Thanks, @NBCSN for this all night, last night. Made me remember when I enjoyed a cocky Cruise.
Can’t be scared when it goes down
Got a problem, tell me now
Only thing that’s on my mind
Is who’s gonna run this town tonight
Is who’s gonna run this town tonight
We gonna run this town
We are, ya I said it, we are
This is Roc Nation, pledge your allegiance
Get your fatigues on, all black everything
Black cards, black cars, all black everything
(via)
Some fathers dream about a boy to carry on their legacy, to live vicariously through as they push him into becoming a lefty specialist who switch hits.
At the very least, they want a chip off the old block to take to the ballpark or spend a lazy Sunday afternoon with watching the boys of summer.
Me, I have two girls, and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
The eldest (seen in the video around the age of 2 during the home stretch of the MLB 2010 season), knows that Sundays are daddy’s for football and that we root for the Phillies in the summer (although this past week in the lead-up to Father’s Day, school had her asking me about my favorite things. When I asked her about hers, she responded that her favorite sport was gymnastics and that her favorite sport to watch is “the Trenton Thunder”).
When I received a copy of Jon Lindenblatt’s Trolley Dodgers, Pinstriped Yankees, and Wearing Red Sox: How MLB Teams Got Their Names, it was the perfect companion for us.
While the factoids (which went well beyond how the teams got their names) kept me entertained, the abundance of mascots alone was enough to keep her glued.
The Phillie Phanatic was easily recognizable to her (she’s known him as the “Natic” for abut 3 years), but she insisted on peppering me with questions about the other costumed sideshows, and even - God help me - started choosing which teams she would root for based upon those she deemed most awesome. For some reason, Orbit of Houston Astros was a big hit. Though this IS the same girl that told me this week the two of us should head to outer space when she’s a “little bit older.”
She’s at the stage where she’s been read to most nights for her entire life and it’s tough to get her excited over anything not princess related.
But we found this book - while not telling a story - both entertained her and feed her thirst for knowledge. It makes her ask a lot of questions, and not just about the sport, but about the relevant history, geography and culture that it touches.
More importantly, it’s another way for us to connect. And baseball, like it was with me and my father, is something I can spend years enjoying with my pride and joy.
LEGO-like Phillies Toys Exist and They’re Both Awful and Amazing
I don’t know about you, but I loved Legos as a kid. I had the castle, I had the pirate ship, I even…
“Oladipo can now also add the Eddie Sutton Tustenugee Award to his list of accomplishments, and while awards like this are subject to certain criteria, it appears based on the description of the award from Tulsa World, that it fits the Indiana junior guard perfectly.”
(via Indiana’s Victor Oladipo earns another award | CollegeBasketballTalk)
Miss you, Curt.
After the NBA reviewed this gif, Noah has been assessed a Flagrant 2 & retroactively suspended for Game 1 of the 2013-14 season.
Congress aside, a ton of folks - friends included - in the blogsophere have taken up the cause of the Native American in the tribal fight against the name of the Washington professional football team named after the local Patawomecks. What I hadn’t seen, until now, was the opinion of the Tribe or a member of the Tribe itself. Seems hypocritical right? Maybe before we the white man project our values on the red man, we should actually confer with the red man himself. Isn’t that what got us into this “mess” to begin with?”
Days after members of Congress applied pressure to the NFL to change the name Redskins, the retired Chief of a sizable Virginia-based Native American tribe has come out in support of the nickname, saying opposition is the result of political correctness run amok, and he’d actually be offended if it was changed.
