From baseball to ball point pens

Growing up my adventure in sports started with baseball, the one round, white, stitched with red thread seams

At first, usually not picked until the lineups were pretty full, the message was practice

Practice to get good enough to get picked earlier

I played multiple positions at first because that was available, then by choice to be available

Wherever needed, even behind the plate, fully decked out in protective gear to play on a hot day

And play is what I wanted, i needed to play so I could get up to hit

Hitting was where it was happening, waiting on the pitch, 

Was it good enough to hit, or should I lay off, decisions, split second choices

Going with the pitch when I could, making contact, becoming a regular hitter, lots of solid hits

As i grew taller, the bigger round, orange ball, yes, basketball was recommended

So i learned to play that too, the same routine as when starting baseball, picked last 

Again, the message was to practice, so I did, and it was easier with a ball and a hoop even alone

Even if the court was uneven, as long as the rim was close to standard height

The practice was worthy and over time, I moved up the pecking order

Getting picked earlier for my height and then for my grit

Doing the little things, playing defense, boxing out, calling out, 

making good passes, all the little things for team play developed a decent shot, balance, aim and follow through, hitting high percentage free throws

Still later along in life, the other large ball, also white but mostly stitched in white threads,

Softball, and not really that soft, called for an after work game with colleagues

Able to do something different than making phone calls, pushing paper

Slow pitch, high arc, shorter base paths, all dirt but otherwise

Similar hitting, catching, throwing, and smart running

Made for a good game with liquid refreshments post game

Later still, walking now, the running and aggressive action days are mostly behind me

Walking is my fun, time to observe, time to think through things, time to work things out

Preparing the storylines, crafting the writing, virtually and in real life 

Sharing on the page, the lessons learned, the trials suffered, challenges survived

Building toward a better place, a hopeful future, finding words worthy of the time

That once was real and can be recalled again with the right words and phrases

shared with the Senior Story Hour on July 13, 2022

PC Friars

Dad and his brothers used to have season tickets for the Providence College Friar basketball games. As the season ticket prices increased, including a charge "for the privilege of being a season ticket holder", they stopped. Now with two of his brothers passing on, I try to take Dad to a couple of games. We didn't get to go last year due to Dad's health problems but he can get around well enough now. We saw the Friars play West Virginia Wednesday evening.

Technically the first half was a basketball game but I am not sure what PC was doing. There was a passive attempt at defense and no cohesion on offence at all as they found themselves down by 20 at the half.

The second half was slightly different as their full court pressure defense actually was active and caught West Virginia by surprise. They ended up quickly cutting the margin to 10 scoring on defensive turnovers. Their offense continued to be non-functional from a team-perspective. They would come down, make one pass and the player would go one-on-one. If they got in trouble, they would look to make a desperation pass, otherwise, the other four stood around waiting to see what would happen. Occasionally, the player would get fouled. More often than not, he'd miss, WV would get the rebound and with four or five passes get an easy score. The deficit got to just six points twice during the second half but each time WV got its act together and pulled away.

The Friars were at a size disadvantage but didn't play like a team at all to compensate. We are due to return for another game later this season. I wonder what we'll see then.

There is too much hoopla around the Friars glory days. I realize that college basketball is now an event and not just a game. This team did not play anything like its predecessors and the hoopla was embarrassing.

"Marvelous things have occurred in my lifetime"

What is the most significant thing that has happened to you?



Thanks to Adam at UniversalHub for the tip to this brief video clip.

Pawtucket Times 12/18/1971

Pawtucket Times 12/18/1971, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I knew there was a reason why putting things back together in the newly painted study was going to take some time.

I keep getting distracted by the stuff I find. Like this gem from junior year in high school.

Yep, that is moi. With the ball. So gracefully depicted here.

Those were the days my friend!

NCAA March Madness

The real madness in March is NOT the Final Four. The real madness is the inequity amongst graduation rates for the basketball players.

Two kids go to the same school. Both play basketball. One graduates approx. 60% of the time more than the other. One is white. One is black. Guess who is on the bottom of this scale?

Derrick Jackson of the Boston Globe publishes his graduation rankings each season. The football numbers are not a whole lot different from the basketball numbers.

It is a shame.

Graphic from the Boston Globe.

College hoopla

Took my father to the Providence College game on Tuesday evening against West Virgina. A tight game. The Friars were down 6 at the half. West Virginia was 18-1 when leading at the half. The picture shows a WV player at the free throw line. 9.1 seconds on the clock PC leading 62-60. He made the first, missed the second but WV got the rebound and the ball. Ended up turning it over, PC worked the ball against the press to ultimately score an easy layup to finish 64-61.

Dad enjoyed the game. He is a long time Friar fan and for many years had season tickets with his brothers. Any home game, the Sherlock brothers could be counted on to be there. Two have now passed away. To get to a game is more of a treat now. Twice this month we went, both times we saw them win a close one. The previous game, the Friars were down 6 with a minute to go and won by a point at the buzzer. As we were leaving Tuesday night, Dad said that they should start paying us to go since the two times we have been there they have won. Not a bad idea.

Go Friars!