Thursday, November 21, 2013

End of Fall Baseball

Another Tigers season has drawn to a close and now we sit and stare at each other wondering what we should be doing (not really).  The Tigers did well, had a lot of rain outs which made it a longer Fall season than anticipated but they played hard when they were permitted to play.  Fall season ended with a record of 14-7-1, not too shabby.  Since I didn't post at the end of Spring/Summer the record at the end of that season was 34-25-1.  So, to help you out with the math that means between February 2013 and November 2013 the Tigers played 82 games or about half of a major-league season.  No wonder we're all tired.  Of course, that's only games and doesn't count the practices, lessons, and other baseball-related events of the last few months.

The Tigers ended this season with a charity tournament in Grand Prairie known as Santa Cop.  The tournament collects toys from all of the players to donate to needy kids.  They also collected money for other programs.  Of course everyone was more than willing to help out and they had a trailer full of donations.  The Tigers won both of their "pool" games and were seeded #4 going into elimination day.  They then played 4 games on Sunday, giving all of the parents a heart attack during the 1st game when they were down 6-1 and came back to win it on a Bomber winning walk-off double!!  They made it all the way to the championship but came up short there and had to settle for second place.  They played hard all day and were hitting the ball like crazy!  Here is a picture of the boys taking a break before the last two games:


In case you can't guess, they are all looking at one of the boy's phones playing a game.

Here is a picture of the team with their 2nd place rings.



Here is a picture of the boy with his coach, yes he is taller than his coach!  But, they make a great pair.


Way to go Tigers and congratulations on another great season!

On another note and subject of a future blog post - this is the last picture of the boy and this coach you will likely see....  we already miss you Eddie!

Deb

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Family Pictures

I used to have a rule and the rule was we got family pictures made at least once a year, usually in the Fall.  This rule was fairly easy to follow as long as the boy was small and agreeable.  Then he got older and it got harder and he became less agreeable.  Then our photographer "retired" and went on to other things.  Then life got in the way and the next thing I knew it had been 3 years since we'd had family pictures.  So I set out last year and found a new family photographer.  The boys like her so it makes things a little easier.  But, no surprise I'm sure, this year when I mentioned it was time again for family photos I got some push back.  But, I held firm and insisted since the boy has grown SOOOOOO much in the last year, these are things the family pictures are meant to capture.

So, a couple of weeks ago we had our appointment with Kelly and, of course, we got our baseball schedule with games scheduled for 11 and 1 with our picture appointment set for 4... hmmmm, this could be a problem.  But, again, I held firm and determined and said we are going to make it work.  It was a challenge for sure but we made it work!!!  So, two years in a row we have stuck to the rule and have new family pictures to show for it.  Are you ready to see them?  I know, the suspense is killing you....


Did I mention Kelly has a thing for feet?  She swears its not a fetish but I'm beginning to wonder.  I think there's an argument there to be made.  Maybe next time she'll take pictures of something other than our shoes.  Oh, and that reminds me, I really need to get the boy some new shoes, I think he's worn those out.

Deb

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Annual Tree Picture

The first Fall we moved into this house we planted a live oak tree in the back yard.  That year and each year since I've tried to get a picture of the boy with the tree to show the growth.  I'm fairly confident the boy is growing faster than the tree...  hopefully his roots are just as strong!

2005

2013


Deb

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Grid Iron...

As many faithful readers are aware, the boy started 7th grade this year.  Of course that means athletics and FOOTBALL!!!!  The boy has wanted to play football since he was a wee child but he was always too big for the weight categories in pee wee football.  This would mean red shirt and no touching the ball.

He got interested more in baseball and the subject was tabled for a couple of years.  But, he started middle school and all it took was one look from the coach and the recruiting started.  All through 6th grade the coach was on him about signing up for football and the boy was on the fence about it.  Time came to register for 7th grade and he still hadn't made a decision but we put him in athletics and waited to see.

When the school year started he dove right in to football.  This was a huge time commitment for him with practice every day in athletics and after school.  It meant a lot of "superman" in the land yacht as we rushed from football to baseball.  It also meant a lot of figuring out things that could be hot and ready and eaten in the car (besides the $.99 heart attack in a bag).

After a week of practice the coach assigned the boys to teams.  The boy was thrilled to be named to A Team!  He was told his position would be primarily Strong Tackle and he was loving it.

The team worked hard and started the season a little rough.  The boy was added to special teams for kickoff return and moved around there a couple of times.  The team lost the first four games.  The coach then changed things up a bit and had the boy start playing defense in addition to offense and special teams and was assigned a defensive end position.  The team started to win games and gained momentum.  By the end of the season they had won the last four games.  By the end of the season the boy played every down in every game.   The team even had a "Follow Bonner" play where he ran up the side making a hole for the running back.  He had become the football machine the coach wanted him to be.







Deb