The Lousiville Cross Country Classic

On a hot Louisville afternoon, JP finished 2nd and Gave 3rd in the 24th Annual Louisville Cross Country Classic.  MBA's varsity and junior varsity teams finished 2nd, too, in their races, right behind St. X, a Louisville cross country powerhouse.  

Running at 1 p.m. was different, to be sure.  As I mentioned, it was quite hot for a cross country race.  It was a large field, mostly with school from Kentucky, I think, and a perhaps a few from Ohio.  There were a ton of college kids there when we arrived just ahead of the MBA bus, and it was pretty cool to see them milling about E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.  The college kids ran in the coveted morning slots, which left the hotter afternoon for the high school runners.  

The setup of the course was nice, similar to the Southern Showcase course in Huntsville.  The court was tight with a few switchbacks, as a result of which I was able to watch the runners at multiple vantage points and still get to the finish line.  It's a bucolic park, too, which was a plus.  The course itself was fairly flat - again, like Huntsville - which means it's reasonably fast.  

It was cool before the race started to hear the announcer talking about the teams and runners over the loudspeaker.  He mentioned that MBA, from Nashville, was racing and should do well.  He also identified JP and Gabe, from MBA, as two runners who likely be running up front.

And that's exactly what happened, as JP took the lead early and held it for the first two miles or so.  There was a lead pack of five or six runners, and Gabe was in it, as well.  He settled in right behind JP, in fact.  It was cool, to be honest, to see JP and Gabe running so close together for the first two-thirds of the race.  

At about the 2 1/2 mile mark, a kid from St. X in the lead pack had pulled away from JP just a bit, maybe 10 yards.  I could see that JP was staying with him, though, and I thought there might be an interesting are to the finish line the last 400 or 500 yards.  As it turned out, JP did pull even with the St. X kid on the home stretch, which is downhill.  JP couldn't quite match his finishing kick, though, and finished in 2nd place by two or three seconds, at 15:30.90.  

Gabe finished in 3rd place, about five seconds behind JP.  It was a good race for both of them, although I know JP would have liked to have won the race.  The MBA team got a Louisville Slugger bat for finishing second overall, probably the best and most interesting trophy they have received since JP's been on the Hill.  After the race, there already was talk about whether the bat would be displayed in the school's trophy case or in the cross country/track and field's trophy case in the locker room.

It was a quick trip but a good one.  I'm glad I was there to see JP run on one of his favorite courses.

JP and Gabe ran into former teammate, Mitchell Chaffin, who raced for Centre College earlier in the day.  It was good to see him.

JP, pre-race.

Tarah and Gabe checking out the map of the course I found.

Co-Captain, Jack McDaniel (a.k.a. "McDavid")

I think this is my favorite photo of JP running I've ever taken.

Post-race.

Gabe, JP, and Wynn.  Strong junior class.  MBA's top three finishers.

JP and Oliver, from Science Hill High School.  I met his parents before the race.  

Co-Captains, Jack and JP.  Friends since they were three years old at Children's House. 

Second place trophy.  Pretty cool.

Gabe and JP with the second place trophy.

The Seven.

Wynn, Gabe, and JP.

On the Run in Jeffersonville, Indiana

I'm sitting at a table outside Coffee Crossing in Jeffersonville, Indiana, having a cup of coffee before sunrise.  I'm almost in sight of the Ohio River from where I sit.  A flock of geese just flew by above me, in formation, honking back and forth to each other.  

Today, at 1 p.m.,  MBA's varsity cross country team is running in the 24th annual Louisville Cross Country Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.  JP likes the course and, in fact, ran a 15:05 there two weeks ago in the Trinity-Valkyrie Invitational.   

I drove up yesterday afternoon with JP and Gabe.  Earlier in the week, I booked us at an Airbnb in Jeffersonville, Indiana, literally right across the river from Louisville.  We had an excellent dinner last night at TOWN (a neighborhood pub).  Really good pasta.  Too much to eat in one sitting, actually.  

The house is nice.  Three bedrooms.  Three bathrooms.  A small backyard with a nice back porch and a hot tub.  Nice front porch, too, where I sat out for a bit late last night, reading the new Easy Rawlins mystery, Gray Dawn (Walter Mosley).  I slept well, too. 

As I left the house a few minutes ago, JP was up, making scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.  His plan, I think, is to go back to bed afterwards.  Racing at 1 p.m. is odd for the boys, as most races are first thing in the morning.  He's trying to make sure he's properly fueled, I think.  Properly rested, too.  

If I were industrious, I would add Indiana to my list of states I've run in by going for a 3-miler across the bridge into Louisville.  Instead, I think I'll go for a walk this morning, then run tonight when we get back to Nashville.  I'm at 116/156 3-mile runs for the year.  On target, assuming good health the last quarter of the year.  

I enjoy these quick trips out of town for races in much the same way I enjoy traveling to small towns for baseball tournaments.  Getting away from Nashville.  Time with one or both of boys and, sometimes, other parents.  New surroundings that I likely won't see again.  Finding coffee.  Making a few more memories to add to the scrapbook in my head.  All of it.

Jeffersonville seems to be an interesting town.  Quirky and eclectic.  A real downtown with several restaurants.  Mixed demographically from what little I have seen.  Active, with a lot of runners and cyclists.  From where I am sitting, I can smell what an unkempt man just told me is basket being smoked around the corner at Ramiro's Cantina.  I smelled it as soon as I got our of my truck but didn't imagine someone would be cooking this early.

The sun is rising, now, as the light reflects off the top half of Riverside Cigar Shop and Lounge across the street.  More cars, more people out walking.  Jeffersonville is waking up.  

I just met "Elliott," a rescue boxer mix out for a walk with his owner, an interesting, kind man wearing a hoodie and missing his front teeth.  Another man walked up and is talking to me about the O.J. Simpson trial.  See what I mean?  Eclectic.  

Life is wonderful.  Interesting.  Beautiful.  

Time to go for a walk.  In Jeffersonville, Indiana.  

The Return of Jojo Buffan

It's October 2, the second day of my favorite time of the year, October 1 - January 2, 2025.  Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Cooler weather isn't here yet but it's on the way.  I hope.

Last night after work, alone, I began to decorate the office for Halloween.  It's my thing and my law partners tolerate it but only for the month of October.  Zombie heads hanging from hooks in the five large front windows of my office.  Skulls everywhere.  Bloody knives, clowns.  The works.  I do it every year.  Everything goes up on September 30 (this year, October 1) and it all comes down on November 1, 2025.  What can I say.

As I was getting started, I got a call from Joe on my cell.  Answering it, I said, "What's up, bud?"

"I made the A team (soccer)," he replied.

"What?!?  The 8th grade team?" 

"Yeah.  Luke and I are the only 7th graders to make it."

After three days of junior school soccer tryouts at MBA, Joe had made the A team.  I could tell he was kind of stunned.  Frankly, so was I.

It was a difficult decision - but the right one, I think - when Jude and I took Joe out of travel soccer this fall with Armada.  He had carved out a niche as one of two goalies and team captain for the past two or three years.  He has good friends on that team - Rex, Tennessee, Pike - and it was hard to give that up.  Still, we knew how tough MBA would be, academically, and we wanted Joe to focus on his studies.  Also, he had to participate in a school activity in the afternoons every quarter of his 7th and 8th grade years.  It just didn't seem prudent to put him in a situation where, twice a week, he would go from crew practice to soccer practice, and not have dinner and start homework until almost 9 p.m.

I was worried that was it for him in soccer.  I knew he planned to try out for the school team but, without practicing regularly and playing at a high level, I though it might be difficult for him to make the A team or the B team (7th grade).  Boy, was I wrong.

A few of Joe's classmates and former teammates on Armada, Rex and Tennessee, made the B team.  Somehow, Joe made the A team.  My guess is that he will back up the starting goalie, although in Joe's inimitable fashion, he suggested to me that he's as good as the 8th grade goalie and expects to play.  Either way, he will get a lot of reps against solid, 8th grade soccer players.  It will help his development as a goalie. 

In tryouts, I confirmed with Joe that during the scrimmage portion of all three days, he did what he normally does in goal.  He was very vocal and communicative.  Encouraged his teammates and constantly repositioned them where he wanted them, especially on corner kicks.  In other words, he lead his teammates, even in a scrimmage.  That's just what Joe does.

The Captain.

I'm so damn proud of Joe and his start at MBA.  He studying diligently.  Grinding, as JP calls it.  He seems more mature, already, with a seriousness about him that he didn't have last year.  Yes, it's a little sad, because suddenly, Joe seems more young man than child, but that's to be expected, I think, and as it should be.  He's stepping up, getting in the books.  He's competing, in the classroom and outside of it, which its what it takes to survive and thrive at MBA.  I hope it continues.  I think it will.

As Jude and Joe were leaving he MBA-Baylor football game last Friday night, she heard a bunch of boys and girls yelling "Joe!"

She looked over and saw that it was his former classmates from USN, excited to see him.  He said hi, talked briefly to them, then left with Jude to go home.  

The Captain.

In many ways, it was harder for Joe to leave USN than it was for JP.  When JP left, he seemed to never look back.  He was ready for something new.  He was ready to be challenged in a different way.  He didn't seem to be too concerned with who he was leaving behind at USN or who he was joining at MBA.  JP didn't have time for all of that.  After all, there was work to be done, goals to be achieved, and anything else was just a distraction.  

Leaving USN was different for Joe.  His circle of good friends was larger and tighter.  He was in the middle of it all and he loved every minute of it.  He was seen, known, admired, and respected by his classmates, all of which he had earned over seven years at USN.  He said goodbye to all of that  and started over at MBA, and I admire him for it.  Staying at USN would have been easy.  Leaving USN and starting at MBA was hard.  The hard decisions are the ones that teach you the most, or so it seems to me.

I think Joe is on the way.

Sands Through the Hourglass

Things are so busy for our family, right now, that I worry about time getting away from me.  

I worry that I am going to wake up one day, soon, to a quiet house, both boys off to college, and me wondering where the time went. 

Lately, I have that feeling a lot.  That these are the days and I am not doing enough to savor them, to enjoy every minute of where our lives are right now.  

Instead, I find myself in survival mode, covered up with so much responsibility at work, getting home late for dinner, squeezing in a run (or this month, a walk, too), finding time to read late at night.  I get up in the morning, make breakfast for JP, spend a couple of minutes with the boys talking about last night's Dodgers' game, then off we all go into our semi-separate lives during the day.

At night, other than dinner, it's quiet downstairs - and a little depressing if I am being honest - as JP and Joe grind away upstairs on their homework.  Surprisingly or perhaps not so, Joe has adapted well to the academic grind at MBA.  He's putting the work in studying, to be sure, and so far the results have been good grades across the board.  JP is JP.  Grinding away to get where he wants to go.

During the week, we might - and I mean, might - catch part of an episode of "America's Team:  The Gambler and His Cowboys," the entertaining Netflix documentary about the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's.  Maybe watch part of a Monday or Thursday night NFL game.  Then, it's back upstairs for the boys to study.  Weekends, we find the time to watch football, college and pro.  Starting next week, too, we will have the Dodgers and the MLB playoffs, which is always must-see TV in our household.

Sometimes I feel like I am strapped to the front of a rocket ship.  Life is passing by so quickly.  

Angus.  Loved by all in our household.

My old friend and fellow lawyer, Reid Street, stopped by the office yesterday.  He's enjoying retirement because, as he told me yesterday, every day is Saturday.

Fall in the 'hood, after my run last night.  The pumpkin patch is back.

More fall in the 'hood.

A Saturday for the Ages

With boys, especially ones who love and play sports like ours do, so many of your Saturdays are jam packed with drives all over town, or to nearby towns, for games of some sort.  Soccer.  Basketball.  Baseball.  Cross country or track meets.  

And, of course, I love it.  Every single minute of it.  Watching my boys compete on an athletic field, hands down, is my greatest joy in life.  It pains me terribly to think about the void that will be left in the not too distant future when neither JP nor Joe are playing anything other than middle school or high school sports. In a way, we're halfway there, now that JP has narrowed his athletic focus to running.   

If you're lucky, as a parent, you have the rare Saturday where it all falls into place for your boys, or girls.  For me, yesterday was one of those. 

Rather than tour Notre Dame, JP decided to run in the Trinity-Valkyrie Invitational in Louisville, KY, where he set a PR (15:19) last year.  Gabe and Wynn decided at the last minute to run it and JP wanted to join them.  Jude and I thought it was the right decision, especially on the heels of his mildly disappointing race in Huntsville last weekend (15:20).  Late in the week, we hastily booked a hotel room and made plans, arranging for Jude to go with JP to Louisville, so I could take Joe to his soccer workout Friday night and his baseball tournament games in Murfreesboro on Saturday.

Yesterday morning, I got up early as I typically do, and drove up to Dose for coffee.  Joe slept in.  As I drank my coffee and tried to figure out if I could get live updates of the race in Louisville, I met the parents of one of JP's sophomore cross country teammates.  They were on the way to Dickson to watch their son (and the other boys who didn't race in Huntsville) race.  Very nice people.

I am superstitious, although I know I shouldn't be.  As I bounced around on the MileSplit (Kentucky) website and the link to the Trinity-Valkyrie Invitation, I couldn't find any live race results.  It felt similar to two years ago, when Joe and were at Dose for coffee and breakfast, as we tried to get live race results from NXR in Cary, NC.  That, of course, was a memorable day in JP's racing career, as MBA finished second and qualified for NXN in Portland, OR.  I was hoping, yesterday, to have a similar experience.

Turns out that I did, as JP ran 15:05:03 (12th overall in a very fast field).  The ever more elusive PR and ever so close to breaking 15:00:00.  It was a race JP needed, I think, to boost his confidence.  He raced extremely well in the fastest field he will see the entire season.  When I talked to him on the telephone immediately after the race, I could tell how excited, and relieved, he was.  

Later in the morning, I drove Joe over to Murfreesboro for his first tournament game of the fall with the Redbirds.  In what is another story for another day, Joe landed with the Redbirds after Brian Harris unceremoniously folded his tent and shut down Harris Baseball Club in July.  Not surprisingly, the messaging ng to HBC parents wasn't handled well by Brian, as a result of which 150 + boys were left scrambling to find baseball teams to play with in the middle of tryout season.  

When Joe and I arrived at the baseball complex in Murfreesboro, his coach asked him if he was ready to pitch.  "Sure," Joe said.  "Good, you're staring."  Kyle replied.  This will be interesting, I thought, as Joe hasn't thrown a bullpen in a while or otherwise worked on pitching.  No matter, because Joe is Joe.  Mentally tough.  Dependable.  Always ready to take the ball.

In four innings of solid work, Joe struck out stayed around the plate and stuck out six batters.  His control was good, as he only walked one batter.  He didn't throw particularly hard and two or three batters put good swings own the ball for extra base hits.  Still, he threw to contact, as he so often does, and he added nifty play on a ball hit back up the middle.  He gave up three runs, only one of which was earned.  

The only real mistake, other than a two out walk in the fourth inning, was an 0-2 fastball he left out over the plate to the second to last batter he faced.  He would have liked to have that pitch back, as the boy laced a line drive to center field to plate the third run.  Joe left with the score 2 - 3.  He was out of gas at 60 o so pitches.  The final was 2 - 7, as the next pitcher in for the Redbirds struggled.

In the second game, Joe played shortstop and batted second.  After a weak pop fly in foul territory to the first baseman in the first inning and a towering pop fly that he misjudged for an error, Joe settled in at shortstop.  In the last inning, down 1 - 2, Joe lined a ball to right center field for a base hit that advanced the leadoff hitter to third base.  He stole second, then was thrown out at home to end the game as he tried to score on a single to right filed.  I was proud of how Joe played, although there is room for improvement . . . for Joe and the whole team.  

Joe has gone from being the youngest player on his HBC teams to, suddenly, being one of oldest, most experienced players on his Redbirds' team.  It's time for him to lead.  

Jude rushed Joe straight from the second baseball game in Murfreesboro to Franklin for a Bucket Squad basketball game.  That didn't go was well, as his team lost a game they probably should have won.  I skipped the game but, according to Jude and JP, Joe didn't shoot much at all and wasn't a real factor in the game.  

Still, it was a great Saturday, for the boys and for Jude and me.

Bennett Lusk and Joe.  It's fun to run into old teammates from the Dodgers.

Joe's new Redbirds' squad.

JP, with a strong finish at the Trinity-Valkyries Invitational in Louisville to clock a PR at 15:05.

Sports on Earth

Saturday morning in Huntsville was hot, unfortunately.  That made it tougher on JP and the other runners in the Southern Showcase running the championship round at 9 a.m.  

The course and surrounding sports complex are impressive.  So much space.  Tennis courts,  soccer fields, and an expansive cross country course.  For spectators of the race, it's almost like a tight golf course, one where holes are side-by-side, in opposite directions.  Think Old Natchez Country Club in Franklin.  The result of the layout is that if you hustle, it's fairly easy to get to multiple vantage points on the course to see the runners.  So, that's what I did Saturday morning, so I could see JP and cheer him on as much as possible.

As I wrote earlier, it was a very fast field with runners from all over the southern and mid-eastern United States.  Schools from Pennsylvania and West Virginia sent teams, too.  It's a big race, probably the biggest of the season with over 280 runners.

JP started out fast and when I saw him early, he was in the second pack of runners, right behind the leaders.  For the first couple of miles, he ran with a tall kid from Columbus North HS (Indiana).  During the third mile, the other kid pulled away and JP was left in no man's land, running by himself, slightly ahead of what amounted to a fourth group that included Eli Wharton from Division Academy in Nashville.  He's a super kid that JP has gotten to know.  

JP held off Eli Wharton for 11th place, finishing at 15:20:81, six seconds off his PR.  It was a solid run but I think JP was mildly disappointed he hadn't run a little bit faster.  Cross county racing is a strange beast.  Eight seconds faster would have been a PR.  Eight seconds slower feels differently.  Still, 11th place out of 283 runners is something to be proud of, for sure.  I was proud of JP, of course.  

JP is going to run in Louisville, KY, on Saturday, with Gabe and Wynn.  Gabe ran a PR at 15:30, as did Wynn at 16:33.30.  JP was scheduled to go to visit Notre Dame with Jude but he wants to get another race in since the Chickasaw Trails Invitational was canceled.  I thinks it's the right decision because the way to get better at racing is to race more.  That's apparent to me.

I drove back after the race and met Joe and Jude at my office.  They had driven to Huntsville on Saturday morning to watch JP race.  We sat in my office, relaxed, and watched football on the flat screen I had put in a little more than a year ago.  We had an hour or so to kill before Joe's Saturday afternoon basketball game at TOA Courts in Cool Springs.  Joe's Bucket Squad was set to play some of his former teammates from the Stars' team he played on in the spring.  Page Middle School boys.

It was a great game.  Probably the best game I've seen this group play, coached by Thomas McDaniel.  Joe's team only had five players.  No subs.  They played hard defensively and shared the basketball as well as they every have.  What saved them was they got an early lead and hit a lot of 3's.  Somewhat, they withstood a spirited comeback attempt led by one of my all-time guys, Will, who hit multiple 3's in a real heat check game for him.  He played with Joe in the spring on his Stars' team.  A great kid who always seems a little sad.  I try to give him as much love as possible and to pump him up because I think he needs it.

Joe played a solid game defensively, making almost all of the right plays, as usual.  He turned the ball over a few times but not too many.  He had several nice assists, which is his game.  Really, a fun basketball game too watch as Joe's Bucket Squad held on for a 43-41 win.

One Saturday.  A lot of sports.

Season Opener (Again)

Last Friday evening, I drove to Decatur, AL, stayed in an Airbnb, then drove 30 minutes early Saturday morning to Oakville, AL, for JP's first cross country race of the season, the Chickasaw Trails Invitational.  

The weather didn't cooperate, however, and after a couple of lighting delays, the race was postponed.  The race organizers claimed the Lawrence Co. EMS made the decision but I have my doubts.  There's no reason that I can see that the organizers couldn't have waited an hour or two, if necessary, to see if the weather would clear off enough for the races to start.  But, that didn't happen, so I drove back home without getting to see JP race.  

Tonight, I find myself in Huntsville, AL, in another Airbnb, after driving down from Franklin after a long, crazy day at work.  Have race, will travel.  That's the life of a cross country parent.  And I love it.

Tomorrow, JP and his MBA teammates will race in the Southern Showcase.  It appears to be the biggest, most anticipated cross country race of the southern season.  There are teams from as far north as West Virginia and Pennsylvania and as far south as Miami, FL (Belen Jesuit HS, the strongest cross country program in the South year in and year out).  

MBA hasn't run in the Southern Showcase since JP has been running with the varsity.  I'm curious when they last ran here.  Before the season, JP and Gabe asked Coach Russ if the team could run in bigger races this year.  More competition.  More exposure.  They'll have both in spaces tomorrow because it's a really, really strong field.  I'm very curious to see how JP and Gabe stack up against the best of the best.  

I was nervous last Friday night.  Tonight, I'm a little more relaxed.  Really, I just want JP to run his best tomorrow.  I'm very excited for him to find out what it's like to race against some real horses.  

For now, though, time to watch a little Dodgers-Giants on my iPad and get in the rack.  Early start tomorrow.

Pre-race.

JP, Gabe, and Winn.  Classmates.

Coaches Roderick Russ and Tom Cirillo.

Gabe and JP after the warm up run, shortly before the 2025 Chickasaw Trails Invitational was postponed.

Co-Captain Jack McDaniel and his dad, Thomas.  

Team photo just before packing the tent up and heading up I65 North to Nashville.