Lady Spartans off to a good start. "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

Hey sportsfans!

Em's varsity lax career started off with a bang Tuesday night with a regular season game against the Birmingham Magic. It's always tricky at Rathmell Fields because the weather is usually colder there compared to the surrounding areas. The City of Mountain Brook has a itchy finger when it comes to closing their fields when any threat of rain appears. Luckily the heavy rains held off long enough for the teams to warm up and get the game started. Dealing with light rain and heavy fog made it interesting for the refs. (Now, if the City would just improve the lighting on the fields ....)

High school lacrosse. Much improved version of lax on this level. No more coast to coast running with the ball to score. Real plays. Lots of passing, team defense and much more communication. This veteran team (reigning State Champs) features several experienced seniors and a strong group of ninth graders who look to earn their place and contribute where needed. It did not take long for the freshmen to make their mark. 

Starting at attack, Em was anxious to make an impact to start to the season. It did not take her long to make her mark. #4 (Favre, anyone?) got on the scoreboard with sweet goal just three minutes into the game. Pressure, off. Nerves, calmed. For me. The Magic team featured several excellent athletes, but not a very competitive team. The Lady Spartans played efficient team offense with lots of passing and well executed plays.  Their defense was adequate this game, but has much room for improvement that will be greatly needed against better teams. The final score was 12-6, with four of the Magic's goals coming late in the second half when Coach Hunter emptied the bench. Em contributed with two scores and four or five assists (I couldn't see thru the fog!) in the win. Pretty good start to the season.

On a beautiful spring Sunday morning, for their second game of the season the Lady Spartans took on the Madison Jets from Huntsville. It did not take long for the Green and Gold to take charge in this contest.  It took for just seven seconds from the start for Olivia to put the biscuit in the basket. Three minutes later the score was 4-0, including a goal by Em. Halftime was 8-0. The bench emptied. Final score was 14-1. Em scored once, had two assists. Olivia (3), Lauren, Jennings, JB and Ellie each scored. A couple of interesting facts from this game: Every goal was scored by underclassmen. Not every game will be this easy, but the future sure looks bright. Also, Coach Hunter was very pleased at the girls being very patient with the ball and controlled it probably 90% of the game. The Madison coach complimented the team for not running up the score. He recognized the Lady Spartans could have done so and was impressed by the ball handling. 

The Lady Spartans (2-0) have two more regular season games on the schedule this week. The midweek forecast is predicting more snow so who knows what will happen.  The team is scheduled also to play in a tourney in Atlanta in mid-March. The teams at that tourney will really test how good a team they have become. 

Sid is in three performances this week. Should be lots of fun. Family-friendly. Who doesn't love the Peanuts gang?

Presumably track practice and meets are underway. First meet is this weekend. Likely a no go for the crew.

Special birthdays this week for Papa Max and UR this week. Happy birthday to both!  Rooting for Jason Collins to play well enough to sign a contract to stay in the league for the remainder of the season. Favorite month starts on Saturday. Spring training. 35 days till Opening Day. College baseball and hoops going strong. Even Hall of Famers lose their cool sometimes. Hood's feet were set. Boeheim (below) lost the game for Cuse. All of Sid's college auditions are complete. Now, we wait. Should hear in the coming weeks. Fingers crossed! The US Hockey teams were on the verge of greatness until the wheels fell off for both. Mountain Brook boys hoops team (the reigning 6A State Champs) are returning to the Final Four at the BJCC this week. Fun team to watch.  

Have a great week, everyone!
The Sports Guy

#22 for the goal. #97 for the strike. #2 (or is it #3?) for the drive. #1 for 26.2.

Hey Sportsfans!

This past week Mother Nature canceled Em's lax game and moved Sid's audition to future dates. Never fear, we filled the void with other sports. As if you doubted?

Friday night we caught two of Mack's soccer games at the Sports Blast fields. Playing in the Lakeshore Shootout, the #1 ranked (1-4A) Springs defeated Chelsea and Gadsden City to capture the tourney championship. Despite the downpour all night, Mack played well at both ends of the field. He just missed a header goal in the first game and scored from a beautiful crossing pass in the second game. Solid defense in both games. This Springs team looks tough and will be a force to be reckoned with all year.

March 18th, Springs at Altamont will be a fun one to watch. Shadi (Go Wash U. Bears!) and Co. will be ready. Could be an epic matchup. Altamont has won the 1-4A title threes times since 2003. Springs won the title in 2008. Currently Altamont is ranked #7 in the 1-4A Coaches poll.

When was the last time you saw a 97 year old throws strikes? We did this past weekend. What a treat! Papa Max came out of the bullpen bringing the heat for the home team. We can all hope to be this active at 97. Happy birthday, Papa! 

Anything they can turn into a sport is fine by me. Sid and Em took to The Track this weekend and burned some serious rubber. Not sure who won. Both claimed victory.

Lilly finished the Mercedes Kids Marathon this past weekend in Birmingham. She ran 25+ miles in gym class this past semester and then finished the marathon in downtown. Way to go, Lil! Below, Lilly is escorting her mother to the finish line in record time.

   

This week is packed with lax games, play rehearsals, college auditions and baseball games. Winter Olympics have been eventful. Scratching my head at some of these "sports" though. Ritchie Incognito is still an idiot. How's your college hoops team doing so far? The Maginificant7 are hanging tough for Coach Stallings. Syracuse and Florida look like Final 4 teams. Ever heard of Doug McDermott from Creighton? Look him up. Glad the Braves locked up Freddie, Heyward and Kimbrel this month. Should be a contender.

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy

Endings and Beginnings. #654. The Rocket.

Hey sportsfans!

I've always heard that it's very tough to beat the same team three times in the same season. Going into the second round of the area tournament, that what the Lady Knights were attempting to do against Fultondale. Having already beaten them twice during the past month, this playoff game would determine if the Lady Knights season would keep going for at least two more games or if this would conclude an adventurous year.

The team was well rested and anxious to play Friday night at home. Each season since 2005, the Lady Knights have won the area regular season and the area tournament. Great tradition. Heading into this season the team had high hopes with a full team complimenting all five returning starters. No seniors on the squad but lots of experience. However, lightening struck four times in the preseason. One starter left school. Another starter quit the team. Two others had serious leg or knee injuries, including one that required major reconstruction. 80-90% of last year's scoring was not coming back. This left six players and Coach KP scrambling for warm bodies. This six could have easily folded their tent and just gone through the motions for the season. That did not happen. Enter, players from the tennis, volleyball and soccer teams. Not much experience, but tons of enthusiasm.

When you're a 2A school sometimes teams are forced to borrow players from other sports. These are smart kids. They picked up the plays pretty quickly in practice. Game experience, however, is a whole different animal. Long story short, these girls really came together during the past four months and became a real team. Coach KP did a great job molding these girls into a team that will be remembered for how well they played as a unit. By the end of the season, they shocked many (including themselves) by winning the area regular season with a 7-1 record. These wins were hard fought victories each and every game. Some games were just plain maddening. Finding themselves climbing out of double-digit holes for thrilling wins. Other games were blowouts which allowed for the bench to empty.

Friday night proved to be another one of these nail-biters. Not so shockingly, the first quarter started completely opposite of the way they intended. Eight fouls and down by seven at the start of the second period. Lazy, lazy cross court passes led to easy turnovers. Not blocking out for rebounds. Allowing their forwards to sneak under the basket for easy points (4x!). Basic fundamentals being forgotten. Not good. Not good at all. Before the half, the Lady Knights managed to pull themselves together and cut the deficit to five points at the break.

Coach KP go the team's attention at the break. Lineup changes and different defenses helped the team to pull ahead early in the fourth period. But it was a little too little, and a little too late. It was not meant to be this evening. Tonight belonged to the Wildcats. 40-35 was the final. Em contributed with eleven points, several loose ball recoveries, rebounds and very good hustle. The loss ended the Lady Knights season. Their record ended up being a respectable 8-8. A sad end to a pretty darn good season. While I'm sure the girls are disappointed how their season ended, in the long run they should feel very good at their accomplishments. (NOTE: Fultondale then beat Vincent to win the area tourney.)

Next year looks to be even better. Cat will be returning from her knee injury. A promising rising ninth grade guard will join a team that still will not have any seniors, but will feature tons of game experience. Em looks to be a three-year starter, but knows she will have to earn her keep. I'm very proud how she handled the tough role of team captain this season as a ninth grader.

Meanwhile, (please don't tell Dr. Andrews) twelve hours later Em was on the lax field for scrimmages against two different squads - Birmingham and Trussville. This high school lax team from Mountain Brook is a club team, girl's lax is not a sanctioned sport by the Alabama High School Athletic Association. Hopefully, one day they will get there. Just not enough organized teams statewide. Em has played the last four seasons on the junior high squad. Now, she moves up to play with the high schoolers.  Better competition. Better coaching. Better games.

These scrimmages were designed to help train new refs and for the teams to gauge where they are early in the preseason. Em shook off some rust and ran for a bit in both games. The Lady Spartans team is the returning state champion and features several accomplished upperclass players. Em has payed with several of these girls over the years, including Olivia, JB, Lauren, Jennings and others.

Later in the day we scooted over to Atlanta so Em could tryout for The Brine National Lacrosse Classic to be held in Baltimore this June. This annual tournament features some of the best high school talent in the country. It's a great way for college coaches to see the up and coming promising players who want to play in college. Em participated in drills and scrimmages for three hours Sunday morning with kids from all over the Atlanta metro area. She hopes to be chosen for the Atlanta high school team. Will learn in a few weeks.

By the time we returned from Atlanta Em was recharged enough to practice with the MB team for another couple of hours. I was tired just watching her!

Last Thursday several buddies and I attended the 13th annual American Baseball Foundation dinner and fundraiser. Since its inception in 1994, the American Baseball Foundation Inc. has been successful in its role of an instructional center for both under-served youth in United States communities, (through the ABF Baseball & Academic Skills Instructional Course (BASIC); and also for youth from diverse communities on a worldwide basis. More than 500 baseball fans were entertained by Roger Clemens and several local former Alabama MLB baseball players. Frankly, the real star of the evening was Dr. Andrews, not The Rocket. The line for photos, handshakes and autographs should have been for Doc. Fun evening.

Sid is actively rehearsing the school's next play and preparing for college auditions. If you see her this week, please tell her that her father loves her. Good for Michael Sam. Hopefully society, inside the locker room and out, is much more accepting. Favorite Olympic moments so far? I hope it's not the blunders and sad state of lack of development and the corruption outside the competition venues. What's being shown on television are the beautiful places and people. The reality though that is being reported through other social media shows a very different reality. Did you see the moving and highly significant ceremony was held in conjunction with the Sochi Winter Olympics Sunday as Russian Jews, Israelis and others came together to remember the Israeli athletes massacred by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The importance of the occasion was highlighted in a Washington Post story: "They gathered Sunday in sorrow and celebration, Jews saying a prayer for the 11 Israeli athletes killed by terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Jews rejoicing that they could raise prayerful voices in Russia, once the land of the pogrom." (BJF Update, 2/10/14) Need 2-3 players for the Altamont baseball team. Any of you couch potatoes have eligibility left? Seriously. Track practice begins this week for both girls. They might need snow gear.

Have a great week everyone.
The Sports Guy

Snowmaggedon 2014. Area Champs. 15?!?!?!

Hey sportsfans!

Two inches of snow. The City was not prepared and shutdown for three days. Chaos ensued. Some suffered. Some had fun. I'm just glad it's over.

Much was at stake for the Lady Knights this past Saturday afternoon in Fultondale. A shoutout from the sports gods to Mother Nature creating Snowmageddon 2014 and pushing this game from last Tuesday so Aarthi's bum ankle could rest. A win clinches the regular season area title and hosting the area tourney. A loss meant second place in the area for the first time in almost a decade and traveling for the tournament. Nobody wanted that.

The Lady Knights played like they wanted to close out the season in style. They were aggressive in the first half and pulled to an eight point lead at the break. On defense they limited Fultondale to only a handful of first-half shots. Although the Lady Knights were cold in their shot attempts, they kept shooting and pushing the ball up the court. Being aggressive. However, heading into the fourth period with a twelve point lead, for some reason the Lady Knights started coasting and it almost cost them the game. They were outscored 15-8 in the final quarter, but held on for the 27-22 win. The win pushed their record to 8-7 (7-1 in the area) as they were crowned regular season are champs for the tenth year in row. Em chipped in nine points and four steals to go along with some key rebounds and tough defense.

The area tourney will be held at Altamont this week, with the Lady Knights getting a first round bye. They will play Thursday night against the winner of the Fultondale/Victory Christian. The top two teams from the area tourney will play in the Sub-Regional round the following week.

With the Alabama High School Athletic Association made changes for next school term. Altamont will remain in Class 2A, but will have different teams in its area. Tarrant, Sumiton Christian and Southeastern High Schools will make up Class 2A, Area 11 beginning next year.

Well, the Broncos and commercials were real duds. The Seahawks and Bruno Mars / RHCPs were super. Terrible game. Total domination by Seattle. NFL got very lucky with the mild weather. Have you seen what's going on there today? Big-time snow.  Bring on pitchers and catchers.

Em begins lax prax this next week or so depending on the weather. First scrimmage is later this month. Summer tryouts and regional tournaments in the upcoming weeks. She moves up to the high school team so this should be better competition and a real learning year.

I have not heard much from these two about the javelin and high jumps. One would assume that gets cranked up this month too.

Sid's next play is in a few weeks. It's going to be a real dog of a play though. Supposed to be family friendly, but will include lots of licking???  I do know that a good man is part of the cast.  Not really sure what all of this is about though.

Did Em really turn 15 this past weekend? Drivers test later this week. Oy.

More college auditions this month for Sid.Spring training is coming on soon. Seeing Roger Clemens later this week at the American Baseball Foundation annual dinner. Don't hate.Did you catch the Syracuse / Duke thriller Saturday night/ Awesome college hoops. This new ACC rivalry will be fun.

Have a great week, everyone!
The Sports Guy