The Red Sox and Birthdays Strike Again

It took me a little while to figure this one out.  See, the boys birthdays are next to one another and they always asked me to take them to a Red Sox game.  In trying to find tickets, I finally decided on the Rockies-Red Sox tilt on a random Wednesday afternoon.  I thought that that would be a good option; they wouldn't be home too late on a school night.  And besides, I like watching the Sox take on a National League team - even if this Rockies team won't make you think back to the 2007 World Series.  It seemed like a win-win situation, in any event.  Well for everyone but the Red Sox as John Lackey was going, still trying to find his groove after spending last season on the shelf with a Tommy John.

I get to the park first.  I find a $50 parking spot (being careful to avoid the street since I hadn't had any time to get my car inspected, I didn't want to risk a $50 ticket plus street parking).  I went to the Boston Beer Works and ate lunch.  I people watched (and watched the thunderstorms) for a while until C and G (plus one of the C's friends) came to the restaurant to get me.

Oswalt preparing for the onslaught

Because of the afternoon rain, neither team took batting practice, which took away one of the features of arriving early.  So we went to our seats in "foul ball alley" and watched the teams warm up.  A couple of random Rockies' players were signing programs and balls, so C and his buddy went down there to get autographs.  When they got back, I studied the signature to see if I could figure out who it was.  "No idea" was my final answer.  In the meantime, the teams retreat back into the dugouts to prepare for the beginning of the game.

As John Lackey takes the field, C wonders if he is actually going to pitch well.  He hasn't pitched badly this year, despite having just a 4-5 record heading into the game.  And as he pitches in the First inning, it looks like his fastball is popping.  He strikes out Todd Helton and Michael Cuddyer in an impressive first inning.  Although he gives up a run on a single, stolen base and single, his fastball is clocked at 94 and 95 MPH.  It seemed like he was going to have another impressive outing.  And although the Red Sox were down early, they got that run back and then some.  After Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz doubled, the Red Sox took the lead in the first inning, 3-1.

Lackey continued to pop his fastball as he mows down the Rockies through 5 innings, including two innings where he strikes out the side.  The Red Sox, meanwhile take a 5-1 lead in the 3rd inning as Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava both drive in a run.  And the boys would be remiss without telling me that no foul balls have come our way.  Not even close.

The Red Sox end up holding onto the lead (despite two home runs from Michael Cuddyer) and winning the game 5-3.  Lackey ends up striking out 12 on his way to his fifth win of the season.  It seems that he is readying himself for a big year, after three disappointing years to start his Boston years.  The boys statistics include two hot dogs, two large fries, two drinks and about 5000 sun flower seeds.  And good times were had all around. Maybe next time all three will come with me to a Red Sox game.  I already have her collecting baseball cards.

Scituate 9U Baseball Team Travels to Sandwich

Scituate 9A Summer Travel Baseball team traveled to Cape Cod in its annual Sandwich Summer Blast Tournament.  Scituate tried to reverse the trend of challenging performances that previous 9A teams faced in the annual Cape Tourney over the past couple of years.

June 27, 2013.  Scituate 13 Cohasset 3.

In a game held under the lights at the Sandwich AL1 field, Scituate's J. Garrett and J. Kinsley combined to toss a no-hitter as Scituate easily handled its cross town rival, Cohasset 13-3 to start its run in the Sandwich Summer Blast Baseball Tournament.  Garrett struck out 8 in just 4 innings of work while Kinsley saved the game in a tense 5th inning.  Scituate's pitching was not the only story though, as the mighty Sailors smashed 9 hits including ringing doubles from G. Harris (2 hits and 2 RBIs) and C. Smith (1 hit and 1 RBI).  With the win, Scituate immediately put itself in prime contention for a high seed in the Tournament playoff. 

Game balls.   Garrett, Harris, Kinsley.

June 29, 2013.  Falmouth 9 Scituate 3

After rain dampened the Sailors' game against Martha's Vineyard in the morning session (a tie that ruined a 2-0 lead in the process), Scituate gathered itself together to face a tough team from Falmouth in the afternoon session at Sandwich AL2 Field.  Despite some rough seas through the first 3 innings that saw 6 walks and 3 errors, Scituate staved off a mercy rule ending through the final 2 innings with exceptional pitching from H. Gates.  Faced with an uphill battle in the 6th inning to get back into the game, the Sailors made the game interesting with RBI singles from J. Adams and J. Sannella to close the gap to 6 runs.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as Falmouth beat Scituate 9-3.

Game balls.  Gates, Sannella, Sullivan.

June 30, 2013.  Norwell 6 Scituate 5

After garnering the 6 seed in the tournament with a 1-1-1 record, Scituate faced a feisty team from Norwell to open the tournament playoffs.  Dodging storms throughout the weekend, the day appeared to brighten as Scituate made it way down to the Cape.  After jumping to a quick 4-1 lead through 4 innings, Norwell battled back with 5 runs in the 5th and 6th inning to win the game 6-5.  J. Garrett again sparkled as he threw 5 innings and struck out 9.  The Sailors were paced with 2 hits a piece from J. Kinsley and J. Adams and a 2 run double by C. Smith. 

Game balls.  Garrett, Kinsley, Adams, Smith.  

For box scores of the three games, check here.  Regular season play starts on Sunday in Rockland!

Blackhawks, Bruins and Conflicts

It wasn't that long ago that I declared, after the Hartford Whalers stole any joy that I derived from hockey, that the Chicago Blackhawks were going to be my favorite team.  But that was back in 2011, and I have to admit that I have not really been keeping up with the Blackhawks since then (Before the Stanley Cup Finals I could only name Kane and Hossa as Blackhawks); I have been content letting hockey disappear from my life.

And I took this tact for the first 5 games of the epic Blackhawks-Bruins Finals.   I didn't really care that much, only watching snippets of highlights if I happened to catch them on Sportscenter the next day.  Meanwhile friends have been up in arms about this series, even more so than back in 2011, when I didn't care that much then. But now, after Game 5 in which I was forced to watch the game with Bruins fans, I am now interested in this series.  I'm not going to be rooting for the Bruins, mind you.  You gotta be kidding me.  But I will root for an exciting game.

To get me into the series, G has been secretly whispering to me "Here we go Blackhawks."  He likes the Whalers even though he was born 7 years after they left Hartford.  While I laughed with him, DLG and C looked at me with serious looks.  Neither of them like hockey (probably because of me) and didn't like the inside jokes.

In the aftermath...

I started writing about the game.  I went period by period hoping for an epic collision between two long time teams.  I laughed at Jaromir Jagr and wondered if Patrice Bergeron was really hurt.  And then the last 90 seconds of the Third Period happened and I deleted all of that.  It just made me nostalgic for some good hockey in the Nutmeg State and I was not going to go there.

So I erased that recap.  Instead, I simply say "Nice job.  Good effort." 

Time for baseball anyway.

Vince Lombardi By the Quotes - A Message

"You are a confident person and with the right tools, the right attitude and the right focus, you can do anything you want and succeed." 

Sounds like Vince Lombardi, right?  But its actually me channeling Lombardi with my message to you.  In honor of Lombardi's 100th birthday celebration on June 11, I have compiled a list of my favorite Vince Lombardi quotes for you.  Now I have never seen Lombardi's sales movie from the 1960's - and trying to buy the DVD now will run over $1,000.00 - but my favorite Lombardi quotes really have nothing to do with football.  They apply to everything you do.  The roots might be sports-related, but winning, confidence and internal strength have applications in everything you do - on and off the field.

“If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?"

My favorite quote.  Kids always look at me and cheer when I say that.  Now the baseball league we belong to dictates that winning doesn't matter, everyone makes the playoffs and everyone should play every position.  I agree that everyone should try every position, but winning and losing is very important, because if you lose every game, yeah you make the playoffs, but the kids are demoralized and you end up facing the team with the two best players in the league.  The result -you get your butts kicked.  How is all of this good for your confidence?  What good habits do you form from this?  If a score is kept, you have to try your hardest to win because that will lead you to practice the good habits that will allow you to succeed.  If a score is not being kept, then you have to relax.  Once you realize the difference, you can have fun and be successful. 

"Winning is not a sometime thing…it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while…you don’t do the right thing once in a while…you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit."

Winning takes a lot of forms.  It might be winning on the field or on the court when you look at the score board.  What I think this means though is that to be successful, you have to try your hardest and practice everything you do to get into good habits - because good habits only lead to success and good things.  I could be in sports, definitely.  But this also means winning in school and at work.  If winning at a pursuit becomes a habit, it's a tough habit to break.  

“Confidence is contagious and so is lack of confidence, and a customer will recognize both.”

Clearly a quote from the Lombardi sales movie referred to above.  But it applies everywhere you turn in life.  You are trying to win in everything you do.  It might not be a win in the conventional way, but it s a chance to succeed.  Maybe its sports, but its more likely in school and at the workplace.  If you are confident (or you lack confidence), it will be recognized and remembered.  You can succeed in life if you believe in yourself.  But just as easily, you can fail if you don't believe in yourself.  

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

One of the worst things that you can do is to quit.  But giving up and quitting is not a simple concept to understand.  Giving something a try and failing to succeed no matter what you try is not quitting if you decide to move on.  Simply stated, not matter what you try, work as hard as you can and if you cannot get it to work, then find something else that you can succeed in.  Confidence is not built by trying as hard as you can to do something that you cannot do indefinitely.  Once you learn the difference and know your limits, the better you will become. 

“The spirit, the will to win and the will to excel – these are the things that endure and these are the qualities that are so much more important than any of the events that occasion them.”

An over-arching theme of Lombardi's entire life.  Another way to look at it is thinking about it using a different metaphor.  Success is derived not from the destination, but from the journey getting there.  Habits leading to excellence and practicing the right things to increase your will to win are so much more important than the individual win.  And it leads to more success.



“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

No one is perfect. And there is nothing you will ever do that will require perfection.  It is the essence of being human to be imperfect.  The interesting part about life is figuring out a response to the imperfections you will face in your life.  But if you practice good habits and you practice willing yourself to succeed, you have a great chance to be successful at whatever you try to do.  That's all I can ask.

Tepid Tim Tebow Joins the Patriots

Tim Tebow has joined the New England Patriots!  I was flabbergasted when I heard the news, what with Bill Belichick calling Tebow out as a terrible football player just days ago. Really, Tim Tebow seems like a curious choice to join the three time champions.  Some in the family would agree with me.

"Really, Dad, he stinks!" My 11 year old texted me.

"Why did they sign him, they have Tom Brady!"  My 8 year old stated.

"Who's Tim Tebow?" DLG asks me, not really sure what all of the commotion was about.

Huh?

Now over the last 24 hours, pundits have theorized why Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft signed this guy.  It was a favor to Urban Meyer.  It was a favor to Josh McDaniels.  It was a ploy to increase interest in the team prior to camp starting next month and to increase sales and attendance at preseason games.  It was a shot at the Boston Herald for reporting that Belichick hated Tim Tebow just a couple of days ago.

Who cares?  The simple reason the Patriots signed Tebow was because he comes without risk.  He signed a non guaranteed contract.  He's a hard worker and will likely be motivated to excel in any capacity that the Patriots find for him.  Personally, I think that he would be the third string quarterback but will also play a lot of special teams with his religious teammate Matthew Slater.  A good, hard-nosed player playing special teams is what every team is looking for.

All-in-all, I think it is a good signing.  We might not agree with it using the playing field as a barometer.  And all of the local columnists are crying that the signing will bring the circus to town.  But so what?  If there is a team that is adept at dealing with circuses, it's this one.  Remember, Albert Haynesworth, Randy Moss and Chad Ochocinco were also considered side shows when they came to Foxboro.  Some succeeded some did not, but they all managed to fall into the Patriot way.  It was not that big of a deal then, and I doubt this will be a big deal now.

So let's hope that this works out.  I like the heady play and the leadership that Tebow can bring.  I like the spirit and locker room presence he can lend, and I like how he can take some of the media pressure off for a Patriots team that is entering is 9th season of the Brady era without a Super Bowl.  Maybe Tebow will win that elusive starting job somewhere after he leaves the Patriots.  I think it is worth a shot to see if he can do it.