. Walker finished with 7 points.

Despite the toll the fouls were creating, Flight cut into the lead, though Sound Doctrine had emptied their bench. DJ sank both foul shots with 5:30 left, then banked in a lay-up. Willis went up high for a rebound and put it quickly back into the basket. David caught a pass at the top of the key and turned to find an open path to the basket, so he drove in for another lay-up. Josiah missed a lay-up, but sank two foul shots and grabbed a steal.

DJ hit a long three with 2:40 left, but the deficit was still 14 points. He then drove in for a lay-up, but was called for a charge. Josiah drove the length of the court and drew a foul, hitting both free throws with 1:20 left…but he fouled out six seconds later. Josiah had 19 points.

Still, Flight hadn’t lost hope. Willis grabbed his third rebound of the quarter. Gerald collected three boards in a 26 second stretch, twice putting back quick lay-ups. In the fourth quarter Gerald had six rebounds. Then David hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds left. Flight had cut the twenty point deficit to seven points!

On the ensuing possession DJ committed his fifth foul. He had a game-high 30 points. Sound Doctrine broke away for a game-ending dunk, making the final score 91-80.

Rounding out the scoring, Willis had eight points, his brother David seven. Gerald had six and Ryan four points, all in the second half.

Flight Confidential

Driving a van full of players to a game two hours away provided an inside glimpse into the team, unlike I had before.

Top story: Kevin plays much older and taller than his 8th-grade frame should allow, battling hard inside for rebounds and putback points. Not only is he a solid contributor for the JVs, but he also dresses out for the Varsity. On the drive down he let his teammates in on a secret: “You know the famous statue, Michelangelo’s David, supposedly the model for the perfect male physique? I look just like that statue…I even have a balloon butt, and the statue even has my big nose!” I’ll trust Kevin on that one.

Jonathan’s dad noted his in-line skating son had put in 350 training laps Friday night. I asked him about the recent Sports Illustrated article on the speed skating teen whose father had injected with HGH and steroids. Mr. Blair knew the kid, had noted the changes in his physique, and thought he would’ve been successful without the “help.” Mr. Blair had emailed the boy after his dad’s trial, offering help and support.

Jonathan has had much success competed against older, world-class skaters. He recently finished seventh overall in a 26 mile skate down in Tampa. The first six finishers were older, top-ranked skaters.

We found out why Josh arrived late to the game. He recently obtained his learner’s permit, and drove to the game himself. We passed him on the way home, safely observing the speed limit.

Will’s grandparents drove over from Macon to see their first Flight game, and must have been quite the social butterflies in the crowd. Grandmother discovered she went to the same high school as Carol’s mom and aunt, and Grandfather worked at Proctor & Gamble with Maryalice.

Flight Jayvee Road Win

Saturday the Flight boys traveled down I-85 to LaGrange for a rematch with tough Sound Doctrine Academy. The Jayvees had lost a close game in Atlanta, but came into the game playing well. Flight had suffered a down note when Conner arrived at the Friday afternoon practice on crutches, and his status for the game was uncertain. The game also started without big man Josh, so things didn’t look good for Flight.

Sound Doctrine started off by feeding the ball inside to their older and larger big men, but most all of their close shots failed to fall. This allowed Flight to stake an early 13 – 2 lead. Then Sound Doctrine hit four straight three-pointers, including three by the little guard nicknamed Peanut, and Sound Doctrine led 17 – 15 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter proved to be the crucial period of the game. Sound Doctrine’s shooting went even colder, as they only scored three points the entire quarter. They also fell deeper into foul trouble, particularly their Shaq look-alike center, who racked up three fouls in the first half.

Flight’s offense continued to run smoothly, and they grabbed their share of rebounds against their taller opponents. DJ tallied four first-half assists, and finished with five to go with his game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Flight led 32 – 20 at the half, holding a comfortable lead most of the second quarter. Josh finally showed up and took over for Holt, crashing the boards and adding an assist of his own. Max also saw extended PT in the second, grabbing a rebound and assist.

Sound Doctrine wasn’t able to make much headway in the third quarter. Holt had a nice blocked shot. Will played several minutes and grabbed two rebounds, and also made a nice strong baseline pass inside to Josh early in the fourth quarter. DJ and Conner ran the offense and worked minutes off the clock. Conner showed no effects from his hurt ankle, scoring 19 points to go with 4 rebounds and a steal. The third quarter ended with the score 39 – 29, an eight point Flight lead.

The big Sound Doctrine center committed a fourth foul and was pulled from the game, so they could better employ a full-court press. In the fourth quarter Flight had less and less success breaking the press, but Sound Doctrine continued to foul. Flight had struggled all year making foul shots, but connected on enough down the stretch to hold onto the lead. Josh and Kevin made key foul shots, and Conner especially found his stroke at the line. Flight won a satisfying 53 – 44 victory.

Josh played the second and fourth quarters and had 5 points and 10 rebounds, with an assist and steal. Holt played well inside in the first and third, scoring a basket, grabbing 3 boards and 4 steals. Kevin also played big inside, scoring 3 points and adding 5 boards, despite giving up lots in size.

Jonathan started and scored two points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 2 steals. Isaac contributed as well. Only Joel didn’t get in the game.

Flight Jayvees Beat the Barons

Last Tuesday the Flight Jayvees beat the Greater Gwinnett Barons 52 – 34. Flight played perhaps their best game of the year, particularly in the first quarter. They outscored the taller and older Barons in each quarter.

DJ once again led the way, hitting three long three-pointers to stake Flight to a 15 – 9 first-quarter lead. He finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist.

Josh also played well, but got into early foul trouble. He scored 8 points and added one rebound, despite missing time in the fourth quarter when an errant elbow bloodied his nose. Holt was also a force inside, playing his best game in a month, scoring 6, rebounding 8, and stealing one.

Flight extended their lead to 9 points at the half (25 – 16) and 12 after the third quarter (36 – 24). Conner was also playing a good game when he sprained his ankle chasing a ball on a fastbreak. Play continued down to the other end of the court. Conner has just gotten back on his feet when DJ passed him the ball, not realizing Conner was hurting. Conner was able to make the basket, and timeout was finally called. He missed the rest of the game, after scoring 8 points, rebounding one, and grabbing 2 steals.

The Barons kept playing hard in the fourth quarter, but Flight continued to counter. Kevin grabbed three steals in the fourth quarter alone, and finished with four. He also had a basket and an assist, to go with 7 rebounds. Isaac replaced Conner and provided a late game spark, scoring a basket and stealing the ball twice.

Jonathan hit a few foul shots down the stretch to increase the lead, and finished as Flight’s second leading scorer with nine, to go with 2 rebounds and a steal. Jordan got into the game late, and grabbed a rebound. The game ended with Flight holding their biggest lead of the night, 18 points.

Super Bowl Commercials

Liked:

Coke – James Carville and Bill Frist

CarMax – used to be ShipMax.

Bridgestone – swerving to miss deer, Alice Cooper, Richard Simmons

Bud Light – Will Ferrell in basketball uniform

Shaq as a jockey

Cars.com – head shrinker

Bridgestone – animals hollering

Pepsi – game announcers Joe Buck & Troy Aikman

Didn’t Like: Budweiser – cavemen saying the wheel sucked.

A Very Bad Flu

Picked up the kids Thursday night after work at a friend’s house. They called not long after we got home…they have a friend at JFBC whose 2-year old son died. The boy had the flu, and the mom decided to wait til after the nap to take him to the doctor. He threw up in his sleep and couldn’t breathe. They have three other sons, who had played ball at Mt. Paran…now they’re in the hospital with the same flu. Ceil had met them at a home school function. Friday women were in the Publix across the street just crying. The funeral is today, and in the midst of their grief the government is investigating the death.

Late last week the AJC had a couple of articles about this deadly children’s flu, that’s worsened by a staph infection. Thursday night Matthew had been grouchy, and Friday he woke up sick. He stayed in bad all day, throwing up once and not eating or drinking much. Ceil hovered over him, and they stayed home from small group. Saturday morning he seemed better, but got worse after I had with Will for basketball. By the time Ceil had him at the hospital he was doing better, so they turned around.

Ceil had cared for him all day, and Saturday night he felt good enough to eat at Moes, where we knew he’s eat a bunch. We even knocked out some homework afterwards, before he curled up and went to sleep (a rare occurrence). Sunday morning he first said he felt too bad to go to church, then decided he wanted to go at the last minute…sitting in the service with Ceil and I, enjoying Andy’s stories about their shedding dog and text-messaging. Matthew continued to have a temperature the rest of the day, though he played outside. Musinex kept his cough in check.

Matthew was heart-broken to miss the Hurt Super Bowl Party. I stayed home with him. Margaret and her family had just come home from the hospital that afternoon, but Mary wanted to have the party go on since Haley enjoys it so much. The Marshes and Normans were there…Willis especially wanted to see the Marshes.

Catherine had come home this weekend to run the house while Becky went on a retreat, though Willis admitted none of the kids are great cooks. Catherine’s wrist was in a cast, thanks to a dodgeball injury.

Stuff From Late Last Week

We didn’t get heavy into Pocahontas or Mulan, or that animated mermaid movie. We all enjoyed The Emperors New Groove, with David Spade, John Goodman, and that mechanic from Seinfeld. It was on Thursday night, and Matthew reminded me that the mechanic was actually in Underdog. Some celebrities make lots of animated movies, like Zellwinger and Ratzenburger. Sunday while talking about the Blues Brothers the animated movies came up again…James Belushi was in Underdog as well.

At the end of the year I was trying to redeem all my MyCokeRewards points, when they were ending on 1-31-08. I had noticed there weren’t many good prizes, so I figured I’d better jump on what was left. Got those adidas sunglasses, which were nice, but not great for me…Ceil has been wearing them. Nice case. Just as I cashed in 350 points on a Sports Illustrated subscription, I noticed they had extended the program. The SI extension worked out well, I’m considering doing that again. I have just gotten to the point where there’s not too many caps lying around any more. They blocked the site here at work.

Sometimes traffic can jam up pretty good in the Dunwoody/Perimeter area.

Young Charles is playing Mt. Paran baseball for the first time, but he should do just fine. Older David is also playing baseball for the first time in a while, playing with the other Flight basketball players, the team Will wants to play on. They practiced again last Thursday night.

I know that sometimes during things like computer conversions you’ve just got to roll up your sleeves and put the time in. I found out it our IT department here in Norcross that requested the delay. It actually might work out ok for our family…as the kids are getting older, the SC cousins are into different things. All the families that usually go to the beach in July are now having scheduling difficulties. Ceil likes to go to honor her parents. Ceil’s mom was still concerned about the Christmas Day incident, knowing that Matthew was provoked by his cousins.

They do take me to the limit. Ceil’s two cousins were like brothers, growing up right next door. They are all-right and fun to be with, as are their wives. Everyone has their own condo (we’re in a 3-bedroom condo with Ceil’s parents), but there’s a lot of visiting. Ceil’s brother and sister-in-law stay mostly in their condo (to his parent’s chagrin). Their kids stay over too late, then in the morning slam the door coming in, waking our kids. Ceil’s dad does all the cooking and keeps the fridge well stocked, so the eating is good. I hang out down at the beach most of the time, and keep Matthew busy, since there’s not a male cousin his age. Perhaps a solution would be to let him take a friend from Atlanta.

We need to have a garage sale ourselves.

Lang’s dad’s church choir sang at the quarterly multi-racial Baptist gathering last night, attended by 10,000. Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter were in the front row. See John Edwards kicked back at the UNC/BC game Thursday night?

We didn’t see as many Mexican places in SF, but we may have been looking in the wrong places.

Big Road Win

Saturday the Flight boys traveled down I-85 to Lafayette for a rematch with the tough Sound Doctrine Academy. The Jayvees had lost a close game in Atlanta, but came into the game playing well. On a down note, Conner had arrived at the Friday afternoon practice on crutches, and his status for the game was uncertain. The game started without big man Josh, so things didn’t look good for Flight.

Sound Doctrine started off by feeding the ball inside to their superior big men, but most all of their close shots failed to fall. This allowed Flight to stake an early 13 – 2 lead. Then Sound Doctrine hit four straight three-pointers, including three by the little guard nicknamed Peanut. The quarter ended with Sound Doctrine leading 17 – 15.

The second quarter proved to be the crucial period of the game. Sound Doctrine’s shooting went even colder, as they only scored three the whole quarter. They also fell deeper into foul trouble, led by their Shaq look-alike center.

Meanwhile Flight’s offense continued to run well, as well as grab their share of rebounds against another taller opponent. DJ added four first-half assists, and finished with five, to go with his game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds. Flight led 32 – 20 at the half, holding a comfortable lead most of the second quarter. Josh arrived late and took over for Holt, crashing the boards and adding an assist of his own. Max also saw extended PT in the second, grabbing a rebound and assist.

Sound Doctrine was not able to make much headway in the third quarter. Holt had a nice blocked shot. Will played several minutes and grabbed two rebounds, and also made a nice strong baseline pass inside to Josh early in the fourth quarter. DJ and Conner ran the offense and worked minutes off the clock. Conner showed no effects from his hurt ankle, and scored 19 points, to go with 4 rebounds and a steal. The third quarter ended with the score 39 – 29, an eight point Flight lead.

The big Sound Doctrine center committed his fourth foul, and was pulled from the game so they could employ a full-court press. In the fourth quarter Flight had less and less success breaking the press, but Sound Doctrine continued to foul. DJ himself foulded out with 52 seconds remaining, with the game still on the line. Flight had struggled all year shooting foul shots, but made enough down the stretch to hold on to the lead. Josh and Kevin made key foul shots, and Conner especially found his stroke at the line. Flight won a satisfying victory, winning 53 – 44.

Josh played the second and fourth quarters and had 5 points, 10 rebounds, and an assist and steal. Hold played inside the entire first and third quarters, scoring a basket and grabbing 3 boards and 4 steals. Kevin also played big inside, scoring 3 points and adding 5 boards, despite giving up lots in size.

Jonathan started and scored two points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 2 steals. Isaac played contributed as well. Only Joel didn’t get in the game.

Flight JV's Beat the Barons

Last Tuesday the Flight JayVees beat the Greater Gwinnett Barons 52 – 34. Flight played perhaps their best game of the year, particularly in the first quarter. They outscored the taller and older Barons in each quarter.

DJ once again led the way, hitting three long first-quarter three-pointers to stake Flight to a 15 – 9 lead. He finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist.

Josh also played well, but got into early foul trouble. He scored 8 points and added one rebound. He missed time in the fourth quarter when he got a bloody nose. Holt was also a force inside, playing his best game in a month, scoring 6, rebounding 8, and stealing one.

Flight extended their lead to 9 points at the half (25 – 16) and 12 after the third quarter (36 – 24). Conner was also playing a good game, when he sprained his ankle chasing a ball on a fastbreak. Play continued down to the other end of the court. Conner has just gotten back to his feet when DJ passed him the ball, not realizing Conner was hurt. Conner was able to make a basket, and a time out was finally called. Conner missed the rest of the game, after scoring 8 points, rebounding one, and grabbing 2 steals.

The Barons kept playing hard in the fourth quarter, but Flight continued to counter. Kevin grabbed three steals in the fourth quarter alone, and finished with four. He also had a basket and an assist, and 7 rebounds. Isaac replaced Conner had provided a spark, scoring a basket and stealing the ball twice.

Jonathan hit a few foul shots down the stretch to increase the lead, and finished as Flight’s second leading scorer with nine, to go with 2 rebounds and a steal. Jordan got into the game late, and grabbed a rebound. The game ended with Flight holding their biggest lead of the night, 18 points.

Nike Keystone White

Looking for a pair of white cleats for Matthew. These on Eastbay are too big.

Matthew wore these for two years, loving them. Everyone else was wearing black at the time.

Baseball Parks I've Experienced

Today’s doodle turned out to be stadiums…

MLB Parks I’ve Visited, by Preference:

Fenway Park, Boston...historic

Wrigley Field, Chicago...also historic, where Ruth called his shot

Old Comminsky Park, Chicago

AT&T Park, San Francisco

MinuteMaid Park, Houston

New Arlington Stadium, Dallas

Turner Field, Atlanta

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg FL

Old Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Shea Stadium, Queens, New York

RFK Stadium, Washington

Atlanta Fulton County Stadium

MLB Parks I’ve ventured past:

Anaheim Stadium

Old Arlington Stadium, Dallas

The Astrodome, Houston

Candlestick Park, San Francisco

New Comminsky Park, Chicago

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

Los Angeles Coliseum

Kauffman Stadium, KC MO

Mile High Stadium, Denver

Oakland Coliseum

Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

Tiger Stadium, Detroit

Minor League Parks:

Engel Field, Chattanooga

Greensboro NC downtown stadium

Greenville Braves stadium

Hohocam Stadium, Mesa AZ

International Stadium, Richmond

Luther Williams Field, Macon

Rome Braves stadium

Football Stadiums I've Visited

Football stadiums (not mentioned as baseball)…

UNA’s Braly Stadium, Florence AL

Georgia Dome, Atlanta

Grant Field, Atlanta

Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn

Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill

Legion Field, Birmingham

Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC

Neyland Stadium, Knoxville

Orange Bowl Stadium, Miami

Sanford Stadium, Athens

The Superdome, New Orleans

Texas Stadium, Dallas

Ventured Past…

Appalachian State stadium Brevard

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City

Baltimore Ravens stadium

Bank of America Stadium Charlotte

Boston College stadium

Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando

Commonwealth Stadium Lexington

Fiesta Bowl Stadium, Phoenix

Gator Bowl Stadium, Jacksonville

Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis

Paulson Stadium, Statesboro GA

Purdue stadium, Lafayette

Reliant Stadium, Houston

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Soldier Field, Chicago

Southern Miss stadium

Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium

Williams Bryce Stadium Columbia