The Omaha Adventure - Day 1 The Toledo Model A Club

It started innocently enough our adventure to Omaha.  I had decided that Toledo Ohio would be our first destination.  A mere 11 hours away "as the crow flies,"  Toledo seemed like a good idea.  When I was younger, my family and I went to the outskirts of Toledo to visit my aunt and I remember that the drive was a great adventure.  I didn't have Pokemon Go, Instagram or Snapchat then either.  How bad could it be for the boys?

We make good time through Massachusetts and the Albany area.  We stop at a couple of rest stops along the way, including a McDonalds that required us to go over a bridge over the thruway to get to it.  While the boys were struck at how fast the cars underneath them were going, I was just looking at my watch thinking "I really want to get there in time for the restaurant to be open."

After driving through the Buffalo region and a great ride through Cleveland seeing Progressive Field (Jacobs Field to me), Toledo seems just a stone's throw away. 

Finally, after 13 hours - that trip to McDonalds probably took an hour itself - we get to Perrysburg.  A little bit closer to us than Toledo, the boys were excited to be at the destination sooner than we thought.  Even better, the hotel was right off the highway.  Little did we know that we would be the youngest people there by about 30 years...

I don't have words to describe this scene.

The Model A Restorers Club had its annual rally in our hotel, at the same time that we stayed there.  While dodging guys in walkers and trying to navigate the "Model A Parking" signs we stop in to the restaurant, a quasi Irish pub that served the most American of pub fare. What the Hell is going on with all of the old people and older cars I ask the waiter in the nicest of terms. It seemed that we were just at the beginning since all of these guys and their trailers were just starting to grease things up.  Seriously, what the Hell is going on?

After listening to his answer, the waiter starts in with how we were in Town for a baseball tournament.  C tells him that its actually the College World Series in Omaha where we are going, and the guys starts going nuts.  He starts going off on tangents about Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo and he starts talking about how he goes to Cincinnati by himself to watch games.  While I acknowledge his flamboyance, the boys just think he's "crazy."

"I can't wait to tell everyone on Tuesday that I talked to a couple kids about the College World Series and they are going to be there!!"  the waiter exclaims.  C just shakes his head and laughs.  G is looking at his phone.  I order my Guinness and tell him that we have tickets to the Tigers game.

"Kate Upton is all I'll say"  he tells us as he walks to get more drinks.

After dinner, we take our weary bones (or is that just me?) and play some pool and ping pong in the nice indoor courtyard.  Overall, a nice place despite the fact that I was looking around to see where all oft he AEDs were...just in case.

Day 1 was in the books.

The Omaha Adventure - Preface

7 Days.  5 baseball games.  3 Men. 1 Car. 

It would be a trip of a lifetime for C, G and JMR.  C's baseball team was going to a tournament in Omaha, Nebraska (well actually, Council Bluffs, IA) for the Slumpbuster Tournament.  The options included flying in or driving.  Being an "On the Road" kind of guy, I took the road less traveled and decided to drive.

It would take 3 days to get there and 2 days to get back.  We spent 2 full days in "Omaha."  Over the next couple of days, I will catalogue our adventures.

Would C hit a home run?

Would G be called up to play?

Would JMR find a Dunkin' Donuts?

Would all 3 of us come back alive - or would one or both of the boys be left in Nebraska?

7 days.  5 baseball games.  3 men.  1 car.   

Gordie Howe and his Hartford Whalers Legacy

RIP Gordie Howe.

A lot of memories came back when I heard of Mr. Hockey's passing a couple of weeks ago. 

My first hockey game was in his 51st year.  This was the Hartford Whalers' first year as an expansion franchise after having several successful seasons in the WHA.  A great portion of that success in the late 1970's was Gordie Howe.  And it nearly didn't happen.  After leading the league in scoring as a 40 year old, Howe's injuries forced him into retirement.  Only after having successful surgery on his wrist, and after yearning to play with his family, did Howe actually start up the second phase of his career in the WHA. 

After leading the WHA in points in his mid to late 40's with the Houston Aeros, Gordie and his sons migrated to sunny New England.  After playing a couple of seasons for the New England Whalers in the WHA, he made the jump with the newly minted Hartford Whalers to the NHL for the 1979-1980 season.

But on this night, we were watching what was clearly one of his last games. 

Maybe it was sport that he had trouble giving up, or maybe he wanted to play with his two hockey-playing sons, Mark and Marty, we were watching a man who loved the sport that he gave so much to.  We were also watching a man whose gray hairs out numbered his dark hairs skate around players literally half his age.  I don't remember him scoring that night of my first hockey game, and I definitely don't remember the Gordie Howe Hat Trick that he became known for.  But I do remember the helmetless head gliding around the ice and I remember him being an integral part of the playoff team that season.

I've spoken before about that long lost hockey stick that I received from Number 2, Rick Ley.  I had the choice of that stick or a puck signed by Gordie Howe (the Whalers practiced at the arena in my home town) But one of my best memories was seeing Mr. Hockey speak to our summer camp back when I was a mere 8 years old.  i also remember getting that prized photo with his autograph after his engagement.  While I can't find that hockey stick, and I can't find that photo, the memories will last with me forever.

As Gordie Howe retired from the sport, he became a great ambassador all the way up until his health problems caught up to him as he reached his 80's.  It saddens me to think about one of the icons of Hartford Whalers hockey being lost, but that sadness is fleeting.  But I think the memories of that first night watching hockey and that autograph will last with me forever.

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!