I’m sure this will suffer a bit for having waited through the weekend to put them together, but some thoughts about LeBron and the Miami Heat winning the NBA title thursday night. It was a lot to ask but still slightly disappointing that Game Seven didn’t live up to the standard set by Game Six. It wasn’t a blowout, but neither was it two heavyweights trading punches for 48 (or 53) minutes.
All kinds of stuff going on today, not the least of which is another important mid-June anniversary that must be celebrated.1 I’ve been sitting on this magnificent ode to PNC Ballpark in Pittsburgh by Charles Pierce for a couple weeks. It seems like the perfect day to share it. If you offered me a first-class ticket to a decent paying career in any field, after turning down the unrealistic options,2 I would likely select being a sportswriter.
I’m dragging a little but this morning thanks to that epic Game Six of the NBA Finals last night. In case you missed it, San Antonio controlled the first 36 minutes of the game wonderfully. They stretched out leads, responded to Miami runs, and seemed to be utterly in control of the game as it went to the final quarter. Late in the third period Tony Parker missed an open baseline jumper from about 18 feet that would have put the Spurs up 14.
I’ve shared before how C. is an impulsive child prone to get herself into trouble when something shiny grabs her attention and pushes all reasonable thought from her brain. Here is the story of her latest impulsive moment. We were entertaining friends a few weeks back and C. was teamed up with one of her seven-year-old buddies. The parents were in one room and the kids scattered about the house. Littered through the kitchen were several hours' worth of empty cans and bottles and the tops that had originally been on them.
Mid-June is always busy with remembrances large and small here in Casa de B. June 2013 is extra special, as it marks the tenth anniversary of many of these events. Last Thursday, for example, was the tenth anniversary of S. graduating from residency. That’s not one we celebrate but, as it was a part of a huge weekend ten years ago, we did acknowledge it this year. Then Friday was our (first) tenth anniversary.
A few assorted sports notes. Last weekend was a big weekend for people around me who suddenly become big fans of sports they don’t usually follow. For us Jayhawks, our women’s track team won the national championship, the first-ever national title for a women’s team from KU. A big part of their championship was Lindsay Vollmer’s solo national title in the heptathlon, another KU first. Locally, IU advanced to their first-ever College World Series by going to Tallahassee and winning two straight games over host Florida State.
I realized Saturday, as I was flipping through the latest Sports Illustrated, that I really should have written something about the retirements of Jason Kidd and Grant Hill. There aren’t many professional athletes still playing who were in college at the same time I was, and these were two of the very best to grace the game while I was a student.1 Grant Hill was the Duke player everyone secretly liked.
We made a brief trip to the pool yesterday, our first visit this season. You may recall that last July 4 was the first time M. and C. jumped off a diving board. M., who is always cautious, took several minutes to get the courage up to take her first plunge, and only, finally jumped when I threatened to throw her off myself. C., of course, took right to it.
Man, it’s been a busy two-plus weeks. Between county tournaments, sectionals, and state finals, I’ve covered seven events over that stretch, most of which were terrific events to write about. In the county baseball tournament, I had a preliminary round game that was run-ruled after five innings because of a 14-0 rout. Three days later I covered the title game that was an excellent 5-4 game that ended with the tying run on third base.
I guess the Heat responded Monday night. They played like the team they were all regular season, like the team they were constructed to be, and after a sloppy first quarter, methodically took control and blew the Pacers out. Before the game, I told my buddy E-bro in ATX that logic dictated the Heat would win. The odds were far greater that LeBron either had a huge game plus help from his supporting cast, or just a really solid game and big contributions from his teammates, than Paul George going off and getting big lifts from the people around him.
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War - Tony Horowitz. Although a bit dated now that it’s 20 years old, this still stands as one of the best, recent books about the Civil War. But it’s not your standard rehash or reviewing of the 1861-1865 war. Instead it views the war through the prism of the 1990s South, where in some places you would think the war ended a week ago and in others every reference to the war is carefully buried and hidden behind more marketable local history.
So I drafted this earlier today, before the news that the Royals have replaced their hitting coaches with George Brett and Pedro Grifo. So I guess something did happen. Whether that’s big news or not is another story. It feels like a big day for sports. Tonight, the Pacers take on the Heat in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals. With the series tied 2-2. Huge game. The Pacers have to win a game in Miami to snatch the series away, but I don’t think that happens tonight.
I do, ohhh, let’s say 80% of the laundry in our house. S. will do a load or two on the weekend, and occasionally after a trip or long weekend she’ll get all fired up and spend 12 hours getting every single thing washed and folded and put away. But normally it’s me doing the day-to-day laundry, from start-to-finish. Where I am not involved, though, is in the seasonal changes in the girls' clothes.
We spent the long holiday weekend as most Indiana residents who don’t go to the Speedway did: sitting near a body of water, listening to the Indy 500 on the radio1 while drinking beer with friends and waiting for some food that was slowly roasting on the grill to be ready. The weather was not ideal; it was unseasonably cool Saturday, overcast most of Sunday, and didn’t warm up until Monday afternoon.
Wednesday was a great sports night. And an awful one. I spent most of the night covering a tremendous high school baseball playoff game.1 I got home in time to catch the last out of the Royals' dismal loss to Houston. Losing two of three to the worst team in baseball is not cool. At all. Especially when they blew another great start by James Shields. The next two weeks will likely determine the Royals' fate this season.
It was a busy, hectic weekend dominated by C.’s seventh birthday. Actually, I should say C.’s birthday was the anchor to which the weekend was attached, because we were so busy her big day seemed to pass rather quickly. It was kind of a reserved birthday in terms of gifts. We just got her a few small things, as she had already received her big present last month: we cleared out our guest room, got some new sheets, moved a few things around, and turned it into C.
I have been out covering spring sports the last two nights. Tuesday I caught a county tournament baseball game, which was a scintillating 15-0, five inning win. Last night I had a first round girls tennis sectional match, which was a 5-0 wipeout. But I’m not complaining. It was dry and warm both days, which has been unusual for this spring. When I got home last night everyone was already in bed, so I flipped around and came across the Marcus Dupree 30 For 30, The Greatest That Never Was.
I kept thinking there was a shot, even if small. I’m not going to try to convince you that I believed Andrew Wiggins, the top high school basketball player in the country, was going to pick KU over Kentucky, North Carolina, and Florida State. I had thought for a long time he would make the easiest decision and go to Florida State, where his parents went to school. Still, I thought KU had a shot.
Turns out there may be more to Tiger Woods' return to prominence than anyone initially believed. There was Dropgate at the Masters. He may or may not have taken another incorrect drop while winning the Player’s Championship this past weekend. And now at least one marshall who was with Tiger Saturday is countering Woods' claim that he was given an all clear when he grabbed his club and, allegedly, distracted Sergio Garcia as he took a swing.
It’s bike ridin' season, finally. We hope the weather will stay warm and there will be many days of riding ahead of us. The forecast does show temps dipping into the 30s this weekend, so you never know in 2013. But anyway, it was time to make some moves with the girls. M.’s knees were hitting the handlebars on her old bike. Thus she got an early birthday present of a new bike last Saturday.