Bradley Jr, Betts and Bogaerts Are the Bash Brothers

The modern version of the Bash Brothers.  The first one recently followed up a 29 Game hitting streak with a towering home run against the Orioles.  The other is currently riding a 23 Game hit streak after hitting two screaming doubles against the same Orioles. The third just hits two line drive home runs as I sit here typing this. Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts have become the modern version of the Bash Brothers.

Thanks for the Roids Jose!

Now I grew up loving the original Bash Brothers.  Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were the stuff of legends.  They would anchor the Oakland A's fearsome line up through a string of World Series appearances, and the forearm smash they did after one of the them his a HR seemed to be a nightly occurrence.  I grew up a Red Sox fan, but my favorite baseball cards were that 1986 Donruss rookie card of Canseco and that 1985 McGwire USA Olympic baseball team rookie card.  They were my most prized possessions.  My friends and I would gamble for these baseball cards, usually by playing poker or pool.  Yeah we were kinda losers, but these baseball cards were worth 20 bucks back in the day!

Things started to change in the 1990's. Canseco wheels started falling off.  He bounced around a couple of teams, including the Red Sox, had a fly ball bounce off his head for a home run, and ultimately became a trolling D list celebrity.  McGwire went to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997 and continued a prodigious home run stretch where he seemed to get 60 dingers every year.  The Bash Brothers, like all brothers, went their separate ways.

Then the whispers of Steroid use popped up.  They were just whispers until Canseco's bombshell "Juiced" hit the bookshelves.  Detailing rampant drug use amongst the biggest names in baseball, the Bash Brothers took on new meaning.  Neither of the Bros could escape.  Canseco of course admitted steroid use.  McGwire hid behind the veil of not talking about the past.  At this point, Bash Brothers were two dirty words.

Until the Killer B's came along.  Hey, they aren't going to hit 60 home runs or wear togas on the cover of Sports Illustrated.  But this is a different era in baseball.  Steroids have been reduced or eliminated.  While HGH is still around (with other drugs too), the level of drug use has been reduced to the extent that 25 home runs is a good power hitting year.  And these guys are capable of it.  Even C and G got excited about the hitting streaks.  Each one would tell me if Bogaerts or Bradley Jr. got a hit (or didn't).  The Red Sox did not capture their fancy last year, but now...

We are fortunate to have the Bash Brothers here in Boston.  They are likeable players on a team that for several years had been tagged as a very unlikable team.  The Red Sox are in first place despite having real struggles pitching.  Mostly due to the Killer B's the Red Sox have come back from the dead.  People are talking about them again. 

Let's just hope they don't pose like the Blue Brothers with bats

DLG and the Winners of the Cape Cod Tournament!

After watching years and years of AAU Basketball and Baseball with C and G, I was finally ready for DLG to take her turn with AAU.  Joining LC's 5th Grade team - and with yours truly as the assistant coach - DLG was doing great as a fourth grader.  Even though she was still a little small to be a forward, she was always going after 50-50 balls, always getting big rebounds and always making the big pass when she needed to.

Although our first tournament ended 0-3, including a very tough loss in the first game of the season, the girls came to play in the second tournament of the season.  While I was watching baseball with the boys, DLG's team was mowing down the competition in Kingston.  First a 3 point win and then a 10 point win to go 2-0 on Saturday.  I was excited to coach the team on Sunday as we were facing a weaker team that needed a coach.  As LC agreed to coach the other team, I coached the girls.

We started out on fire going a three quarters court trap.  We jump out to an early 6 point lead.  DLG has 2 of the points on a nice put back rebounding on the weak side.  More up and down the floor as our lead widens.  DLG scores another basket, this time a little 10 footer.  The girl is on fire!  We are up 16 at the half.  LC is pissed since she really wanted to beat me, even though that would mean a loss for her team.

Champions!

No such luck though as the girls extend their lead to 24.  DLG lays another one in to have 6 points for the game.  Working on a double double is she as her rebound totals go up as well.  We run out the clock to win by 26.  DLG ended the game with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and a bunch of hustle plays on 50-50 balls.  Easily this was her best game ever.  On to the Championship Game!

After the fight (a story for another day that included a couple of 9th Grade girls teams) and thinking that we would face the press again in the Championship Game, we were set up to break their press.  We had 12 and 14 ready to go.  But we never needed it.  They played half court man to man which played right into our strengths.  We executed some good pass and cuts and scored on a bunch of offensive rebounds.  It was great to see as the girls pulled away to win the Championship by 13 points.

After going 0-3 in the first tournament, we come out firing in teh second tournament to go 4-0.  Great job by the team!     

2016 Million Dollar Question - Warriors Vs. Kobe

LC is asleep.  DLG is asleep.  C is asleep.  G is taking a "nap" so he can watch both games.  In one of the biggest nights in NBA regular season history, the Warriors are in the Bay Area looking to beat the record for most wins in NBA history while at the same time, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant was playing his last game ever.  The games would both be televised so we could watch both.  Which would you choose?

Forget about the facts that the Red Sox are on, and that the Brooklyn Nets are playing for a possible 3rd pick in the NBA Draft, and that the Celtics are playing for home field advantage against the Heat - 5 points in the Third Quarter!.  The two big games are coming up late night.  The Lakers and the Jazz and the Warriors and the Grizzlies.  Which game would you choose.

Why not, him?

G wanted me to wake him up when the games started.  I'm debating it since it is a school night and 10::30 is pretty late.  I actually asked him which game he wants to watch and told me both.  I laughed.  But it is Kobe and the Warriors that we're talking about so I guess I'm not that surprised that he wants to watch both.  Which would you rather watch?

I don't know how long I'll watch myself.  I guess as along as I can legitimately stop G from waking up while the games started.  I told him that I would DVR both games.  Not good enough.  So I told him to take that nap and I will get him up.  No guarantees, but I will try.

Watching Kobe Bryant warm up on ESPN2 reminds me why I hate him.  Preening for the cameras, fans for some reason chanting his name, bricks raining from the baseline, fake fawning from the media, it was all there for us to cringe over.  Magic Johnson emceeing this affair is all we need to know about the cheese factor.  Shaq, Derek Fisher, KD, Dwayne Wade, I'm waiting, Dirk, Pop, KG (await KG?) Carmelo, Steph, LeBron, Pau Gasol, Lamar, and Phil Jackson, Jack Nicholson all said their good byes.  The chants of "Kobe" are making me hungry.  It's the Kobe Farewell Game.

Switching over to ESPN and it is still Kobe on that station as well.  Now the Warriors.  Let's here from Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Honestly, I feel a let down.  But that will remain to be seen. 

Kobe finally scores with 5:12 left in the first quarter, after going 0-5, he turns back the clock with a great backboard block and then a little floater on the other end.  He then follows that up with another another two points.  Then another 2 points.  He's going off!  He has 15 of his teams 19 points in the First Quarter as the Lakers are down by 2 after the First Quarter.  I guess I should stop disliking him now.  On a team with Nick Young and D'Angelo Russell, I have other Lakers that I can dislike too.

G still won't get up.

Meanwhile Steph Curry has 20 in the First Quarter as the Warriors take a 37-23 lead after the First.  He looks on fire tonight as he has made 6 3-pointers in the First.  I'm not sure what it means to have the best regular season ever if they don't win the NBA Championship, but that is just a detail that will have to work out.

And with that, with G still asleep, I decide to fight on another day.  You know, DVRs are useful for this purpose.

G is still asleep.

Celtics Halftime Show 2016

G's Town travel basketball team is a very good team.  Winning the league against much bigger towns in 2014 was matched by winning the State Championship in 2015.  Although we were unable to match those feats in 2016, we were able to participate in a Celtics halftime show.  Willie Maye, the Celtics dancers and some surprise special guests were in store for us this year.  Not only that, but the Celtics were playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, so there was a reason to watch the game too!

Butler (in Red) needed his bodyguard

As we did last year, at the start of the Second Quarter, we went down to the tunnel underneath the stands to wait for our turn to play basketball.  Willie was getting all of our names and was giving the boys the rules.  Make sure everyone scores.  Pass the ball.  Play defense like you would against a toddler (meaning no defense).  I then overheard one of the assistants tell the boys' coach - who is also a C-level executive with the Celtics - that the special guest would not come over until his bodyguard was ready.  Really?  I mean the boys look pretty tough, but he could probably still handle them.  But as the bodyguard came down the tunnel with him, I could see why he was needed.  If I had a lot of money, I would hire this guy too.  To say that this guy looked the part would be an understatement.  Sadly, I did not take a picture of him as that would have been a risk to my legs, arms and face.

After we shared that laugh, the boys started buzzing around.  Malcolm Butler and Dion Lewis (who seemed ready to play next year) finally came over.  They started playing basketball with the boys.  We got a couple of pictures and shared another laugh when Dion Lewis told us not to put him net to our Center, who at 11 years old probably had 2 inches on Dion.

G Winning the Tip

After the pictures, and the Celtics dancers coming over, we got ready for our 8 minutes of glory.  The boys were again told to not play defense (taking us back to the time last year when G blocked a kid's lay up) and to move the ball around.  I also implored the boys to use "whatever move they use in Rec Basketball."  I was also curious to see if G did his Kevin Durant impression with his between the legs, behind the back dribbling move where he ends up farther away from the basket than when he started.

No such luck, as the boys seemed too nervous to do all that fancy stuff.  They were going up and down the court a couple of times and no one could make a basket.  As he is wont to do sometimes, G finally calls for the basketball.  Surprising us coaches, instead of launching an NBA 3, he takes it down the lane and his a little floater.  The crowd cheered and all the kids seemed to relax after that.  Scoring went up and down.  G took that ill advised NBA 3 pointer (hit iron but bounced harmlessly away).  That's my boy!

Although we weren't keeping score, it seemed like everyone scored and had a good time.  I will not bore you with the cliche that everyone won and that it ended in a tie.  But let's just say that we had a better night than the Celtics who got their butts kicked by the Thunder, losing by 26.

See you next year (hopefully).

Sport of (Bowling) Kings

I grew up with ten pin bowling.  I was even in a sports league on Saturday mornings and won myself some trophies.  But that was in Connecticut.  In Massachusetts, the sport is different.  Now instead of ten pin bowling with big pins and big balls, we were relegated to Candlepin bowling.  The bane of my existence really since Candlepin bowling is tough to bowl well.  Numerous splits, missed spares, infrequent strikes.  It just sucks really.

Well after numerous times trying to make a go of Candlepin bowling, we finally found ourselves staring straight at a ten pin bowling alley.  Kings is about 45 minutes from our house.  It features numerous bowling alleys, a game room and a big bar.

1pm.  Monday afternoon.  Although it was a holiday, we figured that it was not a major holiday so a lot of people would be working.  This, we thought, would be a great way to get some bowling in and spend time with the kids.

"The wait is about two and a half hours." the hostess explains as she hands us one of those light up buzzers.  The vacant look on her face matched ours.  Two and half hours to play a couple of strings?  Really?  But we have the JMR Rally to play.  This is too long!

Luckily, after LC calmed me down, there was a Yardhouse right next to us.  We figured that we could wait for an hour and a half to eat, drink beer while we were waiting and then head over to Kings when we were done.  It seemed like a perfect plan. 

And it worked to perfection.  We ate, and then rambled on over to Kings.  No sooner than we got our beers and sat down to wait then we were called to the alley.

"Wait, there are no guard rails?" my FOURTEEN year old son asks.  This might be a lot longer than I thought.  I think that on the inside as I give him a 12 pound ball to try on.  Give this a try, I think, as I shove the ball into his midsection.

The five of us would bowl two strings.  G would struggle falling behind the rest of us.  C would be right in front of him, although he was focused more on the speed of his delivery than pin dropping results.  DLG surprised us by showing poise and determination as she consistently scored 6 or 7 pins every time.  LC and I would battle it out to see who won the JMR Rally.  While my spin was still trying to find its way in Game 1, I dominated Game 2 - winning by 40 pins.

Although the kids were a little upset at how poorly they thought they did (although they didn't), we had fun.  Maybe I'll even give Candle Pin Bowling another try.

Nah.